The sky is falling!

[andersaki]

To whom it may concern,

Whine and complain about the baby boomers all you want, but don't generalize. Not all of us caused all these problems that you speak of. Shucks, I don't believe that everyone in your generation is a lazy, slacker. But when you're done, take a look in the mirror and ask the person looking at you, " what are you doing to make it better". In the end we all need to take some responsibility.

andersaki

[Custom Eyes]

Originally Posted by ifish267

"would really be nice for your generation to get off their high horses, open up their eyes to actually how good they really did have it, and maybe have some compassion for future generations that have to deal with the mess you left them with.



I'm a baby boomer. Worked three jobs so my wife could stay home and raise the kids. Put more in the system than I will ever see. My son is in college now on the GI bill (at age 35)after his time in the service, overseas during war time! If the mess your referring to is the debt this nation has maybe you should look at all the freebies being passed out to some of those that have contributed nothing. A good friend of mine came here from Scotland. He had to live in Canada for six years to get into this country. Then fill out forms swearing he would never apply for or receive any( So called free) Government benefits. Then joined the US Army. I have a lot of compassion for those that need a hand during down times. If you honestly think the younger generation is not a spoiled group your head is in the sand! I didn't leave a mess for anyone and I owe nothing to anyone! Your posts are really redundant. As iv'e stated to you before. You don't like President Trump. We got it, a long time and many posts ago!

Yep, you're right, it is redundant, because I've been saying the same thing looonnngggg before he was elected and the other guy was in the White House and the guy even before him. Has nothing to do with Trump.

[Custom Eyes]

Originally Posted by ifish267

"Look at all the freebies being passed out to some of those that have contributed nothing".

Yea, those early boomers getting $400.00 a month from SS are living high!
Medicare?, how long does it take to go through $200k with todays healthcare costs?

Excellent point on healthcare costs. Say a baby boomer worked 50 years. As a VERY high estimate, that person and their employer paid an average of $8000 per year for healthcare coverage. That's $400,000 they put into the system. As you said, how long would it take for them to consume that $400k?? Not long! I racked up a $32,000 hospital bill in less than 48 hours. One cancer bout would more than consume that $400k. Not that anyone did anything insidious or planned to bilk the system, but facts are facts. The majority of baby boomers are taking more out of the system than they ever put in and current generations are having to foot the bill for them and probably the largest reason why healthcare and other costs are so high. When you put in $400k and take out $2 million, someone has to make up the difference.

[ifish267]

Originally Posted by thawk9455

The average person that signed up for SS in the last year was awarded $1,413.08 per month.

https://www.fool.com/retirement/2017...urity-che.aspx

People are also living longer after retirement than they used to which means they're earning benefits longer as well.

So, an American worker that paid in for 35 or 40 years and at age 65 receives $16000.00 a year ($1000.00 a year above the national poverty level for a single) is the problem? I'll never be convinced of that.

[ifish267]

Originally Posted by andersaki

To whom it may concern,

Whine and complain about the baby boomers all you want, but don't generalize. Not all of us caused all these problems that you speak of. Shucks, I don't believe that everyone in your generation is a lazy, slacker. But when you're done, take a look in the mirror and ask the person looking at you, " what are you doing to make it better". In the end we all need to take some responsibility.

andersaki

You are right. I did not mean to generalize. My three kids are a great example of a hard working younger generation.

[Shellback]

Originally Posted by thawk9455

It's estimated that the early Boomer generation will draw about $200,000 more from Medicare and Social Security than they put it.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/poste...=.b144654804f1

Getting back to your point, it's probably somewhat true. If you look at this chart I posted in another thread, you will see the wages we made when we first got into the working world.
What was the average salary in 1965?
Indexing yearly income
Year WageIndex
1964 $4,576.32
1965 $4,658.72
1966 $4,938.36
1967 $5,213.44

Obviously we didn't pay much in when earning less than $5500 a year. I'm betting if you adjusted those old wages for inflation, and the amount we paid in, those WP figures might be different. Plus there's many baby boomers that never lived long enough to collect their first dollar. Others only lived long enough to collect a few years.

[Custom Eyes]

Originally Posted by ifish267

So, an American worker that paid in for 35 or 40 years and at age 65 receives $16000.00 a year ($1000.00 a year above the national poverty level for a single) is the problem? I'll never be convinced of that.

It is a problem when you have so many people hitting the system at once. Then add in the fact that allot of the boomer generation are collecting as spouses and never paid in a cent. Today, allot of families have both parents working and paying into the system. During the boomer's working years, the majority of families were single income households, meaning only one spouse was paying in. My in-laws are a great example. My mother in law worked maybe 2 months in her entire life. She doesn't qualify for her own social security, but she's collecting off my father in law's as a spouse, so you have one person who put in and two people collecting out. Then multiply that by the 10's of millions of boomers hitting the system over a short period of time and that's where you run into problems. Not to mention that our politicians keep "borrowing" from the social security trust, decreasing it's investment yields.

[ifish267]

CE, you make some good points. As usual it's somewhere in the middle I guess. I just get a little riled up sometimes with the blame the other guy bs. It seems to be the general theme these days. Have a happy new year.

[Custom Eyes]

Originally Posted by ifish267

CE, you make some good points. As usual it's somewhere in the middle I guess. I just get a little riled up sometimes with the blame the other guy bs. It seems to be the general theme these days. Have a happy new year.

I don't think there is any "blame" to passed onto the people. Politicians yes, people no. I don't think anyone paying in anticipated the reproduction rate of the boomer's, how life expectancy would increase, and the astronomical increase in healthcare costs. It just all came together as a perfect storm. My only issue with the people is their lack of acknowledging the problems it created, not willing to help fix the problems, and then trying to pass the blame and costs onto current and future generations.

Happy New Year to you also!

[DW]

"The majority of baby boomers are taking more out of the system than they ever put in and current generations are having to foot the bill for them and probably the largest reason why healthcare and other costs are so high. When you put in $400k and take out $2 million, someone has to make up the difference.".

Yes just as the parents of us baby boomers took out more than they paid. Social Security, Medicare, Obamacare, public pensions are all government programs set up the same based as ponzi schemes in a house of cards.