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First baby boomer applies for Social Security
AP via Houston Chronicle ^ | 10/15/07 | AP

Posted on 10/15/2007 2:18:55 PM PDT by trumandogz

WASHINGTON — The nation's first baby boomer applied for Social Security benefits today, signaling the start of an expected avalanche of applications from the post World War II war generation.

Kathleen Casey-Kirschling, a former teacher from New Jersey, applied for benefits over the Internet at an event attended by Social Security Commissioner Michael Astrue. Casey-Kirschling, who now lives in Maryland, was born one second after midnight on Jan. 1, 1946, making her the first baby boomer — a generation of nearly 80 million born from 1946 to 1964, Astrue said.

Casey-Kirschling will be eligible for benefits after she turns 62 next year.

An estimated 10,000 people a day will become eligible for Social Security benefits over the next two decades, Astrue said.

The Social Security trust fund, if left alone, is projected to go broke in 2041, though Astrue said he hopes Congress will address the issue, perhaps after the 2008 presidential election.


TOPICS: Culture/Society
KEYWORDS: babyboomers; boomers; genx; greedygeezers; socialsecurity
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To: Freedom4US
Well - T-bills are “IOUs” but they are money!

These IOUs are non-market T-bills. All they represent is an obligation of the USG to pay that amount in benefits when they are redeemed. There is a reason why the SSTF is included in the $9 trillion national debt. The SSTF IOUs are not money.

But social security revenues and related should be a stand-alone deal, and not part of the general budget.

Disagree. We need to end this phony bookkeeping scam. I would prefer partial privatization, but if not, we should make SS a line item on the federal budget, much the same as being done with Medicare B. All the SSTF represents is the good faith of the USG to pay. And SS is not sustainable as currently structured. In 1950 there were 16 workers for every retiree, today there are 3.3, and in 2030 there will be 2. And in 2030, because of the baby boomers, there will be 70 million retirees, twice as many today.

I see this same sort of thing in local government, they will raid solvent or “surplus” entities to pay for other areas of government that are short. I’m no accountant but it doesn’t seem like a very smart thing to do.

The problem with SS is that it can't be solvent without raising taxes and reducing benefits. And SS is on automatic pilot with annual increases being tied to a fixed formula. The stated rationale for taking the SS "surplus" and issuing T-bills in the amount of the "sutrplus" for deposit into the SSTF is that this money must be put to use somewhere and that it is cheaper for the USG to "borrow" the money from SS than it is from the public. And the interest on the SSTF is a paper transaction, i.e., more non-market T-bills are issued to cover the interest. 17 cents of every federal dollar expended is to service the debt. And Medicare will be facing enormous problems beginning in 2012 or 2013.

121 posted on 10/15/2007 8:04:06 PM PDT by kabar
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To: Balding_Eagle
That’s one of the things I’ve been telling folks who want to open ROTH IRAs, which are not tax deductable.

The advantages of the Roth are you can accumulate the money tax free in terms of the growth of the investments and when it comes time to taking it out, it is not taxed as income. So although you may not realize a tax deduction for your contributions, there are other advantages when it comes time to take the money out.

122 posted on 10/15/2007 8:09:02 PM PDT by kabar
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To: trumandogz

The two sayings that set my nerves on end is something with “Baby Boomers: in it. and another is “it for the children”. That one makes me think of Clinton.


123 posted on 10/15/2007 8:18:55 PM PDT by icu2 (HERE IT COMES!)
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To: kabar
when it comes time to taking it out, it is not taxed as income

So you believe that too?

Yes, I know that's what TODAYS tax code says. That was wrtten at a time when the government wasn't so hungry.

Remember when SS was tax free? That wasn't so long ago.

124 posted on 10/15/2007 8:32:19 PM PDT by Balding_Eagle (If America falls, darkness will cover the face of the earth for a thousand years.)
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To: achilles2000

thefeds expect the illegal aliens to pick up the burden of keeping the social security going....(sarc)but they do.


125 posted on 10/15/2007 8:38:23 PM PDT by television is just wrong (deport all illegal aliens NOW. Put all AMERICANS TO WORK FIRST. END Welfare)
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To: gracesdad

What an inheritance. A generation of broken homes. A culture completely debased and profane. An education of relativism, feminism, devoid of the classics of “imperialistic, patriarchal” western literature, weak in math and flush with junk science. A financial morass of debt on top of debt on top of unfunded liability.

Inheritance? HA. I’ll get as much of that as I will social security... I’ll pay and pay and when time comes to stop paying there will be nothing for me to collect except worthless debris and detritus.


126 posted on 10/15/2007 9:18:25 PM PDT by Flying Circus
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To: Balding_Eagle
So you believe that too?

Believe? No, it is a matter of law. Yes, laws can be changed, all laws. There are no guarantees. You can BELIEVE that the laws covering ROTH IRAs will be changed. So be it. I will continue to deal with the laws as currently written. Each to his own.

127 posted on 10/15/2007 9:23:40 PM PDT by kabar
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To: Illuminatas

I’ve been saying the same thing for 10 years. The trick for the Feds will be to get our guns away from us before they make that move.


128 posted on 10/16/2007 4:43:22 AM PDT by Wolfie
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To: GOP_1900AD
I will need to be hitting the pavement real soon to look for a different job. It is tough out there. The B.S. games and the hoops you must jump through in order to get employed is a pain in the @$$. I knew one guy who cleaned for my mother back in the early '90s had it good. He was in the job market during the '50s and '60s. He mentioned that you could quit your job one day, go out the next day and come home with several offers. The company I work for told me last week that my position is being cut after a week from Friday. They will put me on overhead for a few weeks before showing me to the door. I won't leave the company before then since their severance is decent (not as good as the executives with their golden parachutes). After that, time to hit the pavement.

I am 41 years old and finding a job should be easy but it is not. I have applied for many positions within the company but nothing comes of it though. I interviewed for a position last Summer in one group and was told by end of Summer I would hear if I get something or "thank you very much for expressing your interest". I heard nothing. I contacted the program manager and got a curt and very short response of "we have nothing for your skills". I know others got offers. I know the reason - one time I parked my old pickup truck by the building and in fact, it was in front of the program mgr's window. I had my truck sticker-ed that day with a tow notice mentioning the truck was an eyesore. I am sure this was one major reason for the curt response. Pretty sad that the work place considers politics, games or conformity to petty and useless rules more important than merit which is based upon the work you do. The program mgr is a baby boomer. One other manager who I butted heads with many times was also a baby boomer as well. On my truck getting sticker-ed, he called me into his office and chewed my @$$ out and told me to park the truck away from the building. Another instance is taking vacation - only those on the "inside" are allowed to take something like one or two weeks off, you on the "outside" can only do a few days here, a few days there. And this takes the cake. Where I worked at, we had inadequate bathroom facilities for the number of people that worked there. We worked on the 5th floor, I go down to the 3rd floor to use that bathroom since it never got used. The 5th floor bathroom was always busy such as all fixtures in constant use especially around lunch. One of his "insiders" snitched on me and I got called in, chewed out. It started out with, "are our bathrooms not good enough for you to use that you have to use the 3rd floor bathroom" ? "From now on, when you need to use the bathroom, you will use the 5th floor bathroom. I don't care if you have to wait 20 minutes". "If you need to go to a different floor, you have to ask my permission". "Using the bathroom is a privilege, not a right". What a jerk ! I am glad I don't work for him anymore.

The life experiences of those of us born after 1960 have been very different from those born before. We did not reap anywhere near the job opportunities and easy money that those born early did. We are more hardscrabble. We relate more with people born during the mid 60s through early 70s than we do with people born in the 40s and 50s. This does indeed matter. We, along with the true Xers, are sucking up the fumes of the true boomers. Call us slackers and whiners, but the fact is, our experience has been far darker and tougher.
129 posted on 10/16/2007 5:37:44 AM PDT by CORedneck
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To: Flying Circus

“Inheritance? HA”

And believe me, the spoiled brat generations behind you will complain just as bitterly as you are.


130 posted on 10/16/2007 5:44:07 AM PDT by gracesdad
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To: kabar

While it’s certainly reasonable to operate in accordance with the regs as they are currently interpreted, it’s also wise to understand history.

There’s an enormous fight brewing over all non-government retirement plans. It’s going to be the private sector folks like me, and probably you, against the public employees, who God forbid, won’t have their plans touched, even though you and I funded them.


131 posted on 10/16/2007 6:46:01 AM PDT by Balding_Eagle (If America falls, darkness will cover the face of the earth for a thousand years.)
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To: Balding_Eagle
There’s an enormous fight brewing over all non-government retirement plans. It’s going to be the private sector folks like me, and probably you, against the public employees, who God forbid, won’t have their plans touched, even though you and I funded them.

First of all, USG employees hired after 1983 must join SS. Others hired before that were given the option twice of joining SS in addition to their civil service plans.

Second, if Congress decides to change the COLA formula for SS as part of the "fix," it will affect all retired USG employees, because their civil service pension increases are tied to the SS COLA.

Third, I am a retired USG employee. I paid into my pension plan for 36 years. 7% for my contribution and 7% by the USG.

Finally, I don't see this as a private sector versus public sector battle, especially since the overwhelming majority of public employess pay into SS and are covered by Medicare.

132 posted on 10/16/2007 7:15:26 AM PDT by kabar
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To: kabar

This is all happening already. Seehs, even I thought it would take another decade.

“Madam speaker Nancy Pelosi wants to put a Windfall Tax on all stock market profits (including Retirement fund, 401Ks and Mutual Funds!)”

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1911844/posts


133 posted on 10/16/2007 7:17:08 AM PDT by Balding_Eagle (If America falls, darkness will cover the face of the earth for a thousand years.)
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To: Balding_Eagle

If you read the thread, you will see that this is a bogus email source. It is not happening already.


134 posted on 10/16/2007 7:19:18 AM PDT by kabar
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To: trumandogz
The Social Security trust fund, if left alone, is projected to go broke in 2041

Fox reports it will go broke in 2017.

135 posted on 10/16/2007 7:24:58 AM PDT by pabianice
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To: Graybeard58
The future
136 posted on 10/16/2007 7:30:29 AM PDT by pabianice
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To: Balding_Eagle
That’s one of the things I’ve been telling folks who want to open ROTH IRAs, which are not tax deductable

Do you seriously think that Congress will have the political will to screw middle- and lower-income Americans by additionally taxing Roth IRAs? Roth IRAs are low-income tax shelters. That doesn't generally sit well with the majority of Americans, who are low or middle income.

137 posted on 10/16/2007 7:33:53 AM PDT by Publius Valerius
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To: trumandogz

Why didn’t the age of eligibility for early retirement change when the age at 65 years changed to 65+ 2 months for every yaer born after 1939? It seems silly that early retirement is still set at a flat 62 years.


138 posted on 10/16/2007 7:50:24 AM PDT by Gumdrop
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To: Hi Heels
I wish there were more of you, but there was all this save the planet stuff that wouldn't let us breed like my aforementioned Dad who has 13.

That's a great point!

That's why we have no choice but to give amnesty to the illegal aliens and get them paying into the system--there's not enough of me and those like me to support the SS system for the Baby Boom retirement....

That's why all of this talk about illegals is nonsense, we have no choice.

139 posted on 10/16/2007 8:22:23 AM PDT by Cogadh na Sith (Peace Through Light)
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To: Paved Paradise
1.Born in the USA (greatest country in the world, then and now - and I will continue to do my best to keep it that way).
2. Born in a time when medicine had made enough advances that I didn’t have to fear polio, or whooping cough, or measles.
3. Born in a time when parents believed in being married before bringing me and other babies into the world.
4. Born in a time when my childhood really allowed me to be a child. I read books like “Dick and Jane,” not “Jane Has Two Daddies.” Television was still in it’s infancy and the shows were made for families and families could sit around and watch and not want to run for cover.
5. Born in a time when teachers actually taught you things that you could use (like math, science, spelling, and grammar).

As an Xer--with the exception of 1, I was not born into that world. As far as disease goes, I was told I was going to get AIDs, Hep-C, Herpes or Tuberculosis 'cuz of Reagan.

As far as 3, 4, and 5 go, I didn't live in that world; at all. Not even close....

140 posted on 10/16/2007 8:34:18 AM PDT by Cogadh na Sith (Peace Through Light)
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