Retirement on the Rocks

Jobs and wages have become less secure over the past thirty years, while stock and housing markets have gone through greater booms and busts at the same time. These factors alone make saving for retirement difficult, but a number of policy changes have also increasingly exposed household to these risks, making saving more difficult and more uncertain. Social Security offers fewer protections because of an increasing retirement age, and employees receive less help from their employers than in the past. More people have to figure out complex "do-it-yourself" savings options while those who least need to save, because they have little risk exposure, tend to receive the greatest tax breaks for saving. The results have been fewer retirement savings, more uncertainty, and a direr outlook for a secure retirement for most Americans. Since savings are low and risk exposure is high because of past policy shortcomings, this book offers straightforward solutions to build real retirement security for American families.