Why Many Retirees Could Outlive a $1 Million Nest Egg - NYTimes.com

For the last forty years, the Republican lament is that wages are too high - especially teachers.  They chipped away at the unions, at pensions, at health insurance.  They got their wish - and then the 2008 crisis exposed that the housing bubble gave only the illusion of home equity.  - GWC
Why Many Retirees Could Outlive a $1 Million Nest Egg - NYTimes.com:

 MILLION dollars isn’t what it used to be.

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In 1953, when “How to Marry a Millionaire” was in movie theaters, $1 million bought the equivalent of $8.7 million today. Now $1 million won’t even buy an average Manhattan apartment or come remotely close to paying theaverage salary of an N.B.A. basketball player.

Still, $1 million is more money than 9 in 10 American families possess. It may no longer be a symbol of boundless wealth, but as aretirement nest egg, $1 million is relatively big. It may seem like a lot to live on.

But in many ways, it’s not.

Inflation isn’t the only thing that’s whittled down the $1 million. The topsy-turvy world of today’s financial markets — particularly, the still-ultralow interest rates in the bond market — is upending what many people thought they understood about how to pay for life after work.

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