Can you afford to get old?
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
Can you afford to get old?
In case you weren't already worried about your retirement, now comes word that it's getting more expensive to get old.
The International Monetary Fund says people around the world are living three years longer than expected. That's increasing the cost of aging by 50% - and governments and pension funds aren't ready for it.
Reuters reports the IMF study, coming out next week, shows that longevity is a bigger risk than previously thought.
Researchers say that if everyone in 2050 lived three years longer than now expected, society would need extra resources "equal to 1 to 2% of GDP per year."
In the United States alone, an extra three years of life would add 9% to private pension plan liabilities.
Life expectancy in the United States is approximately 78.5 years. According to the CIA World Factbook, the U.S. ranks 50th worldwide. At the top of the list is Monaco, where people live an average of almost 90 years, followed by countries like Macau, Japan and Singapore.
As medicine improves and standards of living go up in some of the developed countries, people continue to live longer. The IMF is calling on governments and the private sector to prepare now for those longer life spans.
Governments' options are fairly limited. Raise the retirement age, raise taxes to fund public pension plans, and lower benefits. A lot of countries are already considering doing all of this to tackle crippling national debts.
Another step governments could take would be to educate people on how to better prepare for their retirement.
Here’s my question to you: Can you afford to get old?
Tune in to the Situation Room at 4pm to see if Jack reads your answer on air.
And, we love to know where you’re writing from, so please include your city and state with your comment.
How much damage did Obama supporter Hilary Rosen do when she said Ann Romney "never worked a day in her life”?
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
It took 18 hours for Hilary Rosen to apologize for her ill-considered comment that Ann Romney never worked a day in her life. And my guess is if there hadn't been such a firestorm of criticism over what she said she wouldn't have apologized at all. The apology is a day late and a dollar short. The damage has been done. And there's a lot of it.
Ann Romney - who raised five children as well as dealing with cancer and multiple sclerosis - that's work, Ms. Rosen - was classy in her response. She said she made "a choice to stay home and raise five boys. Believe me, it was hard work."
I think that's probably a true statement.
Democrats ran from Rosen like she was on fire. David Axelrod called the comments "inappropriate and offensive." Another true statement. Top Obama campaign officials said they couldn't disagree with Rosen more; that families should be off-limits and that stay-at-home moms "work harder than most of us do."
Before she decided to apologize, Hilary Rosen was busy blaming Mitt Romney for bringing his wife into this debate. She says that Mitt shouldn't say Mrs. Romney is the expert on women and the economy. Why not?
First rule of holes is: When you're in one, stop digging. Mercifully, after 18 hours, Hilary Rosen finally put the shovel down.
For the moment, President Obama enjoys an almost 20-point lead among women. An incident like this might make women give Mitt Romney a second look.
Here’s my question to you: How much damage did Obama supporter Hilary Rosen do when she said Ann Romney "never worked a day in her life"?
Tune in to the Situation Room at 5pm to see if Jack reads your answer on air.
And, we love to know where you’re writing from, so please include your city and state with your comment.
@jackcafferty on Twitter
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