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Author: John Hanno
Born and raised in Chicago, Illinois. Bogan High School. Worked in Alaska after the earthquake. Joined U.S. Army at 17. Sergeant, B Battery, 3rd Battalion, 84th Artillery, 7th Army. Member of 12 different unions, including 4 different locals of the I.B.E.W. Worked for fortune 50, 100 and 200 companies as an industrial electrician, electrical/electronic technician.
Large portion of Americans doubt democracy and view violence as acceptable, poll finds
Brendan Rascius – October 18, 2023
J. David Ake/AP
A large portion of Americans on both sides of the aisle favor getting rid of democracy and imposing violence on their political opponents, among other authoritarian measures, according to a new poll.
Thirty-one percent of Donald Trump supporters and 24% of President Joe Biden supporters said democracy is “no longer viable” and an alternative system should be tried, according to an October poll from the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics.
The poll surveyed 2,008 registered voters from Aug. 25 to Sept. 11 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.2 percentage points.
Other key findings:
When asked whether it is acceptable to employ violence to stop political opponents from attaining their goals, 41% of Biden supporters and 38% of Trump supporters said yes.
30% of Trump supporters and 25% of Biden supporters said elections should be suspended in times of crisis.
41% of Trump supporters and 30% of Biden supporters said they favor either conservative or liberal states seceding from the union.
Nearly half of Biden supporters, 47%, and 35% of Trump supporters said the government should restrict the expression of views “considered discriminatory or offensive.”
The polling comes as Trump, the leading contender for the GOP nomination, continues to claim without evidence that the 2020 election was rigged against him.
The results, which signal a desire for an authoritarian crackdown, come at a time when public trust in government is at a near-record low, according to the Pew Research Center. In a 2023 poll, only 16% of Americans said they trusted the government to do what is right at least most of the time.
The poll reveals “really troubling findings about democracy and the potential for violence,” Rick Hasen, the director of UCLA’s Safeguarding Democracy Project, said on X.
Premiums for family health insurance at work jump to nearly $24,000 this year
Tami Luhby, CNN – October 18, 2023
Natalia Gdovskaia/Moment RF/Getty Images
Workers and their employers are paying a lot more for job-based health insurance this year.
The annual cost of family health insurance coverage at work soared to an average of nearly $24,000 this year, according to KFF’s Employer Health Benefits Survey, released Wednesday. That’s up 7% from last year.
Employees are shelling out an average of $6,575 for their share of the premium, up almost $500, or close to 8%, from last year, the annual survey found. Their companies are footing the rest of the bill.
“We have a huge premium increase this year. There’s just no other way to cut it,” said Matthew Rae, who co-authored the survey. “There are lots of affordability challenges for employer coverage.”
For single coverage, the average annual premium rose to $8,435, also up 7% from last year. Workers are picking up just over $1,400 of the tab, about $75 more than last year.
Though large, the jump in premiums is roughly in line with the rise in wages and inflation since 2022, as well as over the past five years, according to KFF. This is different from in the early 2000s, when premiums were soaring by double digits, but inflation and wage growth were relatively muted.
The tight job market has prompted companies to avoid watering down their health insurance coverage since it can be a recruiting and retention tool.
Deductibles remained essentially flat this year, which may reflect employers’ concerns about how much workers have to shell out when they need medical care, KFF said. The average annual deductible is roughly $1,735 among workers who have a deductible for single coverage.
“Employers want to keep offering good benefits to keep good people,” said Rae.
Still, workers should prepare for premiums to take a bigger bite out of their paychecks in coming years. Nearly a quarter of companies said they will increase employees’ premium contributions in the next two years, KFF found.
Higher costs at smaller firms
Workers at smaller firms typically pay much more for coverage than their peers at companies with at least 200 workers.
KDC Mailing & Bindery had to contend with an overall premium increase of about 13% for this year, said Steve Van Loon, director of operations at the Tempe, Arizona, firm, which has 42 workers.
The company, which only started offering health benefits in 2019 to be more competitive, raised workers’ premiums by 3% but had to hike its prices by as much as 5% to help it afford the increased cost. KDC covered the rest.
Next year, the company likely won’t be able to be as generous to its staff, Van Loon said.
“Our profit margins do not allow us to absorb these costs,” he said. “We would be out of business.”
Limits on abortion coverage
Large employers with workers in more than one state may face challenges in offering abortion coverage after the Supreme Court’s 2022 decision that ended the federal constitutional right to an abortion. Multiple states have adopted laws that prohibit or restrict abortion access.
One in 10 large firms with at least 200 employees said their largest plan does not cover legal abortions, KFF found. Another 18% said they only cover abortion under limited circumstances, such as rape, incest or health or life endangerment.
Nearly a third of large firms said they cover abortion in most or all circumstances, while 40% said they were unsure of their coverage policy, possibly because it was in flux or they were unaware of the details.
After the Supreme Court ruling, several companies said they would offer financial assistance to employees who had to travel to others states for abortions. Some 7% of large employers -— and 19% of companies with at least 5,000 workers — provide or plan to provide such reimbursement.
KFF did not ask these questions on abortion in prior surveys.
‘The View’: Rachel Maddow Says Jim Jordan Winning Speaker Would Be Like Trump Putting ‘Rudy Giuliani on the Supreme Court’
Andi Ortiz – October 18, 2023
Rep. Jim Jordan remains in the running to become the next Speaker of the House, but he is struggling to come up with the necessary votes to win the job. But Rachel Maddow isn’t looking forward to that possibility, comparing it on Wednesday to Rudy Giuliani getting a spot on the Supreme Court.
Stopping by “The View” on Wednesday, the MSNBC host admitted she was glad that Jordan lost the first vote, and worried what his speakership might actually look like.
“I think that had Mr. Jordan been chosen, it would have been a big deal for the country,” Maddow said. “It would be like if Trump was president and put Rudy Giuliani on the Supreme Court, you know what I mean?”
That comparison earned a full belly laugh from Whoopi, as Sunny Hostin and her co-hosts conceded it was “a very good example.”
“I mean, there was nobody who was more important in Congress to Trump’s effort to overthrow the lawfully elected government of the United States than Jim Jordan,” Maddow added.
“So then, to make him second in line to the presidency? And in charge of congress certifying the election results in 2024? I mean, he’s still in the running, maybe it’ll still be him. That’ll be a big deal if it happens, in all the wrong ways.”
All that said, Maddow was pretty confident that, no matter who ends up with the gavel, they aren’t going to enjoy their time with it.
“Even if you could fast forward to the end of this process, whenever it ends, with whoever wins, what does that person win? The worst job in America!” she said. “And they get to hold it for five minutes, and then get fired, and then we start again. I mean, there’s nothing to look forward to for anybody here. It is a sad thing.”
‘The cost of all these things is prohibitive’: Florida may no longer be the prized retirement haven it once was — here are 3 major reasons why you shouldn’t bask in the Sunshine State
Serah Louis – October 17, 2023
‘The cost of all these things is prohibitive’: Florida may no longer be the prized retirement haven it once was — here are 3 major reasons why you shouldn’t bask in the Sunshine State
Folks entering retirement and searching for the ideal place to settle down and relax in their golden years often look toward Florida. The state doesn’t tax income and boasts sunny weather along with gorgeous white beaches. It also offers plenty of amenities like golf, fishing and even bird-watching.
But surprise, surprise, Florida isn’t the top place to retire, ranking eighth in a Bankrate study published in August.
Despite ranking highly for its agreeable climate, the state fell behind when it came to affordability, crime and health care — all crucial factors as you plan where to live as you age.
Here are three big costs that might make you second guess picking the Sunshine State to settle for retirement.
Housing
Some retirees, especially those living on limited incomes, are being priced out of Florida, which has seen a surge in housing demand within the last few years.
In the meanwhile, other states like Iowa — which secured the top spot in the Bankrate study — come with much cheaper home prices. The average home in Iowa is valued at around $212,000, while in Florida it’s around $393,000, according to Zillow.
Residents of the Sunshine State have been tackling rising property taxes as well, especially in coveted retirement communities, since they’re measured based on real estate value.
Dominic Calabro, president and CEO of tax research institute Florida TaxWatch, recently told WFSU News this system is becoming unsustainable.
“At some point, we’re going to make Florida a place where you’re like, ‘Oh, it’s wonderful, but, the cost of food, the cost of housing, the cost of all these things is prohibitive and difficult for people of average means, let alone low-income means,” he said.
Insurance
Florida might be renowned for its warm weather — but it’s also prone to its fair share of hurricanes, tropical storms, flooding and other disasters, which can cause property damage and consequently insurance premiums to skyrocket.
“The average home premium in Florida is about $6,000,” Mark Friedlander, spokesperson for the Insurance Information Institute, told WPLG Local 10 in June. “That is nearly four times the U.S. average of $1,700.”
Half a dozen home insurers went insolvent in the state in 2022, while Farmers Insurance made headlines this summer for pulling out as well, affecting 100,000 policyholders. Insurers have blamed their woes on extreme weather, as well as legal system abuse and fraudulent claims.
Health care
For many Americans, access to affordable, quality health care is extremely important as you age — but it can often depend on where you live.
The average total cost of premiums and potential spending on deductibles across single and family insurance policies hit a high of $9,284 in the Sunshine State, or over 16% of the median household income, in 2020.
Along with 10 other states, Florida officials have also rejected expanding Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act, which offers states extra matching funds if they open up the program to those with low incomes.
Millions Of Homes Sit Vacant Amid America’s Housing Crisis — Here Are The 3 Biggest Reasons
Jing Pan – October 17, 2023
America has a housing shortage. According to Realtor.com, the gap between single-family home construction and household formation grew to 6.5 million homes from 2012 to 2022.
And despite the Federal Reserve’s substantial interest rate hikes aimed at curbing inflation, housing affordability continues to elude many areas across the country, with rent prices surging in tandem.
Yet according to a new analysis by LendingTree, millions of homes stay vacant in America.
Using the latest U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey data, LendingTree found that there are 5.5 million vacant housing units in the 50 largest metros in the U.S. This results in an average vacancy rate of 7.22%.
“In a simplified version of the housing market, vacancy rates should have a strong inverse relationship to home and rent prices,” wrote Jacob Channel, senior economist at LendingTree.
But reality can be different from theory, as home prices remain high in many parts of the country. Channel explained that there are “more nuanced factors” in play, such as location, mortgage rates, unit size and reasons homes are unoccupied.
The study revealed that New Orleans, Miami and Tampa, Florida, have the highest vacancy rates in the country, standing at 13.88%, 12.65% and 12.15%, respectively. In contrast, the lowest vacancy rates are found in Minneapolis; Austin, Texas; and Washington, D.C., with rates of 4.51%, 4.57%, and 4.98%, respectively.
Minneapolis, Austin and D.C. are the only three cities with vacancy rates below 5%.
Why Homes Are Vacant
Given the housing shortage in the U.S., you might wonder why these units remain unoccupied.
LendingTree’s analysis showed that the most prevalent reason (26.61%) for vacant housing units in the nation’s 50 largest metropolitan areas is that they are available for rent.
Meanwhile, 17.04% of housing units remain vacant because they are used only part-time.
Additionally, 7.98% of homes are unoccupied because of ongoing repair or renovation work.
LendingTree also pointed out that in cases where an area exhibits both high vacancy rates and high home prices, it may indicate the presence of distinctive features, such as being a sought-after vacation destination or a prime target for investors.
Housing Affordability In America
With rising interest rates, homebuyers find themselves contending with larger mortgage payments.
According to The State of the Nation’s Housing 2023 report from Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies, the annual income needed to afford payments on a median-priced home in the U.S. is now $117,100, up nearly $20,000 from last year.
And that means millions of households are now priced out of the market.
“The number of renter households able to afford these higher payments shrunk by 32%, from 7.5 million to 5.1 million, a loss of 2.4 million potential homebuyers,” the Harvard researchers said.
To navigate an expensive housing market, LendingTree suggests shopping around for the best possible rate, considering different loan options and getting preapproved for your mortgage before you start house hunting.
“With a store or club located within 10 miles of approximately 90% of Americans, we are uniquely positioned to deliver a convenient charging option that will help make EV ownership possible whether people live in rural, suburban, or urban areas,” wrote Walmart’s Senior Vice President of Energy Transformation Vishal Kapadia in a release.
By installing charging stations across the country, Walmart makes owning an EV easier for drivers who worry they won’t be able to find a place to charge their vehicle.
“Easy access to on-the-go charging is a game-changer for drivers who have been hesitant to purchase an EV for concerns they won’t be able to find a charger in a clean, bright, and safe location when needed,” Kapadia wrote.
Already, 280 Walmart and Sam’s Club locations in the U.S. offer nearly 1,300 fast-charging stations for electric vehicles.
Not only are EVs better for the environment, but they’re also better for your wallet. EV owners spend about 60% less money each year on fuel than owners of comparable gasoline vehicles. Even maintenance and repairs are less pricey for EVs. Maintenance and repair costs for gasoline-powered vehicles are generally double what they are for EVs.
“We see our commitment today as a natural extension of our work to help customers and members live better, easier, and more sustainable lives,” Kapadia wrote. “[It’s] a big win for busy families and drivers everywhere, our country, and the planet.”
Climbing 50 stairs a day may stave off heart disease — while living near a park or lake can keep you mentally well. How to improve your health, according to new studies
Kaitlin Reilly – October 14, 2023
Climbing stairs may reduce your risk of cardiovascular disease. (Getty Images)
There’s so much health and wellness news out there. Here are some of this week’s health headlines and what you can take away from them to better impact your health.
Cycling may improve mental health
A survey of 1,200 middle school students who participated in a cycling program found improvements in their mental health and physiological well-being. The improvements appeared especially significant in students who were ethnic minorities from low-income families.
Why it matters: Cycling combines transportation, leisure and exercise — three things that can benefit young people greatly once they learn how to ride safely. For older individuals, the same reasoning can be applied to dusting off your own bike: A 2017 study found that people who commuted by bike to work had lower risk for certain cancers and cardiovascular disease.
Climbing stairs may impact heart health
A U.K.-based study published in the journal Atherosclerosis found that people who climbed 50 stairs over the course of a day reduced their risk of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease and of cardiovascular disease in general by 20% when compared to people who did not climb any stairs daily.
Study author Dr. Lu Qi, director of Tulane University’s Obesity Research Center, told Medical News Today that stair climbing is a “vigorous exercise” which is associated with “lowering body weight, improving metabolic status and inflammation, and reducing other diseases which may increase the risk of heart disease, such as diabetes.”
Why it matters: We know that getting your heart pumping is important for your overall health, yet many people say they struggle to fit exercise into their lives. Choosing to take the stairs wherever you can, as evidenced by this study, is one potentially easy way to reap the benefits of exercise without overhauling your lifestyle.
Living near ‘green’ or ‘blue’ spaces may benefit mental health
A 10-year study out of the U.K. published in the journal Planetary Health found that greater exposure to green and blue spaces — such as living near a park or a lake, respectively — reduced your likelihood of developing a mental health condition.
Why it matters: There’s mounting evidence that suggests natural spaces may benefit mental health. A recent study suggested that fishing benefited mental health in men — but that the correlation had less to do with angling itself, and more to do with access to blue spaces. Whether you live somewhere with access to more natural environments or not, seeking them out whenever possible can allow you to reap some of these benefits.
Your Apple Watch can now tell you how much sunlight you’re getting
A new feature in the Apple Watch series 6 or later tracks how much time in the sun you’re getting, which is made possible by the wearable’s ambient light sensor, as well as its GPS and motion sensors.
Why it matters: If you already track the amount of steps you take each day, you may benefit from also tracking your time in the sun. Morning sunlight, for example, can help improve your sleep later on, and exposure to sunlight in general can help raise vitamin D levels, which are important for boosting immunity and energy. Of course, it’s also important to be aware of the risk of sun exposure, which can lead to skin cancer — so if you’re tracking your sunlight with your watch, you might want to also use it as a reminder to keep the time limited and to reapply sunscreen.
Children may benefit greatly from practicing mindfulness
Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology found that children who used a mindfulness app at home for 40 days reduced their stress levels, as well as reporting lower negative emotions like fear and loneliness overall. The study, which was conducted in 2020 and 2021 during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, allowed researchers to see how children with higher levels of mindfulness appeared less emotionally affected by the global crisis.
Why it matters: Mindfulness has long been studied for its mental health benefits — a 2023 study showed that mindfulness techniques, when practiced over time, may be as effective as taking medication.
Many parents are now teaching their children how to be mindful as well. Sarah Ezrin, author of The Yoga of Parenting, previously told Yahoo Life, “I wasn’t taught any self-regulation techniques as a kid. I had to learn them all as an adult and, while they’ve been inordinately helpful, I can only imagine what learning these right out the gate can do for our development, mood regulation and emotional regulation skills.”
Want to live to a healthy 100? Longevity doctor Peter Attia has advice.
Andrea Atkins – October 13, 2023
“If you improve your health span, so that when you’re 80, you actually function like a 65-year-old, it’s almost impossible to not also get five to 10 years of life-span extension,” says Peter Attia, author of “Outlive: The Science & Art of Longevity.” (Dia Dipasupil via Getty Images)
Do you want to live to 100? Thanks to modern medicine, you have a decent chance of doing so.
But if you want to live well to 100, physician and best-selling author Peter Attia says you may have some work to do so that your last decade of life – your “marginal decade,” as he calls it – is healthful and rewarding, not limited by disease.
If we adopt new ways of looking at our health, we can do a better job of matching our life span (how long we live) to our “health span” (how long we live free from chronic disease or other health problems), says Attia, the author of “Outlive: The Science & Art of Longevity.”
In a phone interview, Attia talked about “the Four Horsemen of Chronic Disease” – cardiovascular disease, cancer, cognitive diseases (such as Alzheimer’s) and metabolic diseases (such as Type 2 diabetes) – and new ways to plan for longevity. The following was edited for length and clarity.
Q: Many people fear living to be 100, imagining loneliness, poor health and solitude. Should living so long be our aim?
A: I don’t think it should, actually. A lot of those fears are really valid. I think a better goal is to maximize health span. When you do that, you will automatically get a longer life span. If you improve your health span, so that when you’re 80, you actually function like a 65-year-old, it’s almost impossible to not also get five to 10 years of life-span extension.
Q: One of the ways to improve health span is through something you call “the Centenarian Decathlon.” What is it, and how do we train for it?
A: It’s a mental model which says that the greater the specificity with which you train for your physical goals, the more likely you are to achieve them.
I think back to the very first goal I ever had, which was to run five five-minute miles. That’s a lot more specific than saying I want to be able to run five miles. If you want to achieve that, you have to train with far greater specificity than if you just want to able to run five miles. And this is true across the board. And it’s what’s necessary to achieve remarkable feats.
I ask patients to think specifically about what they want to be able to do when they are in their 80s or older, and to start training for that when they are in their 40s or 50s or 60s.
Q: You mean, for example, if you want to hike for two miles when you’re 80.
A: Yes.
Q: Why won’t just hiking every day in the years leading up to that prepare you to continue walking outdoors?
A: Because as you age, the degradation of strength, stamina, balance, lower leg variability is so profound that it is insufficient to just hike two miles when you’re in your 40s and 50s, and assume that’s going to get you doing the same thing when you’re 80. When you’re 80, you have to aim much higher. . . . The Centenarian Decathlon is asking, “What do you want to do in your marginal decade?” And the more specific you can make it, the better, because you’ll be able to train for it, and increase the odds that you will be ready for it.
Q: And if you want to lift your great-grandchild when you’re 80, you need to do what, exactly, when you’re 50, 60 and 70?
A: To safely pick up a 30-pound child from the floor, you need hip flexibility and abdominal and spinal stability to get into a low squat position, then you need to be able to pick up a 30-pound weight. It’s harder to do a squat with weight in front of you because it requires more core stabilization and more scapular stability [shoulder strength]. This essentially means you need to be able to do a 30-pound goblet squat at the age of 85. . . . By the time they’re 85, most can’t even do the goblet squat, without any additional weight. So just on that one metric of strength, we have something that we need to train for.
Q: You say exercise is the most important tactic for longevity, but more than 60 percent of Americans do not get enough exercise. Can sedentary people undertake the vigorous training that you recommend?
A: If you’re starting from zero, just getting to 90 minutes a week of exercise will result in a 15 percent reduction in all-cause mortality [including the Four Horsemen]. That’s dramatic. I mean, we don’t have drugs that can reduce 15 percent all-cause mortality across the board. And the good news is it’s not just like this abstract thing of “we’re adding a couple of years to your life.” No, no. You’re going to feel better in three months.
Every person who saves for retirement, in my view, is doing something slightly more difficult. Because in the short term, you get nothing out of saving for retirement. . . . And I would say with these other changes that we ask people to make, at least they’re getting a benefit today.
How is anybody supposed to find time for this? I would just say, if you’re not going to make time for this, what are you making time for?
Q: Most of us succumb to one of those Four Horsemen. What do these diseases have in common?
A: Cancer, cardiovascular disease and neurogenerative diseases, Alzheimer’s being the most common, are all exacerbated dramatically by metabolic disease. So, if you have Type 2 diabetes, your risk of those other diseases goes up dramatically.
Q: You suggest getting ahead of these diseases by screening, gene testing or digging deeply into bloodwork to uncover markers that, frankly, most insurance companies won’t pay for. What do you say to patients, and your critics, about why these things are worth doing?
A: I guess the question is, what’s the alternative? The alternative is continuing to do what we’re doing. How is that working out? Not so well. So, if herculean preventive measurements are too expensive, treating them is costlier.
Is it expensive to get a $1,000 CT angiogram when you’re 40? Yes, it is. Do you know what it costs to get a stent placed? Or to get a bypass when you’re 65? Unfortunately, if you really want to take prevention seriously, you’re on the hook for the cost.
Q: Does this mean that only rich people can live healthfully to 100?
A: Screening is simply one small part of this. Far more relevant to increasing your health span is not whether or not you’re getting a CT angiogram, it’s whether you’re doing all of the other things that we talked about vis-à-vis sleep, nutrition and exercise. You don’t have to be wealthy to do those things.
Q: Isn’t it true that even if you do all of this, the Horsemen could still come for you?
A: Isn’t there a chance that if you save for retirement, your investments will sour before you need to draw the money out? Yeah, of course, there is. But if you don’t do these things, you dramatically increase the odds of things not going well.
Study reveals why residents of this major city are losing an average 12 years off their life expectancies — and it’s likely not what you think
Laurelle Stelle – October 14, 2023
Air pollution can have a dramatic effect on human health. Living somewhere with heavily polluted air leads to long-term health problems.
A recent study examining the toll taken by pollution concluded that residents of Delhi, India, were losing almost 12 years from their life expectancy due to tiny particulates in the air, The Weather Channel reported.
What’s happening?
The study used satellite data from 2021 to determine the amount of PM2.5 pollution in different areas. PM2.5 refers to particulates under 2.5 micrometers in size. Particulates this small can be inhaled deep into the lungs, causing breathing and cardiovascular issues, according to one report in the Journal of Thoracic Disease.
The recent study found that Dehli had the highest levels of PM2.5 pollution worldwide, The Weather Channel reported. Residents there were exposed to 126.5 micrograms per cubic meter of air — more than 25 times the World Health Organization’s recommended maximum of five micrograms per cubic meter.
Across India as a whole, the average was 58.7 micrograms per cubic meter, or almost 12 times the recommended level, The Weather Channel reported.
This might sound like a faraway problem, but some cities in the United States also suffer from particulate pollution. Statista reported that as of 2022, Oak Ridge, Tennessee, had a PM2.5 level of 33.5 micrograms per cubic meter, over six times WHO’s recommended level.
Why are these numbers concerning?
According to The Weather Channel, pollution numbers this high have a measurable and dramatic impact on human lifespans. The study found that Delhi residents have their life expectancies shortened by 11.9 years compared to someone living with the clean air that the WHO recommends. The average Indian loses 5.3 years of life expectancy.
To put this in perspective, the researchers compared these numbers to the reduction in life expectancy caused by cardiovascular diseases, the number one cause of death worldwide. According to the study, cardiovascular disease reduced the average lifespan of India’s residents by 4.5 years — making air quality a more severe threat to health.
What can be done about PM2.5 pollution?
According to the New York Department of Health, one of the most common sources of PM2.5 pollution is gas-powered vehicles — and Delhi is famous for its traffic.
Switching to electric vehicles, like this solar-powered seven-seat bike from Indian entrepreneur Asad Abdullah, could make a world of difference. This change becomes more possible every year as EVs become more and more cost-effective.
Unretiring: More retirees are going back to work because they want to — or need to
Kerry Hannon, Senior Columnist – October 14, 2023
Richard Eisenberg retired in 2022.
At 65, he stepped away from his job as managing editor for “Next Avenue,” the PBS website for people over 50, where he had worked for a decade.
“I had a rough idea of what my retirement would be,” Eisenberg told Yahoo Finance. “I knew I would be ‘unretiring’ since I still wanted to be doing some writing, some editing, and some teaching, but not all the time.”
So far, he has. Eisenberg, who lives in Westfield, N.J., explores “unretirement” in his expert columns, podcast and teaching posts, including an online NYU master class.
“I’m seeing a lot of curiosity about the idea,” he said. “I’m still a little surprised that it seems like such a foreign concept to people.”
A growing number of retirees like Eisenberg have stepped off the sidelines and headed back to work, especially after many were forced to retire in the pandemic, according to a new report from T. Rowe Price. Around 7% of retirees are looking for work in retirement, while 20% say they’re already working part time or full time.
“In 2021, during the pandemic, that percentage was 10%,” Judith Ward, a certified financial planner and thought leadership director at T. Rowe Price, told Yahoo Finance. “They might have been forced to retire, and now we’re seeing that they are reentering the workforce.”
“Unretiree” Richard Eisenberg teaching students at the NYU Summer Publishing Institute 2023 (Photo courtesy of Eisenberg) (Richard Eisenberg)
The two main reasons for coming back into the workforce are a tale of opposites. While 45% chose to work for social and emotional benefits like Eisenberg, a slightly larger percentage — 48% — felt they needed to work for financial reasons.
Older adults, those age 65 and older, represent the fastest growing group of homeless, while poverty among older Americans has escalated. Policymakers and researchers have also been fretting that the share of older Americans with debt has risen from 38% to 63% since 1990, according to a recent report by the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College.
“Many people retired during the pandemic for a variety of reasons and the financial reality of that is now hitting home,” Chris Farrell, author of “Unretirement” and “Purpose and a Paycheck,” told Yahoo Finance. “Working even a few hours a week can help shore up household finances.”
“They’re taking advantage of the tight labor market to unretire, often by picking up part-time work, flexible gigs, starting their own business, and even encore careers,” Farrell said.
Damascus, Md.-based resident Gary Socha, 69, who retired after being laid off during the pandemic from his publishing job, stepped back in two years ago and is now working part time, four hours a day, as an advertising and event representative.
“It was too early, and my wife is five years younger and still working,” Socha told Yahoo Finance. “And financially… it just seems to make sense to make some more money and make yourself a little bit more secure and more comfortable for when you do retire. I could see doing this for quite a while.”
For other retirees, the lack of retirement planning or saving is coming back to haunt them.
“It’s not uncommon for people to retire without having actually made a retirement plan, and then find some financial surprises along the way,” Mark Miller, a retirement expert and author of “Retirement Reboot,” told Yahoo Finance. “That can prompt some people to go back to work. And the faster pace of inflation we’ve been experiencing also is motivating some people to go back to work, just to help cover their living expenses.”
Source: T. Rowe Price (T. Rowe Price)
How much wealth you have to tap, of course, is the lynchpin. There’s a huge difference by household assets when it comes to retirees who say they “don’t need to work,” according tothe T. Rowe Price report, which surveyed 2,895 401(k) retirement plan participants and 1,136 retirees with a Rollover IRA or a left-in-plan balance.
The report found 37% of retirees with household assets under $50,000 said they don’t need to work versus 55% of those in the $50,000-to-$250,000 category and 72% with assets of $750,000 and above.
Women are particularly vulnerable. In the report, 49% of retired women who were working or looking for work said they need the money compared to 41% of men.
One reason is that many women have less savings to depend on in retirement and lower Social Security benefits because of time out of the workplace for caregiving.
“Typically, lower incomes, higher debt loads — especially student loans — and shorter job tenures are some of the factors contributing to the gender savings gap,” Sudipto Banerjee, T. Rowe Price’s vice president, retirement, and author of the report, told Yahoo Finance at the WISER Annual Women’s Retirement Symposium.
The biggest financial payoffs of additional years of paid work are pushing back retirement account withdrawals, continuing to save, and delaying claiming Social Security benefits.
“Additional income can give you more time to contribute to your savings and it can also help you pay down debt and increase your cash reserves ahead of full retirement,” Ward said. And for those unretirees who haven’t started taking their Social Security benefit, delaying to claim means more money down the road.
“You’ll get a higher benefit, and it’s inflation-adjusted, so that’s a good deal for many people,” Ward said.
Many retirees are looking to continue working in some form, a T. Rowe Price report finds. (Getty Creative) (10’000 Hours via Getty Images)
The feel good part of staying on the job
There’s also the emotional draw of working, which is the second most-cited reason retirees choose to return to work.
Many retirees see part-time work as a good transition strategy with 57% of retirees wanting to continue working in some form, the T. Rowe Price report found. Men, in particular, were more likely to cite social connections as motivation to work.
“A lot of us want to work part-time in retirement,” Eisenberg said. “We want to stay active, have social connections, bring in some income and to stay mentally engaged, but we also want to have time to do other things.”
Plus, there’s the freedom to do what you want to do this time around, Eisenberg said. That means choosing a working route that isn’t stuffed with meetings, administrative duties — all “the parts of our former job that we didn’t like so much.”
And then there are the psychological benefits that work can offer, Robert Laura, a retirement coach, told Yahoo Finance. Several studies have indicated the positive mental effects of working. In fact, among older adults, retirees are more likely to experience depression compared to those who are still working, according to one recent paper.
“Work provides routine, structure, connection, mental stimulus, purpose, and relevance,” Laura said. “These are all things that many people don’t realize they are losing when they leave work and that aren’t easily replaced with golf, grandkids, and crossword puzzles.”
Kerry Hannon is a Senior Reporter and Columnist at Yahoo Finance. She is a workplace futurist, a career and retirement strategist, and the author of 14 books, including “In Control at 50+: How to Succeed in The New World of Work” and “Never Too Old To Get Rich.”
