A recent opinion piece in the NYT by Teresa Ghilarducci, professor of economics at the New School for Social Research, asserts most Americans who are approaching retirement are completely unprepared for it. Says Ghilarducci Seventy-five percent of Americans nearing retirement age in 2010 had less than $30,000 in their retirement accounts. The specter of downward mobility in retirement is a looming reality for both middle- and higher-income workers. Almost half of middle-class workers, 49 percent, will be poor or near poor in retirement, living on a food budget of about $5 a day. There are many, many people who are flailing toward retirement. With IRAs and annuities gutted just to put food on the table now, many will feel the need to work long past planned retirement just to break even later.