Source: (Photo by Anna Moneymaker-Pool/Getty Images)
INDIANAPOLIS — Sen. Mike Braun was in Indianapolis on Tuesday to hold a remote hearing of the Senate’s Special Committee on Aging.
The committee tackles issues as they relate to older Americans. Braun used the time to address several topics that he feels are directly impacting Americans who are of retirement age and they mainly had to do with the economy.
“Older Americans play such a critical role throughout the economy,” he said. “Even now some are considering coming out of retirement. A recent report showed that 43-percent of Americans are considering coming out of retirement. That’s probably not the plan that everybody was looking to happen.”
He said things like rising interest rates and the rising national debt are directly impacting retirement accounts and social security which help sustain older Americans in retirement.
Though Braun said that having older Americans in the workforce is crucial to the economy, they should not be having to come completely out of retirement in order to be financially solvent.
“For employers facing labor shortages, older workers can still fill those gaps,” Braun said. “A recent report showed that older workers will make up a quarter of the workforce by 2031.”
Braun said that number needs to come down. He said solutions to “reinvigorate the economy” need to be found so that workers can set more aside while they are working in order to avoid having to come out of retirement later on.
For starters, Braun suggests that the country quit borrowing so much money and driving the U.S. further into debt.
