Some surprising numbers.

The NY Times recently published a story about retirement in America which contained some surprising numbers. "The Center for Retirement Research at Boston College — the nation’s leading research group on this issue — estimates that 51 percent of households are at risk of not having enough to maintain their living standards after retirement....There’s a crisis situation because near-retirees lost 25 percent of their assets in the financial crisis,” said Teresa Ghilarducci, a retirement expert at the New School. “It looks like most middle-class Americans will become poor or near-poor retirees.”

" Thirty-six percent of American workers age 55 to 64 say they have less than $25,000 in retirement savings, according to a survey by the Employee Benefit Research Institute. (The number is 52 percent for workers age 45 to 54.) Rock-bottom interest rates have squeezed older Americans who rely on interest from their bond or retirement accounts, and many companies, viewing them as too costly, have eliminated or frozen the traditional pensions that guarantee retirees a solid monthly stipend. Today only 17 percent of workers have such defined-benefit pensions, while 39 percent have 401(k)’s; some in those two groups have both, but an unfortunate 53 percent of all workers have neither." [Emphasis mine.]

States like Florida and Arizona whose economies rely--at least in part--on a continuing supply of retirees with dreams and disposable income, should be looking down the track and planning for the time when the flow of retirees is significantly slower.

"Many Americans... retire at 65 naïvely thinking they can live comfortably just on Social Security and the $100,000 or so they have in a 401(k). If these people follow the advice of financial planners, she said, they will draw 4 percent each year from their 401(k)’s, translating to $4,000 a year. When that is added to the average amount retirees receive in Social Security — $14,700 a year — it translates to $18,700 a year or just over $1,550 a month (or around $33,000 for a couple when both receive benefits)."

" Workers with traditional pensions were generally in far better shape than those with 401(k)’s, because pensioners receive a defined monthly benefit for life. In even worse shape, he said, are the majority of workers who have neither a pension nor a 401(k) plan at work. Many Americans with 401(k)’s do not save enough, many empty their accounts for living expenses when they lose their jobs, and many, Mr. VanDerhei said, skew their accounts too much toward equities, often in their own companies’ stock — bitter medicine when the stock market plunged. And some workers drain their 401(k) accounts to help pay for college for their children; indeed, the soaring cost of college prevents many parents from even saving for retirement." [Emphasis mine.]

Quick quiz: What does a year at a private college or university cost? How about at a public college?

You might not be surprised to learn that a recent story on the NBC Nightly News placed the average cost of a year at a private college at $36,000. Those of you who attended SUNY or some other public college might be surprised to learn that it now costs an average of $21,000 per year to attend a public college in the USA.

Of course, there's always a community college. Continuing cuts in their support have led to a situation recently reported by the Huffington Post: "After millions of dollars in budget cuts over the last few years, Santa Monica College says that help is on the way -- thanks to a controversial new plan to shore up their budget."

"The community college will price units for the most sought-after classes at five times the current cost, effectively allowing rich students to get first dibs on enrollment." [Emphasis mine.]

"Starting this summer and winter semesters, the college will form a separate nonprofit foundation that will offer core courses at about $600 each, or about $200 per unit, the Associated Press reports. Regular courses are currently priced at $108 each, or $36 per unit."

So much for equality of educational opportunity. As I said in a previous post, if you can afford it you can buy your way to the front of the line. That's the American way.