Well as the cost of living continues to Rise many Americans are adopting a new Retirement plan just keep working don't Retire a new study found about half of Middle class Americans who are employed Plan to work past 65 so CBS News money Watch uh reporter Amy py is following uh This story for us and joins us to Explain so Amy in a way this kind of Doesn't surprise me you know we've kind Of for many many people we've gotten rid Of things like retirement plans and You're depending on your 401k Most people don't have enough money in Their 401K but you tell me what's behind This Trend yeah hi Amry you're quite right I Mean a lot of this is due to people just Feeling that they don't have enough Saved but there is something else that's A little bit more positive going on here Which is that some ideas and Views about Retirement and turning 65 have changed I Mean a lot of people feel like they're Not ready to retire at 65 so they're Quote unquote retirement involves some Level of work or volunteering or Something that maybe keeps them active So there sort of size to this so it's Not all negative I just want to point That out but there of course is a big Retirement Gap right now with people Generally not having enough saved um for For a long retirement I think it's a
Good point you know people are more Physically active than they were maybe a Generation ago as we get older and People are sharper uh mentally and and They're living longer and I'm wondering What role life expectancy plays in when People are calculating their retirement Age yeah I mean that's really Interesting because the survey was Middle classes Americans is 55% of the Population and their median age that They expect to live to is 90 years old So you know they're expecting 25 years In retirement um you know that's much Longer than previous generations when Maybe it would have funded like you know 10 15 years of retirement so basically Americans are seeing that they need to Fund a longer retirement and you know That's an issue especially when I think The median um household right now middle Class household only has $66,000 save For retirement wow so you know how are You going to fund 25 years of retirement With with that that money um so that's Part of the issue that's happening but I Think one thing that's interesting about This too is that many people actually Underestimate how long they might live Is called Longevity risk and that's one Thing retirement experts really want People to understand is that you might Live A lot longer than you think and so That's another reason why they urge
People to delay claiming Social Security Because you can get a bigger benefit the Longer you're wait to claim Social Security so if you're living tonight 95 It's better to have a bigger social Security check to help fund that longer Retirement definitely and are workers in Certain industries more prone to this Trend of pushing back Retirement yeah I mean kind of like we Were talking about at the beginning um There are kind of two different types of People who are who are driving this Trend low-income workers and that's Really a financial issue they just don't Have enough or anything safe for Retirement you know these are waiters Food workers that kind of um worker Who's maybe earning you know low wages Through throughout their career and Maybe don't even have access to a 401k But then there is another type of worker Who's also driving this they tend to be College educated um older Americans who Work in White Collar professions or the Arts and they're the people who are more Likely to say I'm not ready to retire at 65 I love what I do have a passion for It I want to stay in the workforce a Little bit longer I wonder though about The greater overall sort of economic Impact of having an aging uh working Class I you know I wonder If there are will be enough jobs
Available as people get older even even If they want to work they might not be Able To right well I mean right now our labor Force actually needs workers um that's Something we saw in the pandemic that There was a real labor shortage and Employers still say they need workers so You know keeping a bigger labor force And keeping people in the labor force For longer actually has a positive Impact on the economy but there are some Other impacts that maybe are not so Positive and one that we're seeing right Now is that with Boomer retiring at Record levels right now Social Security Is spending more than it's taking in Through taxes and that's an issue Because it means Social Security is um Running through its trust fund which You've probably heard about a lot of our Listeners have heard about um and that Means that that trust fund will be Depleted in about 10 years and at that Point Social Security benefits will be Cut by about 20% um so if they don't fix it I mean The ways to fix social sec security but Right now you know the trajectory is Social security spending more than is Taking in the outcome could be Cuts in Retirement benefits which of course Means that more people might have to Stay in the workforce for even longer so
That becomes again like a cyclical issue Like you know is it good for the economy Maybe but you know at that point in 10 Years you know who knows what the labor Force might look like so yeah that that Is an issue oh man Amy py thank you very Much
