Aging in America: Fixing the retirement problem
America is aging -- as a country. As of last year about one in seven Americans was older than 65, and by 2030 it will be closer to one in five Americans. Aging impacts all of us, regardless of how young or old.
From health care to finances, our aging nation creates new challenges and issues for all Americans -- baby boomers and millennials alike.
Today the White House is highlighting the issues involved with growing old in America.
AOL teamed the White House to help shed light on one of the burning issues facing aging in the US: retirement security. As part of our comprehensive coverage throughout the day, Labor Secretary Tom Perez answered questions live on this topic, highlighting how restructuring incentives around retirement investing can help save Americans billions of dollars.
Q9 from @AOL: What's the pot. impact of conflict of interest in retirement invest. advice on a person's retirement savings? #WhiteHouseonAOL
— AOL.com (@AOL) July 13, 2015
See images of some of the major milestones in the history of aging in America in the gallery below:
Millions of Americans rely on Social Security to help make a living in retirement, but for many those checks aren't enough on their own, which is part of why the White House is focused on retirement security and making sure Americans don't get short changed when they save for the future.
Social Security Beneficiaries FindTheData
This year's conference marks the 50th anniversary of the creation of Medicare, and as the chart below shows, the program has gone from being a tiny sliver of the federal budget to a huge chunk of it over the last five decades.
While Florida is often thought of as the retirement capital of the U.S., states in the Northeast actually have a higher percentage of their populations.
