Letter - Hard Times for Retirees - NYTimes.com

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by Tom Nelson, Chief Operating Officer, AARP

To the Editor:

Re “Adjusting to Reality,” by Alicia H. Munnell and Andrew G. Biggs (Op-Ed, March 8), opposing a proposed onetime $250 payment to Social Security recipients to make up for the lack of a cost-of-living adjustment this year.

The article demonstrates the inadequacy of using textbook economics to discuss the actual experiences of real people. By arguing — despite the biggest economic downturn since the Great Depression — that “retirees did all right over the last few years,” the authors demonstrate a lack of understanding of the negative impact of decimated retirement savings on older Americans.
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