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?
“You are blaming anyone and everyone who is/are living today”
And you don’t get mine. You are passing the buck and evading responsibility. Yes, bad things were done by people 100 years ago. Bad things were done by people 80 years ago. Bad things were done 60 years ago, and bad things were done 40 years ago.
My problem is with the bad things that boomers have done in the past 40 years, from aborting their children in their 20s to supporting gay marriage now.
Who was the one aborting children from 1972-onwards? Hint, it wasn’t the silent generation. Did your parents force you to have an abortion? Nobody forced you to have/get one. Why did boomers abort so many of their children? That’s what I want the answer for.
‘Who is “you”?’
Great question! Who is you? The 30 million or so Boomers who aborted their children since 1972.
“it is based in falsehoods.”
I see. So what you are saying, is that the boomers, in their early 20’s when Roe was passed, weren’t the ones getting abortions done? That’s nonsense. You and I both know that abortion was legalized when the boomers came of age, and many Boomers partook of abortion wholeheartedly. That is a Fact.
What I want to know is why? Why did Boomers abort 30 million of their children - more than the population of Texas all by themselves?
“Your arguments are with liberalism...not a whole generation of people who had it’s destructive ambitions imposed upon them.”
Nonsense. I believe that Boomers had a choice. They could have said no. They could have said, “I am going to keep my child”. They could have chosen not to enter the abortion clinics. But they did. To the tune of 30 million children. 30 million children that we will never get back - my peers. My brothers and sisters, and cousins, and wife and friends. One third are simply not here. And the best excuse you can offer is that ‘it was forced on you!’
“Many Boomers saw the retirement bubble a long time ago”
Which is why they aborted their children? Robbing your seed corn.
“Suggesting any reform to SS was compared to touching the third rail of politics.”
Because of Boomers, not in spite of them.
“you know many boomers have fought against abortion and have not participated in abortion.”
I have worked with professional prolife organizations. I have picketed and stood out in the cold. One of my best friends is a boomer and I am very close to him. But I’m going to quote him.
“I see two kinds of people. My parents and my children. There is a hole - and that hole is my generation - the boomers. Where are the boomers? Why are they not standing out on the picket lines? Why is it always the older generation - the grandparents, standing with their grandchildren?”
“They will do further harm to your generation”
No, actually, no, they won’t. Not unless they kill a third of my generation.
“I see the “progress” agenda items they desire to impose upon your generation. Do you?”
They? I don’t see them as the ones pushing it. What I do see is boomers funding it and standing out and pushing against us. They are taking what they were taught by their parents (boomers), and attacking us. Those who are on our side, either were taught by our peers or by their grandparents. Some by their parents, but not many.
“What are you doing to stop them? Should we blame you for what they do if you fail to stop them?”
Absolutely, you should. If we fail. We must try to ban it. Now it’s our turn to see what we can do and keep fighting.
and that’s why we will lose. Boomers just don’t get it. SS is the problem.
Pathetic. And I thought I was on a conservative site. Some get it, most do not. And until they understand that SS is an entitlement, this will persist.
I suspect I nailed the negative attitude towards stay at home moms perfectly, which is why him and others are squaking. Flak = over the target. Yes, stay at homes moms are lazy. So lazy that taking care of children isn’t ‘work’, or at least ‘worthwhile work’ at all!
Many boomers do get it, you still do not.
Blaming boomers is like blaming my right arm if I punch you in the nose. Wino is a good guy but I hate his right arm.
The satanic federal farce in the D of C is your enemy.
and the head of the federal farce is the president, no?
No, you didn't. You read something into dragnet2's post that wasn't there, not even remotely.
Hence, my admonishment to bone up on your reading comprehension skills. You can do that by reading more slowly and thinking before you post a knee-jerk reply.
FRegards,
LH
You missed the whole message of my post. I will put it in baby terms for you.
You blame a group of people - a generation (boomers) - for “killing babies” and failing to reform in preparation for the social security retirement baloon.
I don’t believe in group sin, group guilt nor group meaning/sterotypes. Some boomers were liberals and committed abortion and some fought against abortion. Some boomers rejected the reform of socialist insecurity and some boomers worked hard to reform it.
I don’t believe in racial group sin nor racial group guilt and meaning. I don’t beleive in male group sin and guilt nor in female group sin and guilt. I believe in redemption for individuals who were lost and then were found.
I don’t hold hatred and resentment against whole groups of people because I am not a liberal - stupid. I see the individual in front of me. In you I see a person who has bought into liberalism’s mentality of tribalism and you are jockeying for the position of moral high ground victim. Your generation will suffer greatly if you buy into generational warfare. Look how well it has served black liberals in the ghetto because that is where you are headed if you don’t turn your mind and attitude around.
If you want to do group inventory - look at your own generation. Is there liberalism there? Is there abortion going on? Are you really so innocent in a group idenity to be pointing their stinky fingers at another generation? Group think is a false mentality.
Quotes around “Killing babies” says absolutely everything I needed to know.
I don’t blame Boomers for the problems in my life. I blame Boomers for killing 30 million children. Something they did do. You’ve already blamed your parents for ‘instilling a culture of liberalism’ and passed the ultimate responsibility onto them. Which I suppose says it all, does it not? Redemption requires repentence. Until I see Boomers willing to acknowledge their part, things will never change, at least not until the boomers are gone. I know we are winning this issue with young people, but right now, we aren’t getting much support. We’ve got 50+1 with the kids and the granparents. What we don’t have is 50+1 of you.
You won’t get far in any political ambition you made harbor.
You think you are going to get people to join you by imposing a false sense of guilt for something liberal radicals their same age did wrong? Outside of the radical’s diversity racist and femenazi classroom, life does not work that way.
But anyway, knock yourself out. I sense you mean well but when you find yourself worn out, surrender the judgement and bitterness. God will sort ‘em out. That is His job. You just do the best you can do with the hand you’ve been dealt like the Americans who came before you have tried to do. I guarentee, you’ll still look back and see you screwed up to some degree or another. : )
Palliative End of Life Optimum Serenity Initiative (PELOSI)
Nice. Very nice.
As a convert - I regret the years I spent out in the wilderness, and anything I can do to spare others is time well spent. I’ve been there.
I’ve worked with women who have aborted their children, and it’s always such a sad story. I know some prefer a more diplomatic approach, but that doesn’t work for everyone.
If that is your motivation for being so insulting, then you remind me of a reformed smoker.
Obnoxious, insulting, and one huge turn-off.
I was young when Roe v Wade was decided, and had a baby in the next year after that decision. While there were those who aborted their babies during that time, more were aborted in subsequent generations.
I’m not a convert...I’ve always been pro-life.
As a convert, quit preaching to the choir (and being a pompous jerk), and go out in the real world to convert others to your way of thinking.
Psssst...you won’t find too many to convert here.
BTW, just how old are you?
Do you have any idea what was going on at that time?
“While there were those who aborted their babies during that time, more were aborted in subsequent generations.”
This is actually false.
“If that is your motivation for being so insulting.”
I’m not sure why you find ‘truth’ ‘insulting’. That makes no sense to me. Truth is truth. It’s either right or it is not.
I’m sorry you don’t like the fact that your generation was responsible for more abortions than any other, but, that’s the truth.
There aren’t as many of us in subsequent generations because of abortion.
“This is actually false.”
I have yet to see one link to prove your assertions.
So far, all we have is your opinion.
“Truth is truth. It’s either right or it is not.”
On this, you and I are in total agreement.
So, I’ll expect many, many links to prove your many, many assertions.
Couple things. Here’s the abortion numbers through to 1992. 20 years, 25 million children. Close to 50 million have been aborted in America since. Boomers were by far the largest cohort having children, and are much larger than the generations subsequent. Because they were larger (and are still larger than the previous generations), it’s reasonable to assume that as a cohort, they had more children, and more abortions than anyone else. Prime boomer years, out to 1992, (when the youngest boomers were 32), and excluding all subsequent boomer births and abortions - gives us more that 50 percent of the total abortions.
1970 193,491 52 5 18 7
1971 485,816 137 11 19 7
1972 586,760 180 13 21 8
1973 615,831 196 14 26 26
1974 763,476 242 17 37 15
1975 854,853 272 18 39 13
1976 988,267 312 21 41 11
1977 1,079,430 325 22 46 6
1978 1,157,776 347 23 48 4
1979 1,251,921 358 24 47 5
1980 1,297,606 359 25 47 5
1981 1,300,760 358 24 46 6
1982 1,303,980 354 24 46 6
1983 1,268,987 349 23 46 6
1984 1,333,521 364 24 44 8
1985 1,328,570 354 24 44 8
1986 1,328,112 354 23 43 9
1987 1,353,671 356 24 45 7
1988 1,371,285 352 24 45 7
1989 1,396,658 346 24 45 7
1990 1,429,577 345 24 46 6
1991 1,388,937 339 24 47 5
1992 1,359,145 335 23 47 5
First, I hate abortion as much as you do.
Second, I asked for links for proof of your claims. You still have not provided one link.
Forgive me if I don’t take you at your word that boomers are as evil as you say they are.
That poster is a pissant ahole who had crappy parents.....if any at all
And blames the world
And besmirches a fine origin of his username
In England he would be the vile word that they use more than us
He should be zotted
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