As an economist, pulling punches isn't in my DNA. So, I'll be blunt: For most Americans, early retirement isn't just a decision to take the longest vacation of their lives — it's>The baby boomer's retirement debacle
Take the baby boomer generation, who are retiring droves. Almost half of them have little if any savings.
Indeed, their median wealth is just $144,000 — less than three years of median household spending. If they had significant private, state or local pensions>Social Security is nothing to write home about
Social Security's average benefit — $18,000 per year — could be far higher, but 94% of retirees take Social Security retirement benefits well before its benefit peaks, at age 70.
In fact, roughly 85% should be waiting until 70 to collect. The age-70 retirement benefit is 76% higher, adjusted for inflation, than, for example, the age-62 benefit.
Moreover, when Americans take their Social Security retirement benefits far too early, they potentially condemn their spouses or ex-spouses (to whom they were married to for a decade or more) to far lower widow(er)'s and divorced widow(er)'s benefits.
You can't count>The answer is to delay retirement
How to rescue non-saving Jane's retirement? If Jane retires and takes Social Security at 70, she won't need to save on her own. And her lifetime spending will rise by one-third!
Yes, this is a risky strategy. Jane could become disabled. Or she could be fired. But if she refuses to save a ton and doesn't want to experience severe financial deprivation in retirement, her only answer is to keep on working.
As for me, I just turned 71. Fortunately, I have tenure and can keep doing research, writing books and columns and teaching. My current plan is to die in the saddle. My work is just too rewarding — financially, intellectually and psychologically — to give it up.
