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Do we even trust our leaders to help?
Retiring old ideas about retirement
Social Security more solvent than most Americans realize
Focus group participants discuss retirement
Series looks at middle-class angst
Insurance misery has no easy cure
Health-care matchup finds Ohio falls short
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Kent State gears up for WNIT at Michigan
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Bucks High Seed – Turner High Praise
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ObamaCare To Reduce Premiums By 3000% ?
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Legal Authority behind the Census OR…
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Willie Nelson & Family coming to the Akron Civic Theatre May 11
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Published on Sunday, Jul 20, 2008
SPEAKING OF...
After publishing findings that show Americans are earning less than their parents, the Beacon Journal invited readers to participate in focus groups. Here's some of what they said:
Marguerite Coffield, 50, of Stow: ''My dad never paid a dime for his benefits, and that mentality is still out there amongst the children of that generation. It's slowly eroding. I've worked at nursing homes, where I was an H.R. manager, and there are these wonderful women who come in to care for the elderly. They make anywhere from $8 to $12 an hour, but they can't afford to pay for the benefits because the benefit costs are enormous.''
Bob Caetta, 56, of Ravenna: ''When I first was diagnosed (with multiple sclerosis) and had to quit full-time employment, I mean there was a while there where it really comes home to you very quickly. And when your medicine costs a 'little bit' — $1,300 a month — that can take a little bit of a chunk of change out of you. That hits you fast.''
John Rettger, 51, of Hudson: ''If you're 30, you're going to be looking for the dollars. When you're in my age group (over 50), I think the quality of the work you do and the security that the job provides — maybe the benefits, the 401(k) plan, what kind of health benefits you have — those make the decision to jump ship a little bit more complex.''
Brenda Cook, 48, of Green: ''The things (my teenage children) hear on TV is that the middle class is going down big time because of taxes and so on and so forth. Medical costs are huge. And so when they hear that, they say, 'Aren't we going broke? Aren't we poor because we have to pay for medical costs and medical insurance?' ''
Lyn Gwinn, 58, of Akron: ''With the demise of the pension plans, along with the retiree health-care benefits — not many companies offer those anymore. Neither place my husband and I work offer them. So, for any of us in that situation — anybody over 50 looking at retirement, you have two choices: You're going to work until you're 65 and get Medicare or you're going to start planning for how you're going to pay for your health care, should you leave employment previous to 65. Or you can work until you're 63-and-a-half and pay COBRA for 18 months. And that's not cheap.''
Jimmy Taylor, 59, of Cuyahoga Falls: ''I think my parents . . . had a cradle-to-grave mentality that you work and then retire. This was a manufacturing town. My father worked at the rubber factory. It was loyalty and he never thought about hopping jobs. They thought longevity. . . . All these amenities, you didn't think about rising health-care costs, excessive taxes. Those things weren't on the radar screen back then. They had less stress, in terms of the peripherals.''
SPEAKING OF...
After publishing findings that show Americans are earning less than their parents, the Beacon Journal invited readers to participate in focus groups. Here's some of what they said:
Marguerite Coffield, 50, of Stow: ''My dad never paid a dime for his benefits, and that mentality is still out there amongst the children of that generation. It's slowly eroding. I've worked at nursing homes, where I was an H.R. manager, and there are these wonderful women who come in to care for the elderly. They make anywhere from $8 to $12 an hour, but they can't afford to pay for the benefits because the benefit costs are enormous.''
Bob Caetta, 56, of Ravenna: ''When I first was diagnosed (with multiple sclerosis) and had to quit full-time employment, I mean there was a while there where it really comes home to you very quickly. And when your medicine costs a 'little bit' — $1,300 a month — that can take a little bit of a chunk of change out of you. That hits you fast.''
John Rettger, 51, of Hudson: ''If you're 30, you're going to be looking for the dollars. When you're in my age group (over 50), I think the quality of the work you do and the security that the job provides — maybe the benefits, the 401(k) plan, what kind of health benefits you have — those make the decision to jump ship a little bit more complex.''
Brenda Cook, 48, of Green: ''The things (my teenage children) hear on TV is that the middle class is going down big time because of taxes and so on and so forth. Medical costs are huge. And so when they hear that, they say, 'Aren't we going broke? Aren't we poor because we have to pay for medical costs and medical insurance?' ''
Lyn Gwinn, 58, of Akron: ''With the demise of the pension plans, along with the retiree health-care benefits — not many companies offer those anymore. Neither place my husband and I work offer them. So, for any of us in that situation — anybody over 50 looking at retirement, you have two choices: You're going to work until you're 65 and get Medicare or you're going to start planning for how you're going to pay for your health care, should you leave employment previous to 65. Or you can work until you're 63-and-a-half and pay COBRA for 18 months. And that's not cheap.''
Jimmy Taylor, 59, of Cuyahoga Falls: ''I think my parents . . . had a cradle-to-grave mentality that you work and then retire. This was a manufacturing town. My father worked at the rubber factory. It was loyalty and he never thought about hopping jobs. They thought longevity. . . . All these amenities, you didn't think about rising health-care costs, excessive taxes. Those things weren't on the radar screen back then. They had less stress, in terms of the peripherals.''
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