The Change That We Need

            “The combination of volatile financial markets putting a dent in savings, less access to credit and greater jobs' uncertainty has cast an ever darker cloud over America's already pretty bleak retirement savings landscape” [1]. Retirement is one of the biggest issues being faced by Americans during this extreme economic crisis. Retirement is beginning to rise on the charts of Americans rivaling issues such as inflation and the recession. With such an enormous crisis on our hands, it makes it difficult for it not to reach out and influence other parts of life. This is most certainly the case in terms of our current difficulties with people that are retiring. People are beginning to lose money and are being forced to use money saved specifically for retirement in order to pay off certain debts that they have because of out struggling economy. As the economy worsens, the people along with the president need to come up with a plan to help people that have been working hard their entire lives save their money.

            Retirement is something that every working person looks forward to in life. It is a time to travel and do the things that you never got to do when you were because you did not have the time or money due to your occupation. But now-a-days, because of the current economic situation, it is becoming increasingly difficult to take advantages of such opportunities. “That initial hole was largely demographic. The number of Americans 65 and older is projected to increase to 69.4 million in 2030 from 35.5 million in 2000” [2]. This shows that the current situation that retirees face is only going to become worse. That is why the president needs to step in and adopt a policy which will make both the government and the people happy. This policy needs to enable people to live off of their earning when they retire, not have to sell a car or furniture to get a little extra money. In a recent report, the PBGC said there were 44 million workers covered by its guaranteed pension. That's less than one-third of the U.S. workforce. [3].With two-thirds of the American workforce not guaranteed a safe future, it is no wonder why people are facing such difficult times at this point. All jobs should supply some type of pension for their employees to insure that they will be taken care of for their hard work after they retire.

            As previously mentioned, the current crisis is affecting every man and women in America. It has no preference or bias to who it goes after. But there are some people that may be feeling the effects a bit more than others. For example, African-Americans’ status is being described, “…shows that only 57 percent of Blacks own stocks or mutual funds compared to 76 percent of Whites. In short, large segments of the Black community are simply not participating in a serious way to build wealth to secure their retirement” [4]. This shows that Blacks should become more involved and more intuitive in terms of investing money and making profit so that they can make more money to help support them when they retire. Now that we have a black president he should be an advocate of making money and intelligently investing it or saving in to instill the future that everyone in the U.S. would love to enjoy. “Eighteen percent of single women over 65 fell below the poverty line in 2000. Another 10% were in the “near poor” category” [5]. Single women are falling victim to the economic downfall and their futures’ are paying for it. This is a prime reason why women want to marry so young; so that they know that their futures’ will be in the hands of the husband and that they will be living the “good life” when they become older. The stock market lost 47 percent of its value between September 30, 2007 and December 2, 2008, a roughly $11 trillion drop. The loss has reduced the retirement savings of many Americans, particularly older adults [6]. Because the economy continues to struggle, everything around it struggles. Barack Obama needs to get the economy back on its feet so that the American people have a chance at that beautiful place: retirement.

            Though the downturn of the economy has negative affected people and discouraged many, there are still some people giving aid to help these innocent people who are being robbed of their money, as well as their lives. For example, there is a women-based group in the Los Angeles Area who are helping other women with their careers and retirement, “Project Renewment gives us the ability to move forward to this new place” [7]. People need a feeling of hope at difficult times such as these and what better way than to actually help them secure their futures. Retirement today often means the beginning of a new career [8]. Modern-day advice that the notorious “65” does not always mean that working is over. There are ways that are less strenuous and less difficult that the jobs of middle-aged people have that will allow you to enjoy your occupation as well as to keep bringing money in to ensure that you will have money saved for a situation such as this. Always remember, "You should really be looking at the money you put away in a retirement account as your emergency retirement savings plan [9]. With money so short, it is important not to be a wanton or to foolishly spend it; you must save to possess the stability that everyone wants. But, unfortunately, not everyone can have that stability. It will likely stay the same or continue to worsen for those in the developing world [10]. This will be the story of our lives unless we stand up and fight against this crisis to prove that we are the strongest nation in the world; prove that we can get through anything.  

            It has been said that for every problem there is a solution. Our economy is a significant problem, but the positive side is that there has to be a solution. Once Barack Obama finds that solution, America will be on the fast-track back to stability. With a nation that was built on different people working together for one common goal, we should learn from them and do the same. Who knows? It just might work.

ENDNOTES

1.                           Kelly Dasani, “U.S. Retirement Crisis Just Got Worse”, Management-Issues-The Heart of a Changing Workplace (2008),  http://www.management-issues.com/2008/3/3/research/us-retirement-crisis-just-got-worse.asp.

2.                           Jim Jubak, “Retirement crisis: From bad to worse”, MSN Money (2008),

http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Investing/JubaksJournal/RetirementCrisisFromBadToWorse.aspx.

3.                  Dan Ackman, “The Coming Retirement Crisis”, Top of the News         http://www.forbes.com/2004/06/18/cx_da_0618topnews.html

4.                  Mellody Hobson, “The Looming Retirement Crisis in the African-American Community”, The Huntington Post (2008), http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mellody-hobson/the-looming-retirement-cr_b_85390.html.

5.                   Rachel Dawkinson, “Women Hardest Hit by Retirement Savings Crisis”, Spectrum Advisor (2008), http://www.spectremadvisor.com/Retirement-Advisor/Women-Hardest-Hit-by-Retirement-Savings-Crisis.html.

7.                  Melissa Hecksher, “Life’s Journey at a Crossroads”, Daily Breeze, January 15, 2009.

8.                  Retirement Ronovation, Public Broadcasting Studios, (2008).

9.                  Malika Zouhali-Worrall, “Documentary Spotlights Looming Retirement Crisis”, CNN Money (2008), http://money.cnn.com/2008/03/31/smbusiness /retirement_revolution.fsb/index.htm.