There is plenty of graying company at the grindstone.
As the falling real estate and stock markets erode their savings, Baby Boomers are delaying retirement, electing labor over leisure in uncertain times. Millions of retirement age Americans, stung by the recent economic pall, suddenly are having to reassess their plans--with many forced to quickly change course.
In February, the proportion of people ages 55 to 64 in the workforce rose to 64.8% up 1.5 percentage points from last April. That translates to more than an additional million people in the job pool, according to the U.S. Labor Department.
While many Americans are still sitting on large gains from homes and stocks bought years ago, today's market turmoil is shaping up to be the most painful in decades. Nationally, house prices have fallen 10% or so in the past year. And the quarter ended this week marked the worst period for stocks in 5.5 years, with equities off 15.5% from their October 2007 highs.
The double dip, affecting asset owners of every age bracket, is unprecedented in recent decades. To document similar conditions, "you'd have to go back to the era of the [Great] Depression," says financial historian Richard Sylla of New York University's Stern School of Business. With their homes worth less, fewer people feel confident enough to retire, even if they plan to continue living in them.
Source: The Wall Street Journal, April 1, 2008