he telephone rings on a warm, bright, fall morning, and the voice on the other end says, "This is Dad. I went to wake your mother this morning and she was dead. How long will it take you to get home?" Two months later in a library working on a project, the librarian comes to your desk and says there is a phone call for you. The voice on the line says, "Your grandmother has died. When can you come home?" The warmth and brightness become cold, clammy darkness penetrating the living room of life.

There are reports that the entire system, both governmental and private, of pensions and support for retirement is on the verge of a disastrous collapse. No one seems to know exactly what to do about it. America is becoming more elderly all the time. The expected years of golden age with leisure and…