Do You Want To Scare A Baby Boomer?

Economic Collapse Blog ^ | January 17th, 2013 | By Michael Snyder

[laplata]

Good for you. We must all count our blessings.

[CaspersGh0sts]

The problem is that social security was supposed to function like an annuity. It wasn’t a handout and wasn’t meant as welfare. It was supposed to function like an investment that you paid into. Unfortunately, Congress spent the money that was to have sustained the coffers of the annuity, and now we’re going bankrupt.

It’s a bit like investing in Enron or another rotten corporation, only there’s no choice, no diversifying of investments, and no real oversight over the federal government.

[Flying Circus]

“1. Right now, there are somewhere around 40 million senior citizens in the United States. By 2050 that number is projected to skyrocket to 89 million.”

By 2050 most Boomers will be dead as most of their parents are now. A rather constant theme among Boomers in my experience is complete lack of concern about what they leave behind after they die.

[Windflier]

"1. Right now, there are somewhere around 40 million senior citizens in the United States. By 2050 that number is projected to skyrocket to 89 million."

Huh? By 2050 most of us boomers will be dead and gone. My baby sister who was born in 1963 will be 87.

My eldest daughter (a Gen-Xer) will be 70 in that year. Seems my grand kids will be the ones most concerned with the elderly at mid century.

[Sparticus]

The problem is that social security was supposed to function like an annuity.

That's how it's been sold to us over the decades but the fact is that it's never been structured like an annuity. From the beginning, Peter payed for Paul's retirement.

[Windflier]

The problem I am having is finding a place that will hire someone 60+.

I turned 60 last month. Thank God I started my own business seventeen years ago. I've never had to wonder where I'm going to work since then, and I'll probably be at it at least another ten years.

I think my kids will probably fire me by that time ;-)

[Kickass Conservative]

Didn’t mean to imply you were.

Just describing my situation. The whole system is based on thievery and ignorance, but it’s here until it implodes.

My condolences for the loss of your Mother.

[yorkiemom]

The problem is that social security was supposed to function like an annuity.

That's how it's been sold to us over the decades but the fact is that it's never been structured like an annuity. From the beginning, Peter payed for Paul's retirement.

Exactly. It is Socialized Security. Those paying in very little will get all of it back and a lot more. Those paying in the max will NEVER get all their money back.

I was doing the calculations on how much my hubby will pay in if he works from 52 to 67. He will pay in about $120,000. If he lives to his expected life span, he will get back $42,000 from paying in that extra for 15 years. If he quits working at 52, he'll not get screwed over as much by the U.S. government. If we have enough saved and a good homestead when he's 52, there's no point him working longer - other than for 401K matching money.

Very few people realize how socialized SS is. And that they are paying in just to subsidize others.

[cynwoody]

Truthfully, I am torn over whether to collect SS until I get to age 75

Isn't three score and ten the cutoff, after which your check doesn't increase?

If you're feeling healthy, delay until 70. If not, sign up early — 66 and whatever if you're doing well, 62 otherwise.

[VerySadAmerican]

There won’t be near as many senior citizens as they project. obama care will allow a lot of us to die.

[SatinDoll]

“...It’s a bit like investing in Enron or another rotten corporation,..”

OMG!

I worked for Portland General Company, bought by Enron. They changed out all the stocks in our employee 401Ks to Enron stock. When Enron went bankrupt, employees lost their pensions. One poor soul lost over a millions dollars just before he was due to retire.

Your comments took my breath away.

[Sparticus]

Very few people realize how socialized SS is. And that they are paying in just to subsidize others.

Absolutely. Every dollar that is payed in today, goes right back out to pay for current retirees benefits. Everything that current retirees paid in the past went out right back out to cover the cost of their parents' benefits. Any extra money received by SSI was spent immediately on that years general Federal budget.

A wise person won't count on SSI being available in 20 years and any savings people manage to acquire is in danger of being inflated away. An independent retirement as an old age lifestyle is going the way of the dodo bird. I guess the moral is be nice to your kids.

[wardaddy]

What about those of us who contributed maximum....double hit actually.....as employers for 40 plus years

My dad contributed over half million in his life....not counting any return....he died at 64 and got not shite
Y
My mom got 20,000 a year for 9 years and died.....25% of his principal only

I sold a business a few years back and paid back FICA in a dispute settling of 125,000 and am on track to put in even more than dad did as a business owner

I won’t get back but a pittance what I contributed to all my life

A lot of crybabies here whine about older folks....like girls

I have 9 dependents.....taxes and the stagnant economy are brutal

And yet if I get back just some of the at least 500,000 I’ve contributed to FICA just in principal

And I’m a bad guy....a spoiled brat

Well EFF the hipster sissy generation and the Prius they rode in on with their wife driving.....they got a lot of gall

[Sparticus]

Yeah, I know wardaddy. It sucks. But that’s the nature of all Ponzi schemes.

[Rodney Dangerfield]

In a few years, I will turn 62. At that time, I will file for SS and leave the US for the Philippines where my dollar will go a lot farther.

Hopefully, SS will still be solvent.

[Fai Mao]

I am kind of in the opposite boat. I lived in Hong Kong for many years and did not work for a US company so I have paid almost nothing into the Social Security system. I am now exempt because I work for the government of Guam. I don’t know if I even qualify for it should I retire. But I don’t want to back to the US and put money into the system. If I do qualify I will not take it. We don’t need the money

[Gaffer]

31. In 2010, 28 percent of all American workers with a 401(k) had taken money out of it at some point.

There's a perfectly good explanation for this. The government will be confiscating all those funds soon to plug any revenue gaps that are caused by Obama's economic policies. Gone! in the blink of an eye and nothing but a pittance added to your SS to compensate you afterwards. [As for your decision to make, look at it this way. If you take the money at 62 you'll get about 3/4 of what you'd get at 66. You'll get 4 years of 3/4 payments. So then the question is how long does it take for full payments to catch up to 3/4 payments that started 4 years earlier. In my case IIRC it was about 12 years of 66-level payments - I'd be 78 when it was a lose situation for retiring at 62.]

[napscoordinator]

By 2050 most Boomers will be dead as most of their parents are now.

A good majority of Gen X’ers will be dead too. I mean I will be 81 in 2050 and I was born in 1969. The oldest Gen X’er will be 85 in 2050. Although heath of people are getting better, the majority of the population do not make it to 85 or 81.

[Sgt_Schultze]

Aside from their votes for democrats, the soon to be legal illegals will be paying into the SS and Medicare programs working their lawful jobs. The US needs to kick the can further down the road before collapse so those working the handles of power won’t be blamed. This is necessary because through government policies, the US has aborted over 50 million American citizens. We need to get the bodies from somewhere.

[JCBreckenridge]

“The average monthly Social Security benefit for a retired worker was about $1,230 at the beginning of 2012”

More than I’ve ever made. Yeah, life is so tough for boomers.