Delay Retirement as Housing, Stock Swoon Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Delay Retirement as Housing, Stock Swoon - Essay Example The housing bubble of 2008 caused many Americans to lose thousands of dollars in equity value. The housing market used to be so good that many Americans bought a second property for investment purposes. Those people that choose the route of investing in the house market for profits have taken a huge hit since the majority of properties in the United States have lost a lot of value. According to the article the housing market in the U.S lost over 10% in value in 2008. Along with a depleting housing market retirees have also seen their other investment instruments go down in value in a significant manner. One of the financial retirement instruments that people invest on the most is 401k plans. These plans often invest a lot of money in the stock market. The value of stocks or equity went down approximately 15.5% in 2008. The loss of value hurt the potential retirees the most because older people do not have the leisure of time like young people do. A young person can wait until the market picks up once again. Retirees depend on that equity money to help pay for their living expenses. The combined effect of the devaluation in the stock market and the depreciation of homes has force many senior citizens to continue working instead of retiring early. As of 2008 approximately 78 million baby boomers reached the age of 60. Many of these individual planned on retiring early, but a lot of them have found it extremely hard to make a commitment to retireme nt due to the fact that the value of their retirement savings has gone down. The senior citizens that are supposed to retire are holding on to jobs that younger people need. This has created market inefficiency in the labor markets. There are so many jobs to go around in the United States. The current situation is unfair to both young people and older people.