Retirement age keeps creeping up

It's now 67, according to a new Gallup poll, up from 60 in 1996. And considering how little savings many older Americans have on hand (at least according to the studies), don't be surprised to see that number inch closer to 70. From Economix:

While more people in their 60s and 70s want to work, the share of those older workers who have found jobs has fallen. Last year, 6.8 percent of workers 60 to 64 were unemployed. That compares with less than 3 percent in the late 1990s. Perhaps 6.8 percent still sounds low, but consider that once unemployed, older Americans are very unlikely to find a job. The older a worker is, the more difficulty he or she has getting hired. These trends have worrisome implications not just for older workers and their families, but for government budgets, too. Struggling with deflated savings and few new job opportunities, older Americans are becoming increasingly dependent on Social Security and other public services.

Gallup found that 33 percent of American non-retirees expect Social Security to be a "major source of income" for them in their old age, up from 27 percent a decade ago.