management, they are talking about maintaining their own wealth. my situation, unfortunate, when i retired early because of illness, i was encouraged by my financial planner to roll over my pension into a variable annuity with hidden fees. it's a months going through the contract action find all the hidden fees. is there any retroactive for was the person has in this kind of situation? host: your final thoughts? isst: i'm not sure if it retroactive. i think it grandfathers old contracts. the example is exactly why the old rule is nothin necessary. ands meant to disclose fees

offer some recourse through the courts, if things go wrong. the important part is as we move forward, we need a strong social security system, we need to update social security, for instant, by creating a real benefit, the people don't have. to get going on making easier for people who need to save more to save more, redefined the tax code, lower , and wherever we can better disclose, and offer more risk protection so that people can be sure the money will be there when they need it. host: christian weller is a public policy professor at the university of massachusetts. his book is, "retirement on the rocks." thank you for chatting with us this morning. coming out in next, we will be

take your phone calls on your financial situation. we want to know how you and your family are faring in this economy. later on, we will hear from our "newsmakers" guest. that will air sunday at 10:00. it will be senator mark warner. he talks about security and digital encryption legislation in congress. here is a bit of what he had to say. [video clip] >> we need to set the policy. congress needs to do its job. as somebody who spent a career in this field, and then the last from thes digging in intel's side, it is extraordinarily complex. i'm not sure whether there is enough technical expertise in congress at the moment when you have apple taking an absolutist position, the fbi taking an

absolutist position. we saw they did not come to pass because there was a different way around the problem. i mentioned the police chief in san bernardino has endorsed the commission as well. encryption debate takes place on the device, in terms of software, at the network level. one thing i would be worried about is if we mandated a backdoor, two things could happen. one, you have smart criminals and terrorists buying a foreign-based phone that was not subject to american jurisdiction, or a smart criminal or terrorist would simply import from the cloud encrypted software onto the phone, even if it had a backdoor. there are challenges around all of this. part of this as well is is not just debate taking place in

america. there is similar legislation in the u.k., france. it will require a global type solution. i am very reluctant that if we move in advance of getting a common sense of facts, we could actually make americans for safe -- less safe. everyone agrees corruption is necessary. we have to make sure law enforcement and government have intel tools. >> "washington journal" him hims. him him him host: all morning we have been talking about your money. we want to know about your family's financial situation. if you feel like you are getting

ahead, you can call us at (202) 748-8000. if you feel like you are holding steady, the number to call is (202) 748-8001. if you feel like you have been falling behind, you can dial at (202) 745-8002 and share your experience. if you have thoughts on any of the other financial discussions this morning from minimum wage to retirement security, you can call in with your thoughts on that as well. here is some data from gallup. the monthly u.s. job index shows declined to 32 in march, the highest level in the eight year history. it was the first increase since may of last year. here is the chart showing the increase in the job creation recentince 2009 in the economyhowing that the and job market seems to be healing and getting back on

track, however, not everyone feels that way. another poll by gallup, the same organization, shows that confidence in the economy has declined and it has fallen to negative 13 at the end of march. that is a decrease since the middle of january, when it was at negative seven. still a negative number, american stop feeling all that great about the economy, even though it seems that the labor market is improving and we are seeing economic growth, people don't feel that it is necessarily reaching them. let's turn to the phone calls. alabama, will be from audrey. what is your story? ma'am. yes, i was watching earlier, and you are giving the upper income, middle income, and low income.

they were talking about it one time based on your income, your social security, and i'm currently retired, disabled, whatever you want to call it, from the war. according to the figures, and ,ccording to paul ryan's plan wouldo prosperity, y'all take my check, my social security check, and my son becauseecurity check i'm in between the upper and middle income. if you earn too much income, they are going to take your check is what i read. do you know anything about that? host: i cannot say that i can speak specifically to that, i'm aware proposals that would eliminate social security for

you or perhaps your son. we will try to find out more information for you. let's take another caller. that would be the roy -- leroy calling from new jersey. go ahead. caller: thank you for taking my call. my question also has to do with social security. two years ago, we got a two dollar raise in the social security check. all the companies, the power raised twothey all dollars. my daughter lost her job, i have to pay half or mortgage. that is wiping me out. she cannot get a job that pays decent, and she has two kids. one of them is disabled. no one gives a damn. host: what do you think needs to be done to fix the economy?

the democratsk better when because republicans will tear this country apart. they do not care for the little guy. they only want to boost the wealth of rich people. they don't really care about the little guy. host: next the chandra from texas. caller: my question is for the christian. host: christian is no longer part of the segment, but you can make your comments. my, is there is no .ppreciation of earnings

would it not be desirable for something to work out through , betterrnment investments that could be given. phonewe are taking your calls. we want to know but you family's financial situation. you feel like you have been able to get ahead in this economy? are (202)rs to call 748-8000 if you feel like you have been holding steady. (202) 745-8002 if you feel like you have been falling behind. (202) 748-8001 if you feel like you have been able to get ahead. a couple of quick programming notes for you about what we will be airing on c-span and tv. this weekend, booktv will take

you live to the university of southern california for the 21st annual los angeles times festival of books. and coverage begins today at continues tomorrow. end asoin us next week we travel for the annapolis book festival. "the washington post," "pope embraces divorced catholics."

host: from "new york times, one stories is about dennis hastert, accused of molesting boys as a coach. host: we are taking. now. we will turn next to michigan, cornelius calling. what do you think?

caller: i am 74. i'm retired, receiving social and aity, and attention -- pension from work. i'm not worried about myself, but my children. my son is 50, my daughter is in her 40's. they will be retiring soon. their jobs are offering 401(k)s, and they are very expensive. i don't trust them. i don't understand why the companies they work for will no longer give them pensions for their jobs. companies are offering 401(k)s the isil cannot be trusted. did you work your company to receive the pension? two.r: i worked at i worked for 30 years. 15 at each company.

host: thank you for calling. fromext caller is brooklyn, new york. go ahead, you are on the air. behind.i am falling i worked hard on my life, i could never save anything. i did not make that much money anyway. i did the most i made in one of two years with $11,000 when i worked as an hha, w taking care of patients. i'm wounded. i have spent a lot of money on over-the-counter things in special things, and it costs a

lot of money sometimes. you say, i could have joined one of these, you know, companies like aarp, and then you get benefits for over-the-counter things, but they are a pain in the neck too. i agree with mr. sanders that everybody should be on medicare. tired about this stuff they want to invest in social security. look the market, what has happened. they can never commits me that it could be a solution. i liked what the man said earlier on the other segment which is rolled back the cost of living. oil is cheap, gasoline is cheap

-- people should not be running around so much, spending their .il they say they have 20 multimillionaires in the united states that have more money than the whole bottom half of the country. it is a whole bunch of people like that. the rent is so high in brooklyn. .eople are living bunched up we hear you this morning. we will have to leave it there. next will be jeff from west virginia. do you feel like things are getting better for you? caller: yes.

i am 64, and i recently retired three years ago. i came to the conclusion that you cannot continue to consume and spend money. you have to start saving money. 61 to 64,cess from , a 2013ff a car volkswagen. i paid off a truck. i paid off three credit cards. with an 60 days, i will have my health paid for. my income is such that i have social security because i took it at 62. i feel that in 60 days, being $3500 ae, i will have a month income, and i will have plenty of money. host: do you have a pension from

your time as an educator? caller: yes, i have a to find pension plan from the teachers retirement from west virginia. it provides adequately for me. plus, early social security, i'm of $3500 per month. i'm a single person, i don't spend money foolishly. i take care of my mother, who has dementia. people have to be realistic. stay away from the stock work and advisers. you are giving your money away for the shall he -- foolishly. save some money. you can manage your own money if you use them common sense. our next caller comes from jacksonville, north carolina. good morning. caller: hello. with fiveto start years ago, i went through a

really bad time, and i was homeless. got my social security, and i year.,456 per there are programs out there for .eople like me $1.20. one dollar 20 -- you have to go fight for these programs, but they are out there. i wanted to share that with the people that don't have pensions, and are just struggling. $788 is whats 88 -- i get. i'm at the point where i have to get rid of my car. i cannot afford it. host: how to do you get from the point where you are at rock

autumn, homeless, to being able to live off of these services? diedr: both of my parents in the short amount of time. i kind of lost it. i went into a mental hospital for nine months. they would not release me because i was homeless and had no income, so i got my social out,ity and when i got there is a program here in jacksonville called pride, and i .ot a counselor she came out, and helped me get all the stuff together. host: all right. our next caller is peter from pennsylvania. peter, you feel like you have been able to get ahead. what is your situation? caller: i'm not saying i am getting really far ahead, i'm holding my own. the thing for older people that

really affects us is all of the additional taxes. i go on with the other person speaking a while go that the stock investors they just juggle your money around and end up taking a lot of your money with triggered you have to stick it in the bank. with a lot of these programs, since the stock market crashed, if you have money saved, it just disappeared. you are supposed of help from the advisers, and they just take your money. i took all my money out, and

have it in the bank. i'm not making a lot of money, but at least i have it. host: that is peter. here is a chart that shows only 50% of private sector workers have access to a retirement plan at work. that is down from 2% in the late 1990's. since almost at a low 1979, 54.5% of workers have access to a retirement plan. we want to let you know about some other programming on c-span . american history tv book be in providence, rhode island for the americane of historians. if represent close to 8000 historians. american history tv is covering

panel discussions and interviewing historians about their work. c-span also has a booth in the city hall, where we are talking about american history tv. watch our coverage of the conference. you can tune in on may 2 at 8:00 eastern. for more information, please ory.t c-span.org/hist you can follow it on twitter as well. we have a few more minutes to n butour phone calls i your family's financial situation. how are you faring in this economy? have you been able to get ahead? do you feel like you are falling behind? our next caller is mohammed. what is your situation? guess i have to do

something about the way i vote. . voted democrat in 2012 in 2008, i voted democrat. after 2008, i went back to .chool home, a better job. the way ifeel good vote. you see, a lot of them crying that they don't get ahead, they don't to this. if you remember, sometimes if you don't do well, don't blame

anybody, blame yourself. the last caller also said that win.rats are bound to if you know that is what will make you go forward, that is the way you vote. there are a lot of hypocrites, you see. host: when you went back to school during the recession, what did you study? were you able to find a job in the field paying a good wage? caller: i studied medical. it was able to get a job in mental education planning -- mental disability jobs. studieo what i studied. host: our next caller is chris

from milwaukee, wi. things don't seem to be going as well for you as they used to. it was stated that they were keeping interest rates lowered to force people into the stock markets. it was also in the same paper that if you invested $10,000 at the beginning of the year, you would basically have earned nothing at that time. buying their were own stock back at cheap interest rates, inflating the price of stocks. really, it is all a game that we are losing. all right. a story today in "the wall street journal" had this bust lingersusing

for generation x." host: the story includes this chart, entitled, "wild ride," that shows the two is in five home ownership rate versus the average for different demographic groups. generation x had some of the highest rates of home ownership and thousand five, of compared

with 2015. taking a call now from arizona, anthony is next. how do things look for you? caller: good morning to c-span and those missing around the world. i am getting ahead. i base that on my intergenerational heritage. children raised eight as a single parent, and divorced my father early. i retired from the military as a incomed veteran with an in the area of $6,200 a month. as a disabled veteran, i have $3000 per month from the v.a. i was forced to leave my civil service job from the army because the army mobilized me and sent me to war.

i came back disabled, and tried to get to disability, and it would not let me. said, you are missing your medical appointments. if i have a penny in my pocket, and my health, i'm ahead. i owed the irs this year, i paid them $20,000 last year. i ozone $55,000 from when i got fired. houses.o i don't have a masters degree, by cap educating myself. what i would share with anyone is get the highest education you can, work as early as you can, get some military experience, especially in the reserves, and most importantly,

don't believe that you cannot make it, because you can. host: all right. i left caller for today will be mira from miami, florida. you have the last word. caller: good morning. that righted to say now i am 60 and debt-free. that's not come easy. i'm very worried about our future, in the sense of these young people, they just want to .e outside, living i see the college's, and they are just out there in the lawn. yes, some are studying. others are there because they think it is fun to be not working. right after high school, you have to focus, you have to get a

small part-time. stop buying stuff. this not the time to buy stuff, and be like a reality show that you see on tv. right, we will have to leave it there because we are out of time. that concludes our show for today. thank you for joining us. you can join us again tomorrow morning at 7:00. here is the lineup. eaglen talk to mckenzie and rudy deleon. address a speech by ash carter last week. later, we will also speak with the panama papers that were released last week, and the impacts