AARP works to ensure financial security

For too many Coloradans, the promise of longer life expectancy is severely undermined by the prospect and fear of financial insecurity in retirement.

Colorado is expected to see a 150 percent increase in adults age 65 and older between 2010 and 2030.

AARP offers many tools to help people understand and meet the financial challenges they face. Here are just a few: www.aarp.org/RetirementCalculator, www.aarp.org/money, www.aarp.org/socialsecuritybenefits, www.aarp.org/SSQA, www.aarp.org/HealthCostCalc, or click on the links in the last paragraph of this story.

Even as we work to protect and strengthen Social Security, other forms of retirement savings remain weak. Pensions are the exception and only about half of all workers are able to save. It is important to look at new ways for workers to voluntarily set aside wages for retirement.

AARP Colorado supported a bill in the legislature during the last session (2014), HB 1377, that would have helped do that, but sadly, it failed.

“Because we know that automatic saving, or payroll deduction, is one of the most successful ways for people to save for retirement, AARP Colorado will look to support a bill in 2015 that will help all workers save for retirement, a type of account that workers can contribute to and can move it to any job they accept,” said Morie Smile, AARP Colorado State Director.

In addition, workers may have to stay on the job longer. That means recognizing the value of older workers and rejecting age discrimination. AARP strongly endorsed bipartisan legislation in Congress that would remedy the harm to older workers created by the U.S. Supreme Court in the Gross case, which ruled that older workers’ employment discrimination claims, based on age, must meet a higher standard of proof of illegal bias than those claiming to have been treated unfairly due to race, sex or religion.

Again, AARP urges all ages to click on these links:  RetirementCalculator, Money, socialsecuritybenefits, SSQA, HealthCostCalculator to help determine how and when to retire, collect benefits and save.

[Photo Courtesy of JLujan]