Family Forum / Marriage / Marriage / October 2005

Just so happened to spot this in the latest issue of Money magazine:

Average retirement age:

1950s: 66 for men, 67 for women
1970s: 63 for men, 63 for women
Today: 62 for men, 61 for women

Poverty rate of seniors:

1950s: 35%
1970s: 15%
Today: 9%

% of income replaced by social security

1950s: 19%
1970s: 32%
Today: 42%

Now granted (and this will surely discredit the whole concept in some
people's minds), this is the context of an article stating that things
are unlikely to be quite as rosey for many baby boomers as they are for
today's crop of early retirees. But it also doesn't predict that things
will slide back to where they were "in the good old days"--especially
for people who prepare by keeping their skills current (especially
skills that can be used for contract-oriented jobs) and do their best to
maintain good health so that they don't, in fact, feel or look all worn
out and one foot in the grave at 62.