Is it a coincidence that a new study about the poor prospects for retirement for young adults and children comes out shortly after the President's Debt Panel recommends raising the retirement age to 68 by 2050?
A poll conducted by an organization called Protect Seniors finds that the vast majority of American retirees (89.2%) see their children and grandchildren as being unable to participate in the "American Dream" of affording retirement.
Almost three quarters of those surveyed said that they expect their children and grandchildren to have worse career and lifestyle opportunities than they enjoyed. When broken out about 73.4% of the retirees they expected that for their children, while 75.6% predicted a similar fate for their grandchildren.
Two out of three said they didn't think their children would be able to afford retirement and over 70% doubt their grandchildren will be able to either.
Former Chairman of the Richmond Federal Reserve Bank and former White House Advisor Dr. Thomas Mackell Jr. called the results "a real tragedy. Dr. Mackell was former President Clinton's advisor to ERISA, which stands for Employee Retirement Income Security Act.
He says that in the past "it was a given that children would enjoy better career and lifestyle opportunities than their parents. That chapter in American life appears to be ending."
Dr. Mackell was with the Richmond Fed from 2003 to 2008 and a White House appointee to the ERISA Advisory Council to the Secretary of Labor from 1997-1999. Currently, Dr. Mackell is a director of the Foundation for Fiduciary Studies, chairman of the Board of Directors of United Benefits and Pension Services, Inc. and President of the Association of American Benefit Administrators Inc.
He says the survey reflects "the reality of what has been happening for decades. As defined benefit pensions are rapidly disappearing from the retirement landscape, there is an overreliance on stock-backed 401-K plans, which have all of the economic stability of a slot machine."
According to Dr. Mackell the outlook for retirees threatens to be a horror story in the making. He can envision the elderly living under bridges and worse. "Will future retirees have a roof over their head?" he asks. "Will those in their 50s be able to recoup losses suffered in their retirement investments in recent years or will they have to work until the day they die?
ProtectSeniors.Org is a Washington, D.C.-based non-profit advocating for the health benefit protection of retirees from 392 different companies, 45 labor unions, 98 municipal, state and federal retiree groups in addition to 16 retiree associations.
