“There’s going to be more old people doing everything. Working, traveling, eating out. It’s an unavoidable trend.”

The graying of the American workforce continues: Baby boomers are working longer and earning more than their predecessors did in what Americans typically think of as retirement years, new research finds.

Almost 20% of Americans ages 65 and older were employed this year, according to a new report from Pew Research Center. That’s nearly double the share of those who were working 35 years ago. In total, there are around 11 million Americans 65 or older who are working today, comprising 7% of all wages and salaries paid by U.S. employers. In 1987, they made up 2%.

And not only are more Americans at or above the traditional retirement age of 65 working, but they are also earning substantially more compared with what older workers earned in the 1980s. Now, the typical older worker earns $22 per hour, compared with $13 per hour then. Their wage growth—some of which can be attributed to their working longer hours than older Americans did in the past—has outpaced that of workers ages 25 to 64 over the same time period, according to Pew’s research, which is based on data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s Current Population Survey and the Federal Reserve’s 2022 Survey of Household Economics and Decisionmaking.

  • @thesmokingman
    18•6 months ago

    The headline makes it sound like boomers are out-earning other generations or making good money.

    • The average private sector wage is $34/hr. This indicates wildly skewed upper bounds so we can’t draw any conclusions about their earning.
    • The median in 2020 was $23/hr, implying boomers are earning less than other generations
    • $22/hr is about $45k/yr. Generously that’s about $40k after taxes. Assuming a health plan of $600/mo (premiums are higher at higher ages) and giving a generous 50% employer payment, we’re down to about 37k. tbh I feel like healthcare costs should be doubled or tripled based on costs I’ve seen from family and friends. Rounding nicely, that’s about 2k a month. If we use the incredibly outdated figure of rent/mortgage being 30%, we have 1400 to spend or save. Let’s pretend we’re able to get all bills under 400 so we have 1000 left over to use.
    • Hip replacement is conservatively 3k with insurance. That’s three months of work. You’re probably taking FMLA which means you probably need another three months to cover expenses while recovering. Use hip replacement as a stand in for other surgeries.
    • Let’s pretend crowns are as cheap as 1k/tooth. You’re probably looking at one a year ish over time.
    • Let’s pretend hearing aids are 2.5k and you’re lucky enough to have insurance that covers them every few years. You’re still out of pocket at least 1k, burning another month.
    • Some conservative estimates for cancer are about 6k for lung, breast, and rectal after insurance (prostrate is cheaper!). That’s six months assuming no FMLA; you’re probably taking some time so that’s probably more months.

    Boomers are fucked earning that. Millenials are even more fucked. Who knows how fucked GenZ is.

    • TechyDad
      10•6 months ago

      Let’s pretend hearing aids are 2.5k and you’re lucky enough to have insurance that covers them every few years. You’re still out of pocket at least 1k, burning another month.

      My hearing aids were $3,600 and they were the lower end of the scale. And my insurance didn’t cover a single penny of it.

      Boomers are fucked earning that. Millenials are even more fucked. Who knows how fucked GenZ is.

      And GenX is ignored again!

      Sorry. As a GenX-er, I felt compelled to point that out. Don’t be surprised if future articles talk about how GenX isn’t retiring, but is continuing to work, though. Personally, I’m doing fine for now, but my retirement savings are way too low. I could either save more for retirement and end up financially underwater right now, or keep my head above water and then struggle when it comes time to retire.

      So I’ll likely be working until I’m 80 in the hopes of stretching my meager retirement savings through the rest of my life. And that’s assuming that Social Security isn’t gone by then.

      • @thesmokingman
        2•6 months ago

        Fair callout! I shouldn’t keep forgetting GenX.

        In researching all the bullets I was really surprised to find that hearing aids aren’t covered. It’s something like five states have some level of requirement. As someone with hearing loss, that’s really concerning and I’m not looking forward to that.