For Many Seniors Retirement May Never Come

The Wall Street Journal had a good article about how because of the the economy and small retirement savings, some seniors will never be able to retire. For many, to make ends meet, seniors are postponing their retirement or have no plans to quit working. They see their retirement accounts at a level that is to low to tap. Prices of everything continue to rise. The returns on safe investments at all time lows and prospects for higher rates of interest being low for many years to come.

Many have no choice but to continue working to pay the bills. They never saw this day coming. Most of their money is in their home and selling the home couldn't be done because of the falling prices in home sales.

This months battered market is just a reminder of how much of a hit retirement savings has taken over the last few years. With interest rates almost at zero, Treasurys and certificates of deposit provide almost no income. According to the Federal Reserve, they intend to keep rates at historical lows at least until 2013.

More than three in five U.S. workers in their 50s and 60s plan on working past 65 -- and 47% of that group say they'll do so because they'll need the money or health benefits, according to a 2011 study from the nonprofit Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies.

Is there any way make the situation better?

All you can do is just continue at your current place of work. But now more than ever you must be a better employee. You are competing with younger employees who are making less of a wage than you. They are less experienced than the older worker but when times get tough whose job will the boss cut. Even with greater experience the boss has to make the bottom line work. So you have to be more valuable than ever. You should take on more projects and work. Making yourself a valuable asset of the company will be reason to keep you over another employee.

What if I have to start over?

It's going to be tough to find work for the older worker. You have to prove yourself all over again. Try to stay in the same industry where your skills will shine the most. If you can't stay in the same industry find a place where your skills can also be used affectively. Some employers are known to hire senior citizens. AARP (aarp.org) has a directory. Search for "National Employer Team." Some temporary-employment agencies, including Kelly Services and Adecco, specialize in placing seniors.

Starting your own business.

If you continue to find yourself not earning enough from your job or finding yourself unemployed, another path you could try is starting your own business. It is possible to transfer your present jobs skill set to a self-employment plan. Also to start yourself off in the direction of a completely new trade which you have always wanted to try.

The sad truth is most seniors can't do anything about their situation. They will have to continue struggling and waiting for the federal government to help them out. That help will never come because the cupboards are bare in Washington and it will get worse before it will get better.