Alicia Munnell

Alicia Munnell, director of the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College, professor at Carroll School of Management, and former assistant secretary of the Treasury for Economic Policy is joined by John Turner, director of of the Pension Policy Center, to kick off the pensions series with a discussion of the state of public and private pensions. 

65 has been the standard age for retirement in this country since 1935. But that specific age has come into question as states hit economic hardships and more and more people live longer. Lawmakers in about a dozen states are looking to increase the retirement age or modify the way benefits are given out. These states might increase the qualifying retirement age for state employees, despite the fact that public-sector workers already retire, on average, earlier than workers in the private sector. Is this fair? We're looking into what the "right" retirement age is in this new age of longer life span and tighter budgets. 

We want to know from you: Whether you've retired already or are just making plans, what is the retirement age for your household? And if you retired early during the boom years, how has it been going? What's a few extra years?