It sounds like everyone needs to retire in order to begin to play...

January 25, 2011 — This is a comment on “Ball and Chain: the human cost of raising the retirement age.” This article is too soft; it sounds like everyone needs to retire in order to begin to play, as if our system owes everyone play time. The real truth is that many jobs are quite demanding and that personal limitations after age 60-65 are the main concern. What about the limitations that happen before that? Teaching is one career in which limits are reached at widely varying ages. Standing up in front of 175 to 200 teenagers a day, many of whom can’t read the required textbook, is daunting for people of any age. Very few people can do that at 40, much less at 68. Your examples are a bit thin.

— Bonnie Cediel (Berkeley, California)