Arrr, our treasure be dwindlin' for the common folk. Let's mend it afore we walk the plank!
2024-03-04
Arrr! The retirement system in the New World be a scurvy one, me hearties. No longer do ye find pensions and healthcare for the working folk. Almost half of the older swashbucklers have nary a piece of gold to their name. Let us mend our ways and right this ship!
In a recent abode as chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Plunderin' (HELP) Committee, I held a hearin' on the retirement crisis in America. Aye, matey! At that hearin', I had the opportunity to listen to Sara Schambers, a fourth-generation autoworker from Livonia, Michigan. Arrr, what she spilled out to the committee was mighty revealin'! Sara's grandpappy was an autoworker at Ford Motor Company for three decades. In return for his toil, he was able to retire at age 55 with a pension and good healthcare, aye! But retirement these days be lookin' very different for American workers, arrr!Although Sara has been an autoworker for 17 years, unlike her grandpappy, she will not have healthcare when she retires, nor a pension. In the words of the lass: "We have people leavin' American companies after 30 years of service with nothin' more than a ‘Have a nice day,’ and ‘I hope the stock market doesn’t crash.’" Arrr!In America today, almost 45% of older Americans between the ages of 55 and 64 have no savings at all and no idea how they will be able to retire with any shred of dignity or respect. Aye, matey! The retirement crisis be a big concern for the millions of senior citizens who are no longer able to work and have no pensions, arrr!