http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-retirement24-2009may24,0,885521.story

Early retirement claims increase dramatically

Instead of working longer as the economy worsens, more Americans are calling it quits before age 66. The ramifications could be profound for the retirees, families, government and social institutions.

By Mike Dorning

May 24, 2009

*** begin quote ***

Once they lose their jobs, older workers have a harder time finding new ones. On average, it takes laid-off workers 55 and older nearly a month longer than their younger counterparts to find new employment, and the gulf has been growing recently, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

*** end quote ***

I’m much more skeptical than the BLS.

For turkeys (i.e., fat old white guys who had high paying jobs), they must plan, that when they lose their current job (as they surely will), for the contingency that thewill be unable to find another.

Ever!

Not one at a lesser pay. Not one that is “yuckier”. Not one that is “elsewhere”.

No, they may never find another one at all.

That has terrible ramifications.

That means at age 50 or later, what ever you have is all that you will ever get. That means at 50, you may never have health insurance again. That means at 50, you will begin to draw against your “pot of gold” (i.e., your total savings and investments).

You may have to be the Greeter at WalMart to permit yourself the luxury of dining on the expensive dog food.

You may, in fact, be on welfare and / or food stamps in your not-so “Golden Years”.

You may be “medically bankrupt” if you get sick without insurance.

Sacred yet. You should be.

Immediately, turkeys using my not-patented not-copyrighted formula for “job replacement interval” —

{For those, who aren’t aficionados of the Big Turkey’s methodology for calculating “job replacement interval”. Using my patented and copyrighted methodology, you can easily determine how many months YOU will need to find a new job. That is a function of: Annual Salary; the likelihood of a layoff in your company, industry, or skill set; the ease of finding another job in their skill set; their age; and the economy.}

— I’m adjusting the age penalty formula from (Less than 40 is 1; 41 to 49 is 2; 50 to 57 is 3; 57 and up is 4) to (Less than 40 is 1; 41 to 45 is 2; 45-50 = 4, 51-55=8, 51-55=16, 56-60=32, and 61 is 64).

Yes, after 56, I don’t think you can get another job again ever.

My formula may be wrong, but it should serve as a wake up call.

Plan as if there was no job to work at tomorrow. There may well not be.

# # # # #