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By Knight Kiplinger

The Kiplinger Washington Editors

Oct. 10, 2008

Stock Market Panic:
What Happens Next?

A heart-stopping, gut-wrenching stock market plunge is classic panic. It'll end eventually, but the economy will still need to work through a recession. This week's Kiplinger Letter looks at how we see the economy and government moves to shore up credit markets unfolding in the months ahead.

ALSO IN THIS ISSUE: Real Estate, Financial Services, Health Care Policy, Election 2008, Business Costs and Airlines & Travel.

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What Employers Need to Know about Older Workers

It's no secret that workers are staying in the workforce longer. Employers hoping to keep or attract older workers need to understand why.

Worth Reading: The Quick Take from Kiplinger

October 2007

Craig Copeland

Employee Benefit Research Institute

Craig Copeland is a Senior Research Associate with the Employee Benefit Research Institute. Before joining EBRI in 1997, Copeland taught economics at Southern Illinois University-Carbondale.
Employee Benefit Research Institute is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization established to enhance the development of sound employee benefit programs and sound public policy through objective research.

It would seem serendipitous: Just as a prolonged labor crunch is anticipated, some of the most experienced and reliable workers around -- those near retirement age -- are planning to make themselves available. But companies that just assume their older workers are going to stay put indefinitely could be making a big mistake.

Older people are working past traditional retirement age for a multitude of reasons, according to Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI). Socking away more cash and continued access to health insurance are especially crucial, so employers hoping to lure older workers should make sure that defined benefit retirement plans such as 401(k) plans and health insurance remain attractive and affordable. And with health care a growing worry for those approaching retirement, consider extending health benefits to retirees if you don't already do so; it's a hard-to-find benefit attracts and reassures often-anxious older workers.

But financial security is not the only reason so many older workers are returning to -- or remaining in the workforce. "There also is an increased desire among Americans to work longer, particularly among those with more education, for whom more meaningful jobs are available that can be done well into older ages," EBRI says. That means employers hoping to land older workers may need to go to extra lengths to ensure that a given job is appropriately challenging and fulfilling so that a current employee doesn't look get restless or a prospective worker doesn't get turned off.

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