Apr 21, 2014 2 min read

Rather than planting ourselves in rocking chairs, more of us will be keeping our noses to the grindstone when we reach our “golden years.”

Sure, some people will continue to keep punching the clock because they find the work fulfilling and they remain hale and hearty. But, as a story that appeared in this newspaper Saturday by Brian Kollars of Cox Newspapers pointed out, many Americans will stay on the 9-to-5 treadmill over the next couple of decades because they have no other choice.

Citing evaporating pension plans, inadequate savings and life crises that have led many to raid their 401(k)s, the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College is forecasting that more than half of American households do not have enough money stashed away in order to maintain their current standards of living in retirement. The late wave of baby boomers, those born in the latter half of the 1950s and the first half of the 1960s, could be particularly hard hit, experts believe. Some might end up having to rely solely on Social Security, which will provide subsistence but not much more.

“The last half of that baby boom wave will face something that’s unique to their circumstance and that’s poverty,” said William Wood of Wright State University in Ohio.

Certainly, individuals who have an employer that provides a 401(k), and only about 57 percent do, should avail themselves of that opportunity and contribute to it. Many employers also provide a 50 percent match to employee contributions, which can go a long way toward making that account plumper.

Saving for retirement, without a doubt, requires discipline.

But policymakers should also do their part, and look for ways to strengthen Social Security so this vital source of support for many seniors is not diminished when it is most needed.