“Meet Howard and Jean, an older couple I know, who like so many Americans of the “greatest generation” plugged into the New Deal world that promised a secure lunch pail for the middle class. Howard is a World War II veteran who became a mechanic; when he was younger he worked on automobiles for a local Chevy dealership, and then on commercial airliners for United Airlines out at the airport. Jean was a housewife and part-time sales clerk. They worked hard, saved their earnings, bought a house, opened passbook bank accounts for their five kids to save their dimes, sent all five of those kids to college. As the years stretched on, they began to prepare for their retirement. But something bad happened along the way to their retirement plans.” -Salon

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