Posted on 01/17/2013 9:02:32 PM PST by blam
Do You Want To Scare A Baby Boomer?
By Michael Snyder
January 17th, 2013
If you want to frighten Baby Boomers, just show them the list of statistics in this article. The United States is headed for a retirement crisis of unprecedented magnitude, and we are woefully unprepared for it. At this point, more than 10,000 Baby Boomers are reaching the age of 65 every single day, and this will continue to happen for almost the next 20 years. The number of senior citizens in America is projected to more than double during the first half of this century, and some absolutely enormous financial promises have been made to them. So will we be able to keep those promises to the hordes of American workers that are rapidly approaching retirement?
Of course not. State and local governments are facing trillions in unfunded pension liabilities. Medicare is facing a 38 trillion dollar shortfall over the next 75 years. The Social Security system is facing a 134 trillion dollar shortfall over the next 75 years. Meanwhile, nearly half of all American workers have less than $10,000 saved for retirement. The truth is that I was being incredibly kind when I said earlier that we are "woefully unprepared" for what is coming. The biggest retirement crisis in history is rapidly approaching, and a lot of the promises that were made to the Baby Boomers are going to get broken.
The following are 35 incredibly shocking statistics that will scare just about any Baby Boomer...
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.
2. According to one recent poll, 25 percent of all Americans in the 46 to 64-year-old age bracket have no retirement savings at all.
3. 26 percent of all Americans in the 46 to 64-year-old age bracket have no personal savings whatsoever.
4. One survey that covered all American workers found that 46 percent of them have less than $10,000 saved for retirement.
5. According to a survey conducted by the Employee Benefit Research Institute, "60 percent of American workers said the total value of their savings and investments is less than $25,000".
6. A Pew Research survey found that half of all Baby Boomers say that their household financial situations have deteriorated over the past year.
7. 67 percent of all American workers believe that they "are a little or a lot behind schedule on saving for retirement".
8. Today, one out of every six elderly Americans lives below the federal poverty line.
9. More elderly Americans than ever are finding that they must continue working once they reach their retirement years. Between 1985 and 2010, the percentage of Americans in the 65 to 69-year-old age bracket that were still working increased from 18 percent to 32 percent.
10. Back in 1991, half of all American workers planned to retire before they reached the age of 65. Today, that number has declined to 23 percent.
11. According to one recent survey, 70 percent of all American workers expect to continue working once they are "retired".
12. According to a poll conducted by AARP, 40 percent of all Baby Boomers plan to work "until they drop".
13. A poll conducted by CESI Debt Solutions found that 56 percent of American retirees still had outstanding debts when they retired.
14. Elderly Americans tend to carry much higher balances on their credit cards than younger Americans do. The following is from a recent CNBC article...
New research from the AARP also shows that those ages 50 and over are carrying higher balances on their credit cards -- $8,278 in 2012 compared to $6,258 for the under-50 population.
15. A study by a law professor at the University of Michigan found that Americans that are 55 years of age or older now account for 20 percent of all bankruptcies in the United States. Back in 2001, they only accounted for 12 percent of all bankruptcies.
16. Between 1991 and 2007 the number of Americans between the ages of 65 and 74 that filed for bankruptcy rose by a staggering 178 percent.
17. What is causing most of these bankruptcies among the elderly? The number one cause is medical bills. According to a report published in The American Journal of Medicine, medical bills are a major factor in more than 60 percent of the personal bankruptcies in the United States. Of those bankruptcies that were caused by medical bills, approximately 75 percent of them involved individuals that actually did have health insurance.
18. In 1945, there were 42 workers for every retiree receiving Social Security benefits. Today, that number has fallen to 2.5 workers, and if you eliminate all government workers, that leaves only 1.6 private sector workers for every retiree receiving Social Security benefits.
19. Millions of elderly Americans these days are finding it very difficult to survive on just a Social Security check. The truth is that most Social Security checks simply are not that large. The following comes directly from the Social Security Administration website...
The average monthly Social Security benefit for a retired worker was about $1,230 at the beginning of 2012. This amount changes monthly based upon the total amount of all benefits paid and the total number of people receiving benefits.
Could you live on about 300 dollars a week?
20. Social Security benefits are not going to stretch as far in future years. The following is from an article on the AARP website...
Social Security benefits won't go as far, either. In 2002, benefits replaced 39 percent of the average retirees salary, and that will decline to 28 percent in 2030, when the youngest boomers reach full retirement age, according to the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College.
21. In the United States today, more than 61 million Americans receive some form of Social Security benefits. By 2035, that number is projected to soar to a whopping 91 million.
22. Overall, the Social Security system is facing a 134 trillion dollar shortfall over the next 75 years.
23. As I wrote about in a previous article, the number of Americans on Medicare is expected to grow from 50.7 million in 2012 to 73.2 million in 2025.
24. Medicare is facing unfunded liabilities of more than 38 trillion dollars over the next 75 years. That comes to approximately $328,404 for each and every household in the United States.
25. Today, only 10 percent of private companies in the U.S. provide guaranteed lifelong pensions for their employees.
26. Verizon's pension plan is underfunded by 3.4 billion dollars.
27. In California, the Orange County Employees Retirement System is estimated to have a 10 billion dollar unfunded pension liability.
28. The state of Illinois has accumulated unfunded pension liabilities of more than 77 billion dollars.
29. Pension consultant Girard Miller told California's Little Hoover Commission that state and local government bodies in the state of California have 325 billion dollars in combined unfunded pension liabilities.
30. According to Northwestern University Professor John Rauh, the latest estimate of the total amount of unfunded pension and healthcare obligations for retirees that state and local governments across the United States have accumulated is 4.4 trillion dollars.
31. In 2010, 28 percent of all American workers with a 401(k) had taken money out of it at some point.
32. Back in 2004, American workers were taking about 30 billion dollars in early withdrawals out of their 401(k) accounts every single year. Right now, American workers are pulling about 70 billion dollars in early withdrawals out of their 401(k) accounts every single year.
33. Today, 49 percent of all American workers are not covered by an employment-based pension plan at all.
34. According to a recent survey conducted by Americans for Secure Retirement, 88 percent of all Americans are worried about "maintaining a comfortable standard of living in retirement".
35. A study conducted by Boston College's Center for Retirement Research found that American workers are $6.6 trillion short of what they need to retire comfortably.
So what is the solution? Well, one influential organization of business executives says that the solution is to make Americans wait longer for retirement. The following is from a recent CBS News article...
An influential group of business CEOs is pushing a plan to gradually increase the full retirement age to 70 for both Social Security and Medicare and to partially privatize the health insurance program for older Americans.
The Business Roundtable's plan would protect those 55 and older from cuts but younger workers would face significant changes. The plan unveiled Wednesday would result in smaller annual benefit increases for all Social Security recipients. Initial benefits for wealthy retirees would also be smaller.
But considering the fact that there aren't nearly enough jobs for all Americans already, perhaps that is not such a great idea. If we expect Americans to work longer, then we are going to need our economy to start producing a lot more good jobs than it is producing right now.
Of course the status quo is not going to work either. There is no way that we are going to be able to meet the financial obligations that are coming due.
The federal government, our state governments and our local governments are already drowning in debt and we are already spending far more money than we bring in each year. How in the world are we going to make ends meet as our obligations to retirees absolutely skyrocket in the years ahead?
That is something to think about.
So what do you think? Do you believe that there is a solution to our retirement crisis? Do you think that we can actually keep all of the promises that we have made to the Baby Boomers?
“Don’t you get it? Boomers can no more get rid of the entitlements than Republicans can.”
And as Churchill once said- sometimes you fight when you can win. Other times you fight - because you didn’t fight before, and now you must. We must fight this, because if we don’t things will be even worse.
You can either fight with us, as we try to fix stuff, or you can choose to sit on the sidelines. I cannot make you want to help but I can ask. And I am asking - please, help us fix this.
“I suggest you martial young people to the cause, but don’t expect anything good to come from it until you get young people to stop voting for dems.”
I won’t get anywhere if I can’t get boomers on my side. We need you and we can’t get it done without your support. This is why I am making my pitch to you - not someone else.
“You are blaming the wrong people, my FRiend.”
Believe me - I sincerely wish that were true.
Your generation is just too strong for Obama, America will never survive you.
Your whininess and proclaiming yourself as a deprived victim, too poor to marry and reproduce, and blaming your problems on others shows how that will come to be.
You guys, the generation beyond competitive politics, you will never be anything other than a democrat voting block.
You have probably dined with many vets, boomers produced almost 9.5 million of them.
I would love to help you, however your attitude is not attractive, and doesn’t endear you to anyone.
As I said, we’ve lived our lives as though there would be no entitlements, so it’s no skin off of my nose.
Even my granddaddy, who would have received many times more than he paid into SS, took what he paid in, plus a little interest, and gave the rest to charity.
Even though he didn’t want any more, he was unable to stop the payments.
Face it...it’s been forced down our throats.
Blaming boomers...putting the blame anywhere other than where it belongs...won’t help your cause whatsoever. It turns those who would love to help “off.”
Look, here’s a fact.
100 percent of those under 35 voting won’t make a dent in the overall ballots cast.
Under 35s are less likely to vote, less likely to show up.
Where is the meat and potatoes of the electorate? Boomers and up. Boomers have been the most substantial portion of the electorate every year since they hit 35. Since then, we’ve seen Clinton twice, Bush twice, and Obama.
So, if you want to win elections, where do you go - you go for where the ballots are - boomers. Why did Obama get elected? because he split boomers 50/50. I know I can post this until I’m blue in the fact - but that’s the truth. Obama doesn’t care about the young people. He cares about getting 50 percent of Boomers. He gets that, he’s invincible.
You keep spouting statistics, but you have no link to any studies to back up your assertions.
Forgive me for not taking your word for anything.
“Blaming boomers...putting the blame anywhere other than where it belongs...won’t help your cause whatsoever. It turns those who would love to help “off.” “
Insofar as people are more comfortable with the status quo than they are with change, they will vote status quo every time. Everything I have posted is the truth, and until people wake up to this - things aren’t going to change.
What, you want the truth? That by 2020, America will be bankrupt, and it won’t matter whether you get your SS check, because the money won’t be worth anything?
That’s what we are staring at in the face right now. Even if you taxed folks my age 100 percent to pay for the existing benefits, we will still fall short. Default is coming, unless benefits are cut as soon as possible. We have about 8 years leeway given the enormous advantages handed down to you by your forefathers, the ones who went to the Moon - the ones who actually defeated a foreign power, etc. The list goes on.
Indeed he served in Desert Storm. You should ask him what he thinks of Clinton. ;)
You aren't interested in Obama or Social Security, at all, you are trolling about something to do with the last conservative generation.
White 30-44
18% of the electorate: 38% - 59%
White 45-64
29% of the electorate 38% - 61%
White 65+
14% of the electorate 39% - 61%
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/11/07/fox-news-exit-poll-summary/
Then perhaps you get your generation to vote a little less lefty, instead of being a rock solid, lefty block.
It seems like someone who was conservative would be ecstatic about the over age 50 voters, instead, as a troll, you hate them and are at war with them.
You really are not the brightest troll we have seen.
“Your generation is the most lefty generation in history”
I’ve just proven why that’s not the case, with actual facts and data.
“last conservative generation.”
If you’re the last conservative generation, God help us. We’re doomed. Conservativism brought to you by the generation that brought us gay marriage, and abortion. Haven’t you done enough damage already?
You don’t say if your one and only vet friend is a boomer, but whether he was one of the almost 9.5 million boomer vets or not, he served under, and alongside them in Desert Storm.
Your generation doesn’t enlist so much.
“Then perhaps you get your generation to vote a little less lefty”
Go where the votes are. Boomers are by far the largest voting block in America. Whatever Boomers want, they get.
“It seems like someone who was conservative would be ecstatic about the over age 50 voters”
What’s to be ecstatic about them? You went 50/50 on Obama in 2008. That’s pathetic.
Looking at 2012 - you went 51-47 for Romney. That’s horrible. Absolutely horrible. 40 percent of the electorate and you went 51-47.
If boomers simply voted like their parents did - Obama would have been defeated and Romney would have won. Fact.
How did boomers create abortion?
Or gay marriage for that matter, as the most lefty generation in history, you are really something to behold.
It is clear that conservatism is not an interest of yours, you are singlemindly focused not on the left, but on a generation.
Your generation gives us Obama, and then reelects him, and we all know will forever be a democrat voting block, and you are attacking the republican voters.
“You don’t say if your one and only vet friend is a boomer”
Sure, he was the one and only vet friend to invite me to dinner at thanksgivings! I had a wonderful time with him.
“Your generation doesn’t enlist so much.”
No, he’s not a boomer. He has very few good things to say about his leadership - but he did like Stormin’ Norman. Probably because he came up before all this handholding pc crap came up.
Anyways, sorry to disappoint you, but I haven’t and cannot serve. Can’t even hear air raid sirens. :)
“How did boomers create abortion?”
Well, let’s see. Oldest boomers were born in ‘45. Roe was in 1972 - so the Oldest boomers would have been 27 or so. Roe wasn’t aborting anybody but Boomers and Boomers children for a good 20 years. Then Boomers are puzzled why there aren’t enough kids to keep the entitlements rolling.
“Or gay marriage for that matter”
Well, let’s take a look at Vicky Gene Robinson. The first gay episcopal bishop. Gosh. When was he born? 1947. That would make him, golly gee whiz - a boomer!
I bet you’ve heard of Gene Robinson!
Yeah, republican voters are the problem.
What a lame troll you are.
How do you think that Obama won the 2012 election?
How do you think that your generation has voted in every election, and will vote in every election in the future?
“How do you think that Obama won the 2012 election?”
By getting enough Boomer voters to support him and rendering Boomers as a whole irrelevant. Had Boomers swung even 45-55 for Romney, Romney would have won, easily.
Worked for him in 2008, worked for him again in 2012. You’re 40 percent of the electorate. You’re telling me that 45-55 for Romney was impossible? Heck, that’s what your parents put up.
Wow, that is one goofy post, not to mention all the dates you got wrong.
Boomers gave us Social Security, and Roe V Wade, and while voting against Obama, elected Obama.
We are getting quite a troll education tonight.
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