“The baby boomer generation is headed for a shock as it hits retirement: many of them will be long on life expectancy but short on savings. The two main strategies for funding retirement — lifetime pensions and 401(k)-style savings plans — are in serious trouble. In “Can You Afford to Retire?” FRONTLINE correspondent Hedrick Smith (“Is Wal-Mart Good for America?”) investigates this looming financial crisis and the outlook for middle-class Americans.”

“I think this is a crisis in the making,” says Alicia Munnell, director of the Boston College Center for Retirement Research. “I think 10 or 15 years from now, people who approach their early 60s are simply not going to have enough money to retire on.”"

“I would say, unless you’re fortunate to be in the upper-income quartiles, that you’re probably going to be in for a very rough ride,” adds Jack VanDerhei of the Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI). “You’re not going to have sufficient monies to pay the predictable expenses — your housing, your utilities, your food — plus the potential catastrophic medical care costs. ”