Testing the Hypothesis, Part 1

The theory I would like to test is: People ages 55-75 are not ready for retirement because the cost of living has increased, but the median income has stayed relatively the same. People are accustomed to living the same lifestyle they did 20-30 years ago, however their purchasing power has gone down, resulting in minimal saving.

Who: People ages 55-75 still in the workforce.
What: They are not ready for retirement.
Why: Their relative purchasing power has decreased as their income barely increased with rates of inflation, however, they have maintained the same lifestyle.

Interview 1: M. David (Co-worker- 37 years at company; Lower-level position)
Mrs. David is past the average age of retirement, however, she does not have plans to retire for another 5 years (she said hopefully). She does not have enough saved to retire. While she admits to having a shoe-shopping problem, she also blamed this issue on the economy as well as the changes in our company pension program. Her husband is retired and both of her working children live at home with her to split the cost of living.

Interview 2: D. Hosier (Co-worker- 39.5 years at company; Mid-level position)
Mrs. Hosier is past the average age of retirement. She is her mother's care-taker and her medical bills are very expensive. Her husband is also retired, however, she was not planning on spending so much of her savings on her mother's care so she plans to work another 2-3 years. She has retirement savings, but not quite enough to retire yet. She also really enjoys her job and considers herself a "workaholic".

Interview 3: R. Jenkins (Supervisor- 32 years at company; Middle manager)
Mrs. Jenkins plans to retire in 3-5 years, which would be slightly early or on-track for the average age of retirement. Her husband just retired this past year. While she has enough to retire, she said she is accustomed to a certain level of living and does not want to have to cut on spending just to retire early. She loves shopping, vacations, and renovating her home without worrying about the cost. She also love leading her team and is still working towards another promotion before her retirement.

Interview 4: J. Fisher (Director; 29 years at company)
Mrs. Fisher's husband is disabled and cannot work. She plans to retire in 3-5 years and has enough saved to do so. This would be an early retirement by a few years.  She also has additional income from rental properties. Once she retires, she plans to invest in a few more properties.

Interview 5: C. Morris (Co-worker- 38 years at company; Mid-level position)
Mrs. Moore is not sure when she will retire. Although she is almost to the average age of retirement, she does not feel old enough to retire. She also went through a very expensive divorce a few years ago and would have to support herself through retirement. She also brought up the change in company pension. She does not have enough saved to retire.


What I did not realize until I typed up the summary of my interviews is that all of the people I interview are women whose husbands are already retired or unable to work. I'm not sure if this is just a coincidence or a trend that women retire later than men. Also, none of the individuals who are not ready to retire took personal responsibility for their situation. Also, the only people who were ready for retirement are managers or above in the company.This leads me to believe that it is increasingly more difficult for the middle-class to save and that people would rather work longer and keep up their ideal lifestyle than cut back on spending to retire on-time or early.