When the unthinkable becomes reality

If you’re like me–an Older Worker despairing of finding work–you’re far from alone. Huge numbers of us, it turns out, are being forced into early retirement. And it’s not a good thing for the economy.

I was riveted by a report I heard over the weekend on National Public Radio–“For Baby Boomers, The Job Market’s Even Worse”–for two reasons: It was by old fellow journalizer Marilyn Geewax, whom I remember from when she was a starry-eyed journalism intern in Dayton, Ohio, and who’s now NPR senior business editor.

More importantly, she was talking about me and where I live. Here’s my dilemma: A year and a half into unemployment, my chances of finding a new job look no better than they did 18 months ago. To which my wife suggested the previously unthinkable: Why not just retire?

Why not, indeed. My unemployment runs out in September, right after I turn 62 in August. The timing is attractive. It’s less than unemployment benefits, but what choice do I really have?

I said unthinkable, however, not just because early retirement comes at a high price in terms of reduced benefits, but for a far bigger reason:

I’m Not Freakin’ Ready To Retire. I’m young at heart, healthy and physically fit, and I have a killer resume from all those years of rich experience. But because of my age, I never survive the job interview.

Marilyn Geewax reported that 3 million more people filed for Social Security last year, far more than anyone expected. Huge numbers of Baby Boomers are giving up the job search in favor of early retirement, she said.

Weekend Edition host Liane Hansen asked if this wasn’t a good thing for younger workers trying to find jobs. Here’s the rest of what Marilyn had to say:

Yes, in a sense it does help that part of the economy. If you’re 30, it might sound good to get all the, you know, the 60-year-olds out of the market. Maybe you can move up a little more quickly. But in the really large sense, it’s bad for the economy because it’s very tough on the federal budget.

Typically, people in their 50s and 60s, those are supposed to be your peak earning years. That’s when you’re getting the fattest paycheck in your working life and that means you’re paying more in taxes. And those revenues are desperately needed by the U.S. Treasury. It’s not going to be good for young people if the Treasury doesn’t get that money.

So, you know, if instead of paying taxes you’re now collecting unemployment benefits and then you’re turning to your Social Security benefits, that cannot be good for the budget. So, the economy would be a lot stronger if employers would just make the effort to keep those 75 million baby boomers in the job market for as long as possible.

But it’s not just about people’s paychecks. Really, we need people’s brains, talent. In a global economy like we have, we need all the talent we can get and it’s just foolish to take all of that knowledge in people ages 55 to 70 and say, you need to be on the sidelines now. We need to find ways to keep those people engaged in the workforce.

Thanks, Marilyn. But will anybody listen?