Do You Want To Scare A Baby Boomer?

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.

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.

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?

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?

Actually, there are TWO, 1. wheat and the 2. tares,
that make up the “boomers”, and all generations.

1. Those with the beatitudes of Matthew Chapter 5, and

2. Those who serve Mammon, the heart darkened (Matt. Chapter 6 and Matthew 6:24. )

All public employees, President on down, should never be permitted to vote. (Matthew Chapter 7)

You're reading comprehension skills are a tad impaired this evening... is the ganja that good?

You accurately quoted dragnet2: “millions of stay at home moms, who never had to work a day in her life outside the home” and then went on to misrepresent the poster's meaning.

The poster said, "...never had to work...", and you misrepresent it as if he said "...never worked..." But even that doesn't matter because the end phrase, "...outside the home...", makes the "had to" clause moot.

...Or is the ganja that bad?

Hey, I am Mom, and if that happens, I won’t like it! My husband and I have no illusions about Social Security. Paid into it for years and won’t get much of it, if any, back. We are resigned to being the suckers holding the empty bag, and we do not want our kids and grandkids saddled with the taxes it would take to keep the Ponzi scheme going a few more years. Government programs always pit groups of people against one another in a fight for the spoils. Too bad so many people still believe in a free lunch and government “benefits”.

Boy, sure is entertain watching the inter-generational fighting on this thread.

America used to be a self-reliant, resilient country.

Maybe we still are, but it’s not apparent sampling some of the discussion on this thread.

It doesn’t matter though. At some point in the not-too-distant future (depending on how irresponsible government can get away with being) your “golden years” will depend on:

1. The assets you’ve accumulated yourself.
2. How many children you have and whether they can stand you
3. The community spirit of your local area and it’s religious and civic institutons

you’ll note that government doesn’t directly factor in

Government will matter, of course, but what will matter most is it’s size and how aggressively they tax you - that will be a short-lived issue though - all governments at all levels will become a lot smaller, because there is no money to support anything but small government.

That’s it. Adjust your life by controlling those three things - pick wisely and you’ll have a more enjoyable old age, pick poorly and die early, penniless and alone.

It’s entirely up to you. As much as folks want government to ensure their comfort and independence, government will fail, as it must in an honorable America.

Whine if you must, but whining won’t help when nobody has the money and your well-being depends on things money can’t buy.

It really ticks me off to see so many of the statistics in this article come from the AARP. AARP has been a huge part of the problem - always grabbing for more government goodies without ever thinking of who has to pay for it all. The ones currently collecting benefits paid by taxpayers will be the last to enjoy the gravy train, and the AARP and others like them don’t give a rat’s behind what is going to happen to future generations. Gimme, gimme, gimme!

As for people not saving enough for the future, it’s hard to do when government takes so much of what we have to give to others and debases the currency, too. Might as well spend it now while it is still worth something.

You youngsters just keep working hard and paying your taxes so old Lancey can keep getting those SS checks to make his boat payments.

Finally, a post that I can identify with! I retired at age 54, non government employer, I have a private pension but had to wait until I was 62 to get my s.s. It amounts to about 2.5 times the number cited in the article, in addition to my private pension. My wife's income dwarfs mine and I cry all the way to the bank.

All you youngins keep those s.s. checks coming to me and never, never, never, vote for that nasty old, "means testing".

I believe that Ernbatavia, whom I've pinged, uses his for "mad money" at casinos. I say, to each his own, boats,casinos whatever. We only live once, so live it up.

Pretty sick of the boomer bashing too.
The greatest fought the war, but didn’t run it.
They WERE in charge in the 60s for Vietnam and 70s for Malaise.
As soon as they came home they worked to break the piggy bank, who do you think expanded SS, voted in Medicare and the Great Society?
By the time the boomers even started voting, that cake was baked.
In the 80s and 90s when we had a chance to right the ship, who keep stopping reform of SS AND MEDICARE? The now Senior Citizens who feel for the Rats Mediscare crap every time.

Then help us get rid of it. Please. You are killing us right now. We are getting destroyed. We can’t do this by ourselves, but we can do this if Boomers step up and say, “no more”.

We need your help desperately. Please. Help us get rid of it.
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I was not going to say anything to you until you uttered this pathetic cry for help.

lol the boomers and SS are the least of our problems.

"Seems history is repeating itself. Every young mom I know, including my own daughters, have college degrees but do not work. They want to be stay at home moms. Such luxury was alien to me but then they are all married to successful men. I was a divorced working mom. Maybe they don't want to be me but Gen X-ers are lazy is my take."

Gen X aren't "young moms". We were born anywhere from the mid sixties into the seventies, and we're solidly middle-aged at this point. I'm self-employed, but most relatives/friends my age are working 60-plus hours per week trying to keep up on bubble-era mortgages taken out in the 5-10 year runup before the housing crash. We tend to active lifestyles, in the extreme, preferring leisure activities like mountain biking, triathaloning, and "adventure tourism". "Lazy" isn't the word I'd use to describe us/them.

The generation I think you're referring to are the millennials. Most of them never had jobs in high school, and I think that contributes to them showing up at their first professional jobs with very little in the way of work habits or skills, and seem to have trouble working independently. They also seem to feel they're entitled to mid-career pay/responsibility the minute they set foot on a job. Most of them are good kids, and I think they're surprisingly conservative socially/politically. Not sure I'd call them "lazy" either, as some of them keep up insane work/social schedules - but sheltered, pampered, and naive come to mind.

It's a ponzi scheme. They've ALWAYS used current money paid in to pay current retirees. There's never been a “lockbox”, that's a lie. They didn't spend the money. Bottom line, there's only 3 things they can do:
1)Raise SS taxes.
2)Raise retirement age.
3)Lower benefits paid out.

But even this can only be done for so long. Sooner or later what you pay in over the years is far less than what you get back in retirement. Indeed, we're already there. I hate SS.

Perhaps if you hadn’t aborted a third of my generation things would be different today.

Who is “you”? The victim mentality and it’s best friend, resentment is poison and it is based in falsehoods.

Your arguments are with liberalism...not a whole generation of people who had it’s destructive ambitions imposed upon them.

Many Boomers saw the retirement bubble a long time ago and tried to reform SS to prepare for it. Liberals (in the media and DNC) would have nothing of that and they accused republicans of being racists who were trying to feed old people dog food. Suggesting any reform to SS was compared to touching the third rail of politics.

Unless you were born yesterday, you know many boomers have fought against abortion and have not participated in abortion. They have worked hard to talk moms into not killing their babies. You also know that liberals celebrate abortion and push it as hard as they can.

YOu have liberals in your generation to fight, too. They will do further harm to your generation like they have harmed the boomer generation. The ideology is anti-human life, anti-happiness/freedom, and anti-prosperty.

Sometimes it is best to fight off what you have now than to whine about and resent what conservatives failed to win in the past.

I see the “progress” agenda items they desire to impose upon your generation. Do you? What are you doing to stop them? Should we blame you for what they do if you fail to stop them?

“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?”

I see you absolutely didn’t get my point.

You are blaming anyone and everyone who is/are living today.

What you don’t get is that this was set in motion many, many years ago...even way before I was born.

The progressive movement was started over 100 years ago.

Now, go back through history and find those who are truly to blame.

And, then...grow up.

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