Elder Americans seem to have managed during the recession comparatively well, though many claim they will be working longer than they felt they would have to only a year earlier. This according to a study dispatched by Capitol Hill in mid September.
Based on a survey of 4,412 older Americans from April and May of 2009, the singular concern study of individuals responding to a Health and Retirement Study, the survey participant were drawn from a national array of representatives aged fifty one and older and the NIA or National Institute on Aging paid for it.
They were questioned about the probability of them having to continue working on a full time basis after they reached retirement age of sixty five. That number increased from 47 percent to 57 percent between ’08 and ‘09, considered to be a very quick alteration in numbers in only a short period after what was a stable era for the most part according to the director of the study in question. The prospects of having to continue working after age sixty two increased to sixty five percent from sixty percent.
The survey clearly shows a change in the prospects for this age group in particular of aging Americans facing retirement. Absolutely people have had to modify their retirement strategies because of the damage incurred during the recent financial problems. The study showed that the majority of people surveyed, sixty two percent, had some exposure to the stock market through investment portfolios of some kind.
Twenty five percent of aging Americans also said they expected their home values are taking a serious hit during the recession. Just under half said they continued to carry a mortgage, seven percent of those said they are “under water” – their home debt more than the home value. Three percent claimed to be defaulting on mortgage payments, and three tenths of one percent said they were entering into foreclosure.
Often the study team heard elder participants talk of understanding the financial crisis due to trouble experienced by their kids rather than their own problems. Almost ten percent claimed that a family member had come up short on their mortgage.
Almost a quarter of participants said they were dissatisfied with their current financial circumstances compared to only seventeen percent a year earlier.
Study analysts stated that the recession and losses incurred during it are having a psychological impact on many older Americans. Just under fifty three percent surveyed prior to the financial upheaval said they were not having any symptoms of depression, no restless sleep, feeling of sadness or generally feeling like everything was just too much work. As the crisis subsided, this number fell nine percent to forty four percent. Those who actually qualified due to symptoms as clinically depressed increased from eleven percent to eighteen percent after the financial troubles.
Any fretfulness caused by the financial quandary, regardless of whose financial problems they were plagued by, was having affecting the mental health and well being of the older Americans surveyed. Should the problem continue, it could begin to unravel their physical health next, particularly since we now understand how one affects the other.
The study did not indicate that aging Americans were consuming any more alcohol than they normally would. This displays a pattern of stability in foundation behavior even though people are obviously stressed out by current events.
However, even though aging Americans have been significantly pummeled by the dark economic realities of the recession, they appear to be faring pretty well overall. As these people continue to age, their maturity dictates what is required to manage the situation and they just resign themselves to the facts of life and cope as well as they can.
Fri, Nov 6, 2009
Gerontology, Health And Aging, Lifestyle