Most believe 'retirement as we know it is over'

[Jeffersons Ghost]

Nearly three quarters of people believe retirement as we currently understand it will not be possible in the future, a BBC Newsnight poll has suggested.

Some 70% of the 1,000 asked thought it would not be feasible for people to stop work then live on a pension for up to 30 years, the ComRes survey found. Some 72% of those in work were also worried about not having the funds to live as they would like in retirement.

More than three quarters (77%) thought younger people would get a worse deal.

And more than half (54%) thought it was unfair that younger generations would be worse off than those currently approaching retirement age.


http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/newsnight/8973814.stm

[Skink]

1. even at full employment lifetime earnings are going to be half or less than the previous generation

so pensions if any will be smaller and social security benefits will be smaller because of the smaller lifetime investment. Of course the numbers will be skewed because of the one percent at the top.

[Javaman]

2. Dr. Retirement or How I have learned to live with dying at my desk. nt

[TBF]

3. It doesn't have to be this way. The program is the one thing

that pays for itself from the constant contributions.

The problem is the politicians using it like a petty cash box.

[glitch]

7. +infinity. We'll only lose it if we refuse to fight for it. nt

[newportdadde]

4. Many boomers(not all) will still get to 'retire as we know it', I agree about future generations.

The generation coming of retirement age right now has the last best shot. The folks I work with in their late 50s plan to retire within the next year or two(god they love to smile and brag) and they will keep their medical benefits even past 65. They were able to have a pension, huge company growth in the 80s etc, they actually remember a time when benefits were being added, sounds foreign to me lol.

For my generation(early 30s) the pensions are gone, they have reduced our retirement matching(which was shit compared to the pension anyways) and will no longer offer insurance through the company once you hit 65 as Medicare is available. I will be willing to bet the medical gets cut entirely for new retirees within the next 10 years.

I think retirement *might* be possible for my generation if we do the following:

* Never buy a new car, always buy used
* Pay off housing ASAP and buy a modest home.
* save as much as you can as hard as you can.
* get lucky enough not to get sick or have a bad accident.
* have few or no kids.. if you have kids make then get loans for college to "build character".

[WinkyDink]

5. The UK, people; the UK.

[Recursion]

6. Retirement "as we know it" is a fairly new idea

The retirement age is 65 because 150 years ago Bismarck's actuaries told him that if he set it at 65, then 90% of civil servants wouldn't live long enough to collect a retirement check. Nobody really considered whether a decades-long stint of not-working is sustainable.

[cbdo2007]

8. I know I'll never retire but I'm not upset about it.

I figure if I haven't found a job that I enjoy by the time I'm 65 years old then I probably deserve whatever I wound up doing.

[L0oniX]

9. You're going to see a lot of dead old people in the streets.