Current Events > "I'm going to work until I die" the new reality of old age in the US

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http://www.denverpost.com/2017/09/29/retirement-age-rising/

People are living longer, more expensive lives, often without much of a safety net. As a result, record numbers of Americans older than 65 are working now nearly 1 in 5. That proportion has risen steadily over the past decade, and at a far faster rate than any other age group. Today, 9 million senior citizens work, compared with 4 million in 2000.

While some work by choice rather than need, millions of others are entering their golden years with alarmingly fragile finances. Fundamental changes in the U.S. retirement system have shifted responsibility for saving from the employer to the worker, exacerbating the nation's rich-poor divide. Two recent recessions have devastated personal savings. And at a time when 10,000 baby boomers are turning 65 every day, Social Security benefits have lost about a third of their purchasing power since 2000.

Polls show that most older people are more worried about running out of money than dying.

"There is no part of the country where the majority of middle-class older workers have adequate retirement savings to maintain their standard of living in their retirement," said Teresa Ghilarducci, a labor economist who specializes in retirement security. "People are coming into retirement with a lot more anxiety and a lot less buying power."

As a result, many older workers are hitting the road as work campers also called "workampers" those who shed costly lifestyles, purchase RVs and travel the nation picking up seasonal jobs that typically offer hourly wages and few or no benefits.

Amazon's "CamperForce" program hires thousands of these silver-haired migrant workers to box online orders during the Christmas rush. (Amazon chief executive Jeff Bezos owns The Washington Post.) Walmart, whose giant parking lots are famous for welcoming RV travelers, has hired elderly people as store greeters and cashiers. Websites such as the Workamper News list jobs as varied as ushering at NASCAR tracks in Florida, picking sugar beets in Minnesota and working as security guards in the Texas oil fields.

In Maine, which calls itself "Vacationland," thousands of seniors are drawn each summer to the state's rocky coastline and picturesque small towns, both as vacationers and seasonal workers. In Bar Harbor, one of the state's most popular tourist destinations, well-to-do retirees come ashore from luxury cruise ships to dine on $30 lobsters and $13 glasses of sauvignon blanc leaving tips for other senior citizens waiting on oceanfront tables, driving Ollie's Trolley buses or taking tickets for whale-watching tours.

The Devers have noticed this economic divide. They found their campground jobs online and drove here in May, with plans to stay until the season ends in October. On a recent day off, they took a bus tour near Bar Harbor and Acadia National Park, where the tour guide pointed outthe oceanfront Rockefeller estate and Martha Stewart's 12-bedroom mansion.

"The ones who go on these ritzy, ritzy cruises to all these islands in Maine, I don't know how they got all that money. Maybe they were born into it," said Jeannie, 72. "And then you see this poor little old retired person next door, who can hardly keep going. And he's got his little trailer."
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The Devers first hit the road in their 33-foot American Star RV when Jeannie turned 65. Since then, they have worked jobs in Wyoming, Pennsylvania and now Maine. In addition to their $10-an-hour paychecks, the couple receives $22,000 a year from Social Security, an amount that has barely budged while health-care and other costs have soared.

"If we didn't work, our money would run out real quick," Richard said.

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My parents have been saying that for years.
Meanwhile, their parents all retired decades ago.
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Working is actually good for you though
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Tl;dr
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unpleasant_milk posted...

Tl;dr

Old people don't have the money to retire and many now take up RVs and cruise the country seeking seasonal work.
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UncleBourbon33 posted...

Working is actually good for you though

Fuck you

They estimate the age of retirement for our generation will be 75.

Aka, we will work until we die.
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We just need to follow Japan's example and literally die at work.
The difference will be that we'll die of old age at work rather than exhaustion and whatever else.
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Cry me a river

These people have had 40+ years to get their finances in order and to prepare for their golden years
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Screw it. Might as well enjoy your money now.
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This problem can be avoided if you just save a portion of your money consistently and invest it. I know it's difficult to put money aside, but even 10% of your income will make a huge difference. At least contribute enough to get free money from your employer match, assuming your employer gives you one. That's free money!

There's going to be a lot more of these stories, though, since the transition to traditional pensions to 401Ks have hurt those nearing retirement age. Many weren't prepared for that like we are now.
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John_Galt posted...

These people have had 40+ years to get their finances in order and to prepare for their golden years

About this

A few miles up the road from the Devers, Joanne Molnar, 64, and her husband, Mark, 62, live in their RV and work at another campground.

For 21 years, Joanne worked as a manager for a day-care company in Fairfield, Connecticut. She said she paid regularly into a 401(k) account that, at one point, was worth more than $40,000.

By the time she left the company in 2008, however, its value had fallen to $2,000.

Molnar said the company's owner thought he was doing his 100 employees a favor by managing their retirement accounts. "But he didn't know what he was doing," she said. Instead of being angry with him, she's furious with the 401(k) system.

"It stinks," she said.

As Joanne's retirement account was further battered by the Great Recession in 2008, the Molnars sold Mark's share of his piano-restoration business and their home in Connecticut, which had lost value but kept attracting higher and higher property tax bills.

They bought a 25-foot RV for $13,000 and started looking for work near their three sons, one of whom lives near Bar Harbor, and their six grandchildren. After finishing at the Maine campground this fall, they plan to look for work in Texas or Wisconsin, near their other children.

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Melonfarms posted...

We just need to follow Japan's example and literally die at work.
The difference will be that we'll die of old age at work rather than exhaustion and whatever else.

somedays I wish i'd die at work. :u like, right now
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https://www.cnbc.com/2017/08/15/the-average-retirement-age-in-the-us-and-other-countries.html
Looks like it's only going to get worse
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