"older Anericans can't afford to retire" is a generalization. It's all about your expenses, your savings and your debt.

A better generalization might be "Americans tend to be slaves to debt" - which is true for up to half of homeowners. I am not sure what %age is in credit card debt, student loan debt, but those are very common for younger people.

Want to be truly free? Don't work for bankers (unless you are paid by them).