5 Top Retirement Stories of 2011 (CBS MoneyWatch)

It’s that time of the year when we pause and reflect on the events that took place over the past 12 months. In 2011, the first of the boomers turned 65 and began to leave the workforce, so a good amount of retirement news occupied our attention. Among the top stories? Social Security and Medicare went on the chopping block; more people began to think about retiring later; the CLASS Act died an expected death; and retirement programs across the board came under inspection. What does all this mean? Quite simply, the new financial realities are catching up to everybody, near-retirees perhaps most of all.