Most retirees work because they need the money

Some work for other reasons, of course, but most simply don't have enough money for retirment: Retirees back at work (USA Today, 6/8/05)

According to a CNN Money columnist, many Americans may be happy with their paltry retirement savings because they are unrealistic about the amount of money required for their retirements:

Our low savings levels in part may be due to the fact that a lot of us are laboring under false notions about how much money we need to finance a retirement – which for many of us will not include a company-paid pension with health benefits.
According to the survey, 10 percent of workers think they will need less than 50 percent of their pre-retirement income to live comfortably in their golden years; another 28 percent think they'll need somewhere between 50 percent and 70 percent.

What's more, 6 out of 10 workers said they do not expect their standard of living to decline, while nearly 5 out of 10 workers who have not saved at all feel at least somewhat confident about their ability to have a comfortable retirement.

Now I need an Advil. Maybe my next column should be about logical reasoning.

Retirement savings falling far short