We have an on/off switch with work—you’re either employed or retired. Roughly 10,000 Baby Boomers are taking the retirement route every day, despite worries that they haven’t saved enough—and despite a desire to keep being productive.
A half-century ago, John F. Kennedy launched the Peace Corps and called on the Baby Boomers to serve America abroad. The Boomer Corps would re-enlist one million Boomers to serve, this time in their communities and working with young people.
Instead of fully clocking out of the workforce, Boomers will have the opportunity to transition to a fulfilling, part-time job in national service. They would be directed toward helping families raise healthy, well-educated kids through childcare, early childhood education, after-school care, teaching, tutoring, skills training, mentoring, and coaching.
Corps members would earn a respectable wage—entirely tax-free. Seniors in the Boomer Corps program would work 20 hours per week and receive a stipend of $12,000 a year. These would not be optional volunteer activities, but rather jobs with schedules and a weekly time commitment. You have to apply, be vetted, and—depending on the role—be trained or certified. States would operate the programs, but they would benefit from a 3:1 federal match to pay corps members’ salaries. At an annual cost of $9 billion to the federal government, Boomer Corps would be a high-return investment.
As for the first paragraph, no we don't. The only "switch" is when you choose to start taking Social Security but this does not preclude people continuing to work in various ways, as our nation of Wal-Mart greeters can tell you (if you retire "early" and continue to work you can get some benefit reductions).
But basically this: we know you don't have enough money to retire on because your shit job you had your whole life didn't give enough in Social Security contributions (and certainly not savings) to provide for a livable retirement income. The solution is that we will set up a jobs program that will "allow" (they can already do this) you to continue to to work for (gets out calculator) about TWELVE DOLLARS PER HOUR to make sure there is an endless supply of cheap labor.