17 March 2007

Americans retire early for health reasons

Nearly a fourth of workers retire early because of health issues, according to a survey released by Fidelity Investments earlier this week.

The Boston Globe ran this as a story about whether people were saving enough for retirement (no, says Fidelity). I'd say it says at least as much about U.S. healthcare.

Canada has better numbers:

"The Fidelity Canadian Retirement Survey also surveyed Canadians over 45
years old who consider themselves retired. The survey found that the majority
(80%) of retirees stopped working before they turned 65 years old. Only 13 per
cent retired at 65 with the remainder (seven per cent) continuing working past
65 years. The main reasons stated for retiring are health or medical reasons
(21%), tired of working (14%) and they were offered a retirement package (6%)."

1 comment:

Larry said...

Americans are forced to work longer hours, often at two jobs to make ends meet.

The average worker feels pressure about losing their jobs to outsourcing, and the failed Bush economy.

More workers are losing their healthcare than ever before, and all these combined has brought the health crisis our nations workers face.

Something is very wrong in America.

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