Abstract
Older Americans on the cusp of retirement today face a very different retirement income landscape than prior generations faced, with a higher degree of exposure to market forces and a higher risk of financial insecurity later in life. This exposure and risk are due to a variety of interactions among demographic changes, the evolution of the traditional three pillars of retirement income (Social Security, private pensions, and savings), and market volatility. While these changes present some real causes for concern, the implications of societal aging depend in large part on how we respond to these challenges. The way older Americans have responded thus far is encouraging. Older Americans are remaining in the workforce later in life and have shown remarkable flexibility with respect to how they retire, often transitioning into bridge jobs and sometimes into entirely new lines of work. This chapter describes the challenges that societal aging presents and the ways in which older Americans have responded to these challenges. We end with some important outstanding questions.
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Notes
- 1.
This chapter is based in part on topics discussed in Quinn and Cahill (in press).
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Cahill, K.E., Quinn, J.F. (2020). The Retirement Income Security Outlook for Older Workers: Causes for Concern and Reasons for Optimism. In: Czaja, S., Sharit, J., James, J. (eds) Current and Emerging Trends in Aging and Work. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-24135-3_7
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