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.
What do people born after 1960 have in common with “Baby Boomers”? I resent being lumped together with them.
Was your dad a WWII vet?
Yeah, if not, it doesn;t make sense.........
Ping list for the discussion of the politics and social (and sometimes nostalgic) aspects that directly effects Generation Reagan / Generation-X (Those born from 1965-1981) including all the spending previous generations are doing that Gen-X and Y will end up paying for.
Freep mail me to be added or dropped. See my home page for details and previous articles.
I was born in the 60’s and my dad was a WWII Vet.
Does that make me an official Boomer?
Yeah, if not, it doesn;t make sense.........
No, my father was 17 when the Korean War started. By the time the Korean war was over, he had graduated from college.
The ping list will be along shortly to tell you what a blood sucking parasite you are and why you shouldn't even exist.
Since I was born in June '45, I'm not a "boomer" but I still think it's ok that you were born. Isn't that generous of me?
I'll be 86 if I'm still alive.......
So do I (I always have.) And I was born in 1956.
This system should go belly up before I hit 55.
It means your dad was born after Shemp replaced Curly, but before Mickey Mantle's rookie card. /sarc
What is the “trust fund”? It’s my understanding that in 1968 social security revenues were first lumped into the General Fund (an accounting sleight-of-hand trick) which made the budget look as if there was a “surplus”.
In any event I doubt at this late date there is any “trust fund” other than nominal IOUs.
Well, I was born IN 1960 and dad was a WWII vet. Am just trying to figure out how to prepare as I’m on the tail end of the whole thing. By the time I was ready to buy a house the prices had gone up quite a bit due to the boomer presence. I imagine health care and old-age issues will be wise investments now - but then to pay for them for myself in 30 years.
I don’t plan on seeing any of my SS though. Between paying for my grandmother’s SS (who never paid a nickle into it) and funding the boomers I knew it was a losing proposition ever since I started earning a paycheck.
I agree. I was a 61 and I married a 69. I've always felt more comfortable with the X'ers.
Let’s see... Peering into my crystal ball....
I see the fedgov telling me in about 15 years, “You know, that 401k and IRA you have been building because you just KNEW that SS would go belly up. Well, there are a bunch of you out there doing this and, gosh darn it, you guys (and gals) have a bunch of money in your accounts. Tell ya what we at the IRS and SSAdmin are going to do. We are going to place a 50% tax on the amount of your account and roll the rest into a SS account, how does that sound?”
“Hey, cmon we have to buy the senior vote somehow. Cant cut their benefits and we have already increased the SS tax to 20% of your gross.”
.... end prediction.
Now tell me - am I paranoid or Karnac?
The treason party is waiting until they have functional majorities in both houses and the presidency, then they’ll remove the cap on earnings subject to FICA payments, implement a means test on pay-outs, and raise the retirement age to 75. Net result is the people who contributed the most will probably end up with nothing or much less than they expected.
I was born in 1961. My dad was 8 when WW2 started. I’m wondering why I am a boomer also.
Wow, I was born in Sept 45 and I always thought I was a boomer. Now I know I am deserving of my SS check and I don’t have to take all the boomer crap. Yea!!
You are correct. The “trust fund” has been raided routinely for over 40 years by spendthrift Congresscritters of both parties. They have done the most disservice to us as a way of buying our own votes with our own money..............
United States
There is some disagreement as to the exact beginning and end dates of the baby boom, but the range most commonly accepted is as starting in 1946 and ending in 1964.[2][3][4] The problem with this definition is that this period may be too long for a cultural generation, even though it covers a time of increased births. If the gross number of births were the indicator, births began to decline from the peak in 1957 (4,300,000), but fluctuated or did not decline by much more than 40,000 (1959-1960) to 60,000 (1962-1963) until a sharp decline from 1960 (4,027,490) to 1965 (3,760,358). This makes 1964 a good year to mark the end of the baby boom in the U.S.[5]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baby_boomer
Maybe you are a SHADOW BOOMER?
In his book Boomer Nation, Steve Gillon states that the baby boom began in 1946 and ends in 1960, but he breaks Baby Boomers into two groups: Boomers, born between 1945 and 1957; and Shadow Boomers born between 1958 and 1964.[6]
I turned 62 in August. I applied in May, got my first check October 3rd. Now, if you think Motor Vehicle operations are bad, just wait until you deal with the SS folks.
I had to apply a second time, the old biddy didn’t know she had to hit “enter” and “save”, for my information to be in the system. Then, after all of this, you will get the final appointment via telephone. Still scratching my head about this issue.
My parents were married on VJ-Day and I issued forth nine months later. I have a better claim to “First Boomer” than does she. So there.
If you’re paranoid, you’re not alone. I fully expect that those of us who planned for retirement will be screwed as the government panders to those who couldn’t be bothered.
There is no trust fund - just IOUs promising to tax the living bejabbers out of everyone.
"I resent being lumped together with them."
yes, you're such a much better person than any of those 80 million people because you were born whenever you were born rather than when someone else was born. It has nothing to do with your actions or character or acts of charity or how you raised your kids. It's totally about when you're born. Except on the "I hate *insert state name here* threads". Then it's about where you live. That's the over-riding decision maker on what a great person you are on those threads. In fact, I've discovered over the years that if you were born in 1972 and live in Independence Missouri, you're practically of royal lineage. We should all simply toss our old California born butts into the ocean so there is pleeenty of yummy food and drink and cushy cushions for you because you are a better person since you weren't born at the time I was or live in a state with a coastline! That way the retirement plan some other generation waaaayyyyyy before ours came up with that is failing will be obeekee kadobeekee until you are ready to draw from it. Who cares if those 80 million people were REQUIRED to pay into it! Who CARES if they had little or even NO warning that there was a problem! Why didn't that 58 year old preschool teacher slash maintenance man know better?? They deserve to work. Better yet! All people who were born whenever or wherever you care to place the marker get to work an extra 25 years or until they die because all they have contributed to society has been, oh, the internet, a man on the moon, medical advances, little crap. So much less than the brilliant 18 year olds we have today. Specially that gem I saw this morning outside the donut shop pickin' his nose and smokin' a Winston wearing a bandana. Yeppers. Makes TONS of sense....../sarc
Note to self: add boomer threads to the deadly (stupid) thread list you want to avoid at all cost.
Here's a thought. 70 BILLION dollars every year is spent on illegal aliens. Rather than kicking working Americans around because of when they were born, how about we kick out CRIMINALS who weren't born here AT ALL???? That'll certainly solve the problem, huh?
If we had just elected save the planet Al Gore, it would be safely in a "lock box" right now.
The value of the dollar is getting so watered down that the purchase power of the payment is beginning to vanish.
Recipients will be purchasing a monthly supply of whiskey and cigarettes.
Well said.
The other solution is the one they did in the Children of Men book.
Thank you. I feel much better.
I don't think your paranoid at all. I think the feds would pull just about anything to get their hands on as much of our money as possible.
I'm beginning to think that burying our money in a desert is the only safe option anymore.
I’m a depression kid and have gotten back more than I ever put into SS.
The thing I was taught that the boomers weren’t is how to manage money.
As an unrepentant Xer, it certainly does amuse me that 'the first boomer' to apply for SS is a Hyphenated Woman former school teacher.
I love it when my stereotypes are borne out!
AMEN!
I remember when I was a child we weren't lumped in with them. Then, somewhere along the line those of us born in the early sixties became part of the Baby Boom. The Baby Boom is made up of people whose parents were in WWII. My parents were children during WWII. Some folks born in the early sixties had parents who were BORN during WWII. Guess the Boomers needed to add a few more to their ranks to make them seem even more important.
I AM NOT A BOOMER NOR WILL I EVER BE!!!! While those morons were wallowing in sex, drugs and protest I was playing with dolls. I came of political age during the Reagan years, not during Vietnam. I refuse to be categorized as one of them.
1960. I guess you really didn't have the opportunity to be 'lumped in' with those nasty selfish Boomers, did you?
” you will get the final appointment via telephone”
What’s that all about?
I filled out the aplication, mailed it in, and never heard from them again and got the check in the mail.
I was born in 63 so that makes me a shadow boomer I guess. I’ve long excepted that I am lumped in with the boomers as a constituency. Read many articles that place it at 64. What this means to me is that I’ll be one of the last men standing from this constituency long after it has sucked the gov’t tit dry and long after it has any political power in my twilight years. It behooves us 40 somethings to reform these government “handout to the aged” programs.
SS was started for Widows and their helpless kids.
Its now a Sugar Daddy welfare program with no limits.... then add Hillery's free health care .... we can put a fork in it by 2015.
Dear “cogadh na sith”.... me too! Personally, I couldn’t care less if it was freaking John Lennon come back from the dead toting Tim Leary under his arm. If he paid his due, he’s DUE. The boomers are the biggest voting block EVER in the country. I say ta HELL with the Xers. SPEND SPEND SPEND GET GET GET COLLECT COLLECT COLLECT LIVE LIVE LIVE. There. That makes about as much sense as the “I hate boomers let’s starve them all or throw them in the ocean because they smoked weed and we never did nothing but wear bow ties and sing patriotic songs our whole life” threads. Ridiculous.
***The nation’s first baby boomer applied for Social Security benefits today,***
No he isn’t! My brother born in 1948 is on SS due to health problems and is disabled.
*** Casey-Kirschling, who now lives in Maryland, was born one second after midnight on Jan. 1, 1946***
And I was born Dec 31, 1946!
Touche!
***The nation’s first baby boomer applied for Social Security benefits today,***
No he isn’t! My brother born in 1948 is on SS due to health problems and is disabled.
*** Casey-Kirschling, who now lives in Maryland, was born one second after midnight on Jan. 1, 1946***
And I was born Dec 31, 1946!
The Canadians have been re-jiggering much of the RRSP plans, which are similar to IRA/401Ks here.
My belief: just when you have scrimped and saved to avoid income tax, they will institute larger sales and property taxes, so anything you own or buy will still end up being taxes.
I turn 60 later this month and applied for Social Security last month because I’m a widow. My first check arrives next month and much to my surprise, it’s a lot more than I thought I’d be getting.
Do you actually believe that there is a SS account somewhere with the name "Hi Heels" and X$ amount of dollars in it?!
There's not. It's pay-as-you-go. You paid for some WWII generation oldster's retirement, but there were a lot of you, so it wasn't so bad.
I'll pay for your retirement, but there aren't that many Xers compared to you, so we are well screwed. How much of my income will you want?
Our adult sons are GEN Xers. One is probably more conservative than I am, and the other is recovering from close to two decades of being liberal. We feel very sorry for their/your generation and the one after it.
My wife and I are too old to be boomers, and we have little in common with most we have met.
No drugs and no inheritances just working hard to get our education and be professionals. No draft dodging just enlisting. We have saved for our retirements via our IRAs and 401ks. We have paid a lot into Social Security over the years. Now at 67 and soon be 69, we have no problems getting our monthly checks. My wife still works 30+ hours per week and pays into SS as well as drawing on it.
My retirement has a major medical coverage, and we have long term health insurance to keep us out of the nursing homes. Our cremation and place to park the ashes has been paid for, and we have a trust to fend off the tax suckers.
We have great faith in your generation and the ones coming.
Your generation will be fighting the socialism and the “Its owed to me” mind thought all of your life. Don’t give up the struggle. We are counting on our sons and people like you to make the world a better place for our Grand Kids. You can and will do that! Thank you!
Come on, you don't really think they are gonna let any commoner get ahead do you?
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