Gateway 9

A Financially Secure and Healthy Retirement

A secure and healthy retirement should be the reward for a life of hard work and contribution to family and community.

Those who enjoy financial security and good health in their senior years will remain active participants in the lives of their families and communities, experience fewer expensive health complications, remain self-reliant longer, and ultimately be most likely to pass resources (and therefore opportunity) on to future generations.

Those who are not financially secure or in good health in their senior years will suffer a greatly diminished quality of life. Many may have to delay retirement in order to meet their financial needs.

And rather than being able to leave resources to future generations, many seniors may have to rely on family or the public sector to meet their basic needs or to pay the high cost of health care or long-term care.

We have chosen four indicators to determine how well Coloradans are preparing for this final gateway in a life of opportunity.

Indicator 1: Colorado workers participating in workplace retirement

Payments from employer sponsored retirement plans are a potentially significant source of income for retirees.

Indicator 2: Financial soundness of Colorado-based pension plans

Pension benefits for Colorado retirees depend on the financial soundness of pension plans offered by private and public entities in Colorado.

Indicator 3: Retirement assets owned by families

Retirees can use assets in individual retirement accounts, Keogh plans and 401(k) plans to supplement income from pension plans and Social Security.

Indicator 4: Colorado seniors with long term care risk factors

The odds of suffering a disability or chronic illness that requires long term care increases with age and identifiable risk factors. This is a significant health risk for Colorado’s seniors and a potential drain on their retirement assets.

Read the whole chapter on Gateway 9:
A Financially Secure and Healthy Retirement in
Colorado: The State of Opportunity

2005 report (Gateway 9 was newly developed for the 2005 report)

The Bell Policy Center's Gateways to Opportunity

Opportunity is not generated by a single action. To succeed in life, individuals must pass through a series of gateways:

1. A Healthy Birth

2. A Safe and Stimulating Childhood

3. Building a Solid Base for Literacy

4. Establishing a Healthy Lifestyle in Childhood and Adolescence

5. Leaving High School with a Diploma and the Skills to Succeed

6. Access to Education and Training for Adults

7. A Healthy Adult Life

8. Earning a Decent Living and Building Wealth

9. A Financially Secure and Healthy Retirement

These gateways are like steps on a long staircase. Missing one doesn’t mean you cannot succeed, but it does make the next step much steeper. Miss too many and the climb may become impossible.

Together, these gateways constitute the Cycle of Opportunity — those experiences and events that make it possible to realize one’s economic, social and personal potential.

Read more about the other gateways by clicking on the titles above.