This little book has a knack for asking the right questions. It's on my 'A' list for information on retirement issues." --John Turner, editor of Pay at Risk With the aid of her Economics of Aging class, Teresa Ghilarducci has compiled this comprehensive sourcebook as a guide for politicians, economists, journalists, students, and ordinary Americans through the maze of Social Security and the economics of growing old in America. What You Need to Know About the Economics of Growing Old (But Were Afraid to Ask) is divided into five sections. The first section addresses the status of the elderly and explores such issues as the average life expectancy and the number of elderly living in poverty. The second deals with the structure of the Social Security system and its disbursements of benefits. The third traces the economic path to old age. The fourth considers changing social norms, including the increase in the number of women in the workforce. The final section looks at what happens when the elderly work for pay. This book will be valuable from the classroom to the halls of Congress. Simply put, it contains information everyone should know. Who says young people don't care about social security and economists can't write readable books. Teresa Ghilarducci and her band of college students have written an accessible, enlightening volume for anyone--from students to seniors, workers to policy makers, and journalists to academics--who wants the straight story about older people's quality of life and our retirement system. A must-read if you are retired or if you care about retiring some day. --Clair Brown, Professor of Economics, University of California, Berkeley Stories about the aging of the baby boom generation are often filled with hyperbole, pseudo facts, and just plain nonsense. Now, thanks to a volume edited by Teresa Ghilarducci, there is a clear and practical guide to the economic realities of an older America. It turns out that tomorrow's facts make a better story than the fantasies today's doomsayers are dreaming up. --Richard C. Leone, President, The Century Foundation