Washington Comes Up With Another Proposal to Cut Benefits Almost Weekly
To hear some people talk, you’d think all older Americans were living large on Easy Street. Policy wonks debate whether older people have too many advantages. Every week, it seems as though Washington comes up with another proposal to cut Social Security benefits, restrict Medicare eligibility or scale back veterans’ benefits.
But a new AARP Florida survey reflects a far more sobering reality for Floridians 50 and older, and by extension, older Americans across the nation:
Some 53 percent of Florida voters age 50-plus now say they plan to put off complete retirement, compared to only 8 percent who say they are very likely to retire as planned.
Asked why they are planning to work past what they considered “retirement age,” 62 percent of them said they will need the money.
Older Floridians overwhelmingly say they are banking on Social Security to be there for them when they retire. Some 83 percent say they expect Social Security to provide income for them in retirement.
By contrast, only 48 percent are expecting a pension from their employer, and less than half expect income from stock investments (46 percent), an IRA (38 percent) or a 401(k) retirement account (33 percent).