Retire? In this economy?!
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What concerns do baby boomers have about retirement in today's economy?
I am 58 years old and I'm currently thinking about retiring from my state job and wondering, how do you know when you've got enough money? How do you know?
Hi, this is Claire. I'm 66. I want to retire. I need to retire. I'm so stressed out. I have a one-year-old grandson. I should retire, but I'm too terrified to because of everything that I see.
Hi, Claire. Hi, how are you?
What are some of the big questions you have about retirement right now?
Mostly it's, am I going to be able to have Social Security? I feel like its legs are trying to get cut out from under it and it's going to collapse from the weight. I feel like prices of everything is going to go up. The housing market is going to collapse. So I'm trying to find, mostly I want a crystal ball to get through this. I just want to know what I can do now to protect myself more than what I've been thinking of.
This is unfortunately something that we have heard a lot from a lot of our readers.
This is Noah Shidelower, economy reporter at Business Insider. He has a particular focus on older Americans. I called him up because he's heard from more than 3,000 baby boomers.
It seems almost every conversation that I have with older Americans... talk about that in some regard, where a lot of people are saying, I prepared well, but how well did I prepare? Or some people are saying, well, I don't have a ton of money right now, and I'm really nervous. And we have noticed this across the board, across wealthy individuals, people who are lower income. people who are relying on a lot of these social services. The Trump administration is saying, we won't touch Social Security, we won't touch benefits. But we are seeing a lot of changes right now. And we have spoken with a lot of these older Americans who are saying, well, I used to be able to get through to Social Security in 15 minutes without a concern with my benefits.
How is Social Security's future affecting older Americans' retirement plans?
Now I'm on the phone for four or five hours. We are hearing from a lot of people who are concerned about the future of Social Security. Will I continue getting the same allocation that I'm getting right now? And then you have just in general, a lot of older Americans are working later. So they're living longer, but they're also having to work a lot longer. We are seeing some pushes right now among some Americans. representatives in Congress to potentially even push back the retirement age from 67 to 69 or 70. So there's definitely a lot of fear that a lot that a lot of older Americans have that they will need to keep working or they'll have to work until their 70s to supplement Social Security.
What are you looking for to better understand how this economy is impacting older Americans?
So we're looking at a lot of factors right now, a lot of indicators. The main thing that we're currently looking at is asset prices. A lot of older Americans and a lot of retirees who have a lot of equity in their homes and their home is essentially their retirement. This is a lot of money for some people. It's six, seven figures worth of retirement money.
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Chapters
7 chapters
1
What concerns do baby boomers have about retirement in today's economy?
1:34–3:47
2
How is Social Security's future affecting older Americans' retirement plans?
3:47–6:45
3
What economic factors impact retirees' financial security now?
6:45–9:30
4
Are older Americans panicking unnecessarily about their retirement funds?
9:30–15:47
5
What advice does personal finance expert Michelle Singletary offer about retirement fears?
15:47–20:00
6
How can you effectively talk to elders about retirement and finances?
20:00–22:21
7
What should people prioritize financially during economic uncertainty?
22:21–29:15
Speakers
14 identified
Michelle Singletary 7 min
Jonquilyn Hill 5 min
Professor Bobby Duffy 5 min
Noah Shidelower 4 min
Marsha (continuation) 2 min
Caller - Marsha 1 min
Caller - Claire (continuation) 1 min
Interviewer
Ryan Peterson
Profiteer Markets Host
Caller - Claire, 66-year-old
Caller - 58-year-old state employee
Podcast Promo Voice
Caller - Gen Z