Baby Boomers!

[Singleminnie]

Just heard on the World News Tonight, starting tomorrow, a person will turn 65 every 8 seconds for the next year! Wow! I knew there was a lot of baby boomers, but I never heard it put that way! I am 39, and it does make me wonder if there will be anything left?

 

[We_Love_Disney]

Wow, that's what happens when you send the boys away, they come back men with one single thought. lol

 

[MIGrandma]

DH and I were born in 1957 so we're baby boomers. I heard on the news this morning that with so many boomers turning 65, Medicare will be broke by 2017. I doubt DH and I will ever be able to use it.

 

[tvguy]

DH and I were born in 1957 so we're baby boomers. I heard on the news this morning that with so many boomers turning 65, Medicare will be broke by 2017. I doubt DH and I will ever be able to use it.

DW and I were born in 1957 too. I hope there will be Medicare and Social Security.

 

[piperdown]

DH and I are also in our late 30s, and we just assume that there will nothing left for us.

 

[LadyZolt]

DW and I were born in 1957 too. I hope there will be Medicare and Social Security.

When Social Security began (signed into law in the mid-30's and people started getting regular payments in 1940), the expected lifespan of a man was just under 62 years. The age to collect Social Security was 65. The system was designed so that younger workers would pay in, and a recipient would get it for a few years before he/she died.

My grandmother collected it for almost 25 years. It was never designed for that, and this is one reason it's going broke (aside from Congress raiding it -- LOL!) Another reason is that if you've been married for 10 years or more and divorce, your spouse can collect half of your Social Security. You still collect all of it, of course. Example: Joe and Mary are married 10 years, and then divorce. Mary is a housewife and then gets a minimum wage job. Joe has a good career for many years and his Social Security monthly check is $1800. Joe marries Sue and after 10 years, divorces her. In retirement, Joe collects $1800 a month. Sue collects $900. Mary collects $900 (as both ex-wives are entitled to half of Joe's Social Security). That's a payout of $3600 a month just on Joe and his ex-wives.

One way to help Social Security last longer is to raise the age you must reach in order to collect it. It should have been being raised over time as advancements in medicine have improved the average lifespan. They have raised it a little, but not enough. I think for my age group (born 1962), I have to be 67 to collect Social Security. The average age of death for a woman today is something like 79, depending on what source you use. If they raised the age to closer to 75, it might yet work.

I know that I cannot count on Social Security being there. I think everyone needs to have IRA's and 401(k) plans.

-Dorothy (LadyZolt)

 

[manning]

Just heard on the World News Tonight, starting tomorrow, a person will turn 65 every 8 seconds for the next year! Wow! I knew there was a lot of baby boomers, but I never heard it put that way! I am 39, and it does make me wonder if there will be anything left?

If we keep spending like drunken sailors there won't be anything left.

 

[portocall]

Wow, that is quite a statistic! Every 8 seconds!

 

[HSMndLKfan92]

That's a lot of happy birthdays!

 

[GeorgeG]

I will have my eight-second moment this year. I read something about 10-15 years ago that the baby-boomers will probably be the last to retire. The article didn't point at Social Security as much as at how pension plans would change. That has already happened. Younger people will have to rely on personal savings and retirement funds. The company I retired from has both, but the pension calculation is very different for those who started work after a certain date. I live in a very large retirement community where many are still active well onto their eighties so I believe the younger generations (post baby-boomers) will see retirement at a much later age than we did.

 

[tonilea]

I think we will get a very small percentage, but I have no intention of depending on or expecting ANYTHING - whatever we get will just be extra money.

It would be interesting to see paid in vs collection ratio.

 

[gottaluvPluto]

I would not count on social security or and type of pension from a company. The baby boomers will kill any programs for the younger generations. Also, our children will pay a lot more into social security and never see a dime. The lucky winners of all this SS mess is the 403b people (the people that keep their share of SS). You guys are extremely lucky!