2 • RUBY, WILDING & SWANSBURG All of that changed in the 1880s when Otto von Bismark, C hancellor of the Prussian Empire , proposed government- fu nded fi nancial suppor t for the nation’s oldest citiz ens. Ga sesrims t aa nn yc eetvoecni tt ui zael nl ys wa phpor ol i vv ee dd pt ha es t pa lgaen s, epvreonvtiyd. i (nTgh fei ni ma npcai ca tl was n’t v ery s ignificant: Mo s t c itizens d id n’t li ve that lo ng.) 1 Fast forwa rd fift y y ears, and America created the Social Security system with an initial retirement age of sixty- five. H ad the long game finally come to retirement? H ardly. In 1l i f9e3e5x, pwehc teann ct hyeo fS oa nc i aAlmSeerciucraint ywAacst awr oausnpda s s e d , t h e a v e r a g e age f ifty-eight. By the 1970s , life expectancies i n the U.S. creeped pas t seventy, and, suddenly, we had a long game problem with retirement. Since the 70s, it’s only gotten wor se. In 2019, a sixty-five- year old woman could expect to live more than twenty years in retirement. 2 That represent s nearl y one quarter of her l ife. Now , sa vers needed a long game retirement. Preparing for a Long and Happy Retirement Don’t let this talk of “long game retirement” worry you; you’re pr obably alread y pr etty good at think ing long- term when it comes to your future. After all, when did you start saving for retirement? Was it three y ears ago? F ive y ears ago? 1 Sarah Laskow. Th e Atlantic. October 24, 2014 .“How R etirement W as I nvented.” hintvtpesn:t/e/dw/w38w1.8th0e2a/tlantic.com/business/archive/2014/10/how-retirement-was- 2 OECD. 2019. “Life expectancy at 65.” https://data.oecd.org/healthstat/life- expectancy-at-65.htm
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