American Morning
Retirement no more
With the current state of the economy, more and more people are being forced out of retirement. Right now the number of people over 65 working is on the rise. The Wall Street Journal reporting nearly a three percent spike over the last decade.
Eva Coffey, 60, was an accountant/comptroller for various companies most of her life. She retired 7 years ago, but after losing about 50% of her Roth IRA, and half the value of two investment properties, she's back at work again – as a school bus driver for $17/hour. But that's only part-time, about 15 hours a week and she needs more to make ends meet.
She and her husband have also had to shelve the idea of financing their retirement by selling their properties in this housing market. Coffey's husband works for the government and has put off planned retirement because of the economy.
The young and the jobless
Here's the harsh reality.
Nearly 3.7 million young people are now out of work.
Before the recession hit there were not enough jobs to go around.
Now that we're in a recession the younger the worker the more likely that worker could get pushed out of the job market.
Young Biz Whiz
Twenty year old sophomore Ben Lewis is busy these days. When he's not studying for mid term exams he is traveling cross country pitching his own bottled water that he says has the power to change the world.
The latest product from corporate America comes from a baby faced University of Pennsylvania sophomore who shares a room with three other roommates. Today he is in Anaheim, California at a health foods trade show pitching his Give water brand to the big wigs from the likes of Pepsi and Coke.
The bottles come in different colors and a dime from each bottle sold goes to charity. Orange helps the fight against muscular disorders, pink is for breast cancer research, green goes to the environment and blue helps children fight AIDS.
What everyone is afraid to talk about: Retirement
From Gerri Willis – CNN Personal Finance Editor
Say the word “retirement” and you either get a lot of eye-rolling or looks of pained fear. But whether or not most of us can afford to retire is an open question these days. The median 401k balance is just $15,000, according to Congressional testimony from John Bogle, the mutual fund pioneer who started Vanguard mutual funds. Consider that the typical 401k saver is in their early 40s, the number is especially troubling. With a couple of decades until retirement, that $15,000 will grow to just $100,000 to $150,000 – not enough by most experts’ estimates to sustain them over the two decades or so they are likely to spend in retirement.
Experts who study 401ks say the time for reform of the retirement system is now. Among their suggestions: Curbing excessive fees that many savers don’t even know they are paying.
What is shovel ready?
States are quickly assembling their construction wish lists. But it takes time to advertise for contractors, collect bids, check the numbers, pick a winner and get work underway.
A typical paving project - easy roadwork - takes close to three months from the time the money is approved to the arrival of work boots on the ground, according to the American Association of State Highway & Transportation Officials.
"It is not an instant process," says a spokesman.
President Obama and Vice President Biden know their unprecedented $787 billion emergency spending package has to put hard hats on America's streets soon - or their administration risks losing credibility.
Trump unhappy about resort
We told you about this story on Monday.
Investors put hundreds of thousands into a pricey condo development in Mexico, using the Trump name. The project went bust and the investors say they lost all their money...
Donald Trump joined us with the other side of that story.
See Related:
What’s in a name? A lot when it’s a “Trump” property
About this Show
Welcome to the American Morning blog where you can get daily news updates from American Morning's reporters and producers. Join us for "the most news in the morning," weekdays from 6-9 a.m. ET, only on CNN.
On Twitter
