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Working Until It’s Time for Your Grave (Common Dreams)
Published on Saturday, December 12, 2015
Like many Americans, my mom has no retirement savings.
“My plan is just to work until I die.” That’s how my mom sums up her retirement prospects.
She’s worked more than 40 hours a week as a legal secretary in north Florida for as long as I can remember. When my brother and I were kids, we went to her office every Saturday and entertained ourselves by sliding across the floor in fancy law firm chairs while our single mom worked overtime in her cubicle.
She managed to get me into college on a scholarship, and my brother got there on the GI Bill after a stint in the Army. Yet the American dream still hasn’t quite paid off for her. My mom’s one of the 62 percent of Americans who lives paycheck to paycheck. Even at age 60, she still doesn’t have paid sick leave or vacation time, and she avoids the doctor because she can’t afford her $2,000 deductible.
<snip>
In fact, millions of Americans rely on the federal government’s safety net to support them in retirement. But the net is fraying as corporations and their top executives dodge their fair share of the taxes that sustain it. While they pad their own retirement accounts, people like my mom who work hard their entire lives could have nothing to show for it.
cont'd...
Link: http://www.commondreams.org/views/2015/12/12/working-until-its-time-your-grave
Like many Americans, my mom has no retirement savings.
“My plan is just to work until I die.” That’s how my mom sums up her retirement prospects.
She’s worked more than 40 hours a week as a legal secretary in north Florida for as long as I can remember. When my brother and I were kids, we went to her office every Saturday and entertained ourselves by sliding across the floor in fancy law firm chairs while our single mom worked overtime in her cubicle.
She managed to get me into college on a scholarship, and my brother got there on the GI Bill after a stint in the Army. Yet the American dream still hasn’t quite paid off for her. My mom’s one of the 62 percent of Americans who lives paycheck to paycheck. Even at age 60, she still doesn’t have paid sick leave or vacation time, and she avoids the doctor because she can’t afford her $2,000 deductible.
<snip>
In fact, millions of Americans rely on the federal government’s safety net to support them in retirement. But the net is fraying as corporations and their top executives dodge their fair share of the taxes that sustain it. While they pad their own retirement accounts, people like my mom who work hard their entire lives could have nothing to show for it.
cont'd...
Link: http://www.commondreams.org/views/2015/12/12/working-until-its-time-your-grave
This is not just an American problem either. Here in Canada, the same issue for many - except the healthcare costs.
2 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
= new reply since forum marked as read
hustling carts at the supermarket i go to that looks like he is in his mid sixties.SAD.
