“Work, Retire, Repeat” by Teresa Ghilarducci discusses the problems facing older people in the workforce and during retirement. From the outside, working into your 70s or 80s may sound like good financial advice, but it usually does not play out that way.
Mrs. Ghilarducci presents an argument that defies the current “work longer” model that the media is pushing very hard. She states that the current model weakens the position of seniors in the workforce, lowering their pay and benefits across the board.
Instead, she argues that the US government should shore up a universal defined benefit plan (pension) that would work alongside Social Security. This would allow seniors who want to work to do so with grace and dignity. Others could retire in their late 50s and early 60s.
1) The “work longer” narrative originates from both political parties to avoid dealing with Social Security deficits and provide corporations with cheap labor.
2) As a society becomes more wealthy, it should aspire to treat seniors with more dignity by allowing them to retire. This also increases productivity because the younger generation moves up the ranks faster.
3) Tax breaks, like the Earned Income Tax Credit, can work against seniors because they cannot claim these credits. However, corporations lower pay across the board because they expect the government to subsidize workers with these breaks. Since seniors can’t claim the credits, they are stuck with lower wages.
4) Defined benefit plans, or pensions, helped seniors retire gracefully and on their own timelines. However, corporations no longer want to fund non-productive people, so they hurried to convert to defined contribution plans (401Ks).
5) 401Ks are massive tax breaks for the extremely wealthy. They have the means to maximize contributions throughout their lifetimes. On the opposite end of the spectrum, the bottom 80% of workers have difficulty adding money to their 401K and IRA accounts.
Multiple forces are at play that want seniors to work longer and for lower pay and benefits. As an advanced society, we should strive to do the right thing and fight for everyone who works hard to have a quality retirement.
I personally believe that anyone can do the work to have a great retirement; however, I now recognize that there are more powerful forces working against seniors.
We are all responsible for our own actions, but there should be at least an attempt to level the playing field. We will begin seeing more seniors working into their 80s or becoming homeless.
The author presents clear steps that can help balance the scales regarding seniors in the workforce. I now see the propaganda clearly as it appears in my Google News feed daily.
There is a strong narrative from the media glamorizing seniors working forever. However, in reality, there is nothing sexy about working past 70. If you want to look deeper at an issue that will affect us all, read this book.
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