>The cruelest insult will be to those who reach a manditory retirement age on the day we switch from income tax to consumption tax. They will will have paid income taxes on an entire career of savings just in time to turn around and be taxed again as they spend it.<
Not the case.401K income is not taxable the day you retire.It is taxable as you withdraw it over 20 years at the rate of withdrawal perscribed by the Gov.The retired person comes out ahead.No income tax on retirement no consumption tax on basic neccesities(where most of spending goes)
Retirees will take it in the rear under the fair tax. All the money they saved over their whole career will overnight see a reduction in purchasing power of roughly 20%. If you call that coming out ahead, I don't know what to tell you. People earning income will see their paychecks go up to compensate, fixed income people are S-C-R-E-W-E-D.