Europe's retirees: time bomb

from the Houston Chronicle bq. PARIS -- Bernard Foultier lives life fast and full -- international travel, including trips to Japan and Bolivia, amateur photography, courses in history and art, and painting in his small home studio. He is bursting with energy at age 62. Even though he retired three years ago with a full government pension, he barely has time to pursue all the interests he put aside during his working life. bq. "I can't find the time to satisfy all that I want to do," he said at his apartment in a western Paris suburb. "I need a second life. There are so many things, so many things!" bq. For Foultier, who worked for three decades as an engineer at the state-owned electricity company EDF, these busy retirement years are like a second chance at youth. But he recognizes that large pensions like his are increasingly viewed in France as a luxury that the country can no longer afford. Indeed, all over Europe, a continent famous for generous social welfare systems, the same conclusion is being reached. bq. "It's a problem," Foultier acknowledged. "People will have to work longer." It goes on: bq. Here in France, every 10 workers now support four retirees. By 2040, without changes to the system, 10 workers will have to support seven pensioners, the government projects. Today in France, one person out of five is now over 60; by 2040, the number is projected to be one in three. Major changes are needed over there if the governing classes want to hold off a political upheaval...