Avoiding conversations about these topics is
‘dangerous’y
Images
Age was a topic at the
fourth Democratic debate, but not much else in the way of retirement.
Published: Oct 16, 2019 6:12 p.m. ET By ALESSANDRA MALITO
Tuesday’s fourth Democratic debate was one of the rare times in
this election cycle there was discussion related to older Americans — and some
experts argue it wasn’t handled properly.
When it comes to
retirement issues, including saving and access to 401(k) plans, Social Security
and Medicare (the current system, not the hotly-debated Medicare for All) and
long-term care, there hasn’t been much conversation. Candidates during the debate in Ohio briefly touched on
some of these topics, but they were only in passing, such as during candidate
Andrew Yang’s proposal for universal basic income and how to pay for Medicare
for All.
The silence about issues
relevant to most of the population — either now or later — is not only
disappointing, it’s also harmful for future generations, said Paul Downey,
president and chief executive officer of Serving Seniors, a San Diego–based
assistance organization for seniors.
“We are moving towards
almost a quarter of the population over 60 in the next two to three decades,”
he said. “Building infrastructure now and talking about that policy now to best
approach this phenomenon is critical.” Not only for current older Americans,
but young adults who will retire into this unprepared environment, he added.
Sen. Amy Klobuchar of
Minnesota said long-term care is something “regular Americans” care about. “We
need to make it easier to get long-term care insurance and strengthen
Medicaid,” she said. She called the aging of the population a “silver surge.”
That was the only time long-term care was mentioned, and all that was said on
the topic.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren of
Massachusetts mentioned Social Security, but only that it was as close to universal basic income as the country
had. “It’s one of the reasons that I’ve put forward a plan to extend the
solvency of Social Security by decades and add $200 to the payment of every
person who receives Social Security right now and every person who receives
disability insurance right now,” she said.
Only one topic related to
older Americans garnered an entire session of the debate, which was hosted by
CNN and the New York Times: the ages of three of the candidates.
Warren is 70, former Vice President Joe Biden is 76, and Sen. Bernie Sanders is
78, and hosts suggested some voters may be concerned about that come election,
and possibly inauguration.
The questions included
asking Sanders how he was doing after suffering a heart attack, and why Biden
would be a good president if he entered the White House at an older age.
“The questions were
framed negatively and I thought they were problematic,” said Patrick Button, an
economics professor at Tulane University who studies age discrimination. “There
are differences by age — but some of them are positive and some negative, and
the presumptions of the questions were more around the negative.” Older
candidates were left defending themselves against their age, while younger
candidates — like Rep. Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii — had to explain why she had
enough experience to be president, even though she is 38.
Many Americans are underprepared for retirement, and
feel they can’t prioritize retirement saving right now because of other financial obligations or burdens,
including rising housing costs, child care and student loan debt.
Retirement and aging also
aren’t very attractive topics for people worrying about the present, said Jamie
Hopkins, director of retirement research at Carson Wealth. “The way individuals
make decisions is often driven by our short-term needs, the here and now, and
we struggle to adhere to positive long-term decisions like saving for
retirement and investing back into ourselves,” he said. Still, it is dangerous
to complete avoid these conversations, he added. “The lack of focus on
retirement and financial wellness in the debates and in D.C. today is putting a
whole future generation at risk.”
The candidates could have
also talked about other issues facing older Americans, including preparing for
retirement, quality of life, familial caregiving during a generational shift
and homelessness among the elderly, Downey said.
Not only could those
conversations help inform older Americans, but it could help win votes on
Election Day. “If you look at trends over the last decade or so, they [older
Americans] tend to vote Republican,” he said. “So if I was a Democratic
candidate, this is an opportunity to talk about making older adults’ lives
better.”
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