‘Pulverized’: Seniors must work many years longer due to Biden-Harris economy

As the administration of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris winds down – it has only until Jan. 20 to be in power yet – seniors across American can thank them for being required now to work an extra six years before they can take retirement at the same level as before the Democrats took office.

“Inflation has pulverized Americans’ finances over the last four years, and a new study shows that’s especially true for the nation’s seniors, whose retirement accounts have been walloped,” explained EJ Antoni, a public finance economist and the Richard F. Aster research fellow in The Heritage Foundation’s Grover M. Hermann Center for the Federal Budget,” said in a report at the Daily Signal.

“The losses have been so severe that would-be retirees need to work an extra six years on average before they can hang up their work boots – and they can blame Washington for this financial disaster.”

Antoni explained the damage to seniors’ retirement accounts has been hidden, in part, by the stock market rally in recent months.

“The S&P 500 increased 45% from the first quarter of 2021 through the third quarter of this year, but almost half of that was just inflation driving stock prices higher, not an increase in real value,” Antoni explained.

“The big spenders in Congress and the Biden-Harris administration spent the better part of the last four years spending trillion of dollars the nation didn’t have, while the Federal Reserve created the money to cover all that excess spending. That devalued the dollar and spawned 40-year-high inflation, which in turn drove up interest rates—also at the fastest pace in 40 years.”

Antoni warned, “Until the profligate spending is reined up, people’s life savings will continue being pummeled by violent changes in prices and interest rates. Sadly, there’s no relief in sight right now as the Treasury just announced they anticipate borrowing more than $800 billion in the first three months of 2025 alone.”

Seniors, the report charged, “should be furious that they’re having to work years longer to foot the bill for Washington’s financial dissipation.”

It continued, “Because prices have increased roughly 20% in less than four years, everyone’s dollar doesn’t go as far as it used to. Now it’s only worth 80 cents. That’s forcing seniors to reevaluate their retirement plans or risk outliving their savings. … If a person was planning on retiring with a net worth of $1 million, they now need to add almost $200,000 to their savings if they want the same standard of living they previously planned on enjoying. The typical senior nearing retirement will now have to work longer to rebuild the lost value in his or her nest egg.”

The actual numbers are the threat, as, “The worst inflation in four decades is a stark reminder that the dollar is not guaranteed to hold its value at all. For example, the average 401(k) balance has risen more than $11,000 over the last three and a half years, but it’s worth $12,000 less because of higher prices.”

Pensioners are “in no better shape,” Antoni said.