Samantha Schneiderman Anastasia Abbruscato

In 1900 Americans on average lived for only 49 years and most people that worked died while still on the job
Those who lived long enough the average retirement age was 85.

When Social Security was enacted in 1935 the life expectancy rate rose to 61 years of age.
Now it is 77 years and still rising.

Politicians claim that the nation is facing a severe economic threat from the aging of its population combined with escalating health costs. However the expanding longevity of the elderly is not a financial burden.

If US per capita income continues to grow at a rate of 1.5 percent a year there will be enough money to finance comfortable retirements and high-quality healthcare for all citizens.

Robert Fogel, a Nobel Prize winning economist has a solution for a new national pension system to go alongside Social Security.

A universal provident fund

This requires all workers to save a significant portion of their wage incomes every year to provide for their future. He proposes a savings rate of 14.7 percent.

However Fogul does not realize it isnt Social security that is financially threatened. It is healthcare and two other pillars of retirement security: Employer-run pension plans and the private savings of families.

Many baby boomers are coming to realize that by their golden years they cant afford to retire at all, let alone retire early.
They will keep working because if they retire it means their standard of living will go down drastically.