Well before the era of social security, most Americans could only dream of a life where retirement was possible. But by the early 1900s U.S. companies started mandating a retirement age. The practice of imposing a retirement age was outlawed by Congress in 1986. But some are suggesting that maybe it’s time to bring it back — all while many baby boomers are out of work and looking to get back into the labor force. Should we go back to mandatory retirement?

• FINANCE TAKEOUT: A new report by the Pew Center gives a failing grade on eight states' pension funds. New York Times finance reporter Louise Story explains.
• OLYMPICS: Daily News sportswriter Nate Vinton joins us with a look at women's Olympic skiing. American women took the top two spots in downhill skiing — including a triumphant gold for an injured Lindsey Vonn.
• LISTENERS RESPOND: By email, phone and posts on our website, listeners weigh in on news of President Obama's nuclear power ambitions.

The latest unemployment numbers are out, and as expected they rose. The unemployment rate is now at 10.2 percent, and 190,000 jobs were lost in October. The numbers are surprising and reveal that the recovery on Wall Street is not reaching most of America. But buried in those data are startling numbers of older workers who are being hit hard by the rise in unemployment. Louise Story, business reporter for the The New York Times, brings us the story. The Takeaway's correspondent Femi Oke went to the New York State Labor Office yesterday to talk to older workers among the job hunters there.

The Minnesota Vikings welcomed a new star quarterback yesterday... but their new quarterback is an old enemy. 39-year-old Brett Favre just came out of retirement (again) and signed a $12 million contract to play for the Vikings this season. This is the second time in two seasons that the famed quarterback has retired and then...unretired. Many Vikings fans have lived with nothing but disdain for Favre in the fifteen years he played for their rivals, the Green Bay Packers.  Are they ready to root for him, now?

Joining us to talk about Favre's latest career move is The Takeaway’s sports contributor, Ibrahim Abdul-Matin, and two Favre fans: Rick Stratton, a Green Bay Packers fan who runs the Packer Backer blog, and Mike Rice, a Minnesota Vikings fan who is the general manager for Gabe’s Roadhouse, which is, ironically, a Green Bay Packers Bar.

Here's Favre at the press conference announcing his return to football:

"Americans are at the bottom of the developed world in how much we save."
--Ronald Wilcox on American debt