Old Pharts are crushing us :-(

[mickj]

Now I have some else to blame for all my problems:

Ipod generation crushed by tax, says report - Telegraph

"Young people aged 18 to 34 are paying half their earnings in tax as they help fund the pension and health care costs of an ever more prosperous older generation"

 

[73ss454]

Let me be the first to thank them.

 

[CCdaCE]

"That's all right dad, you run up the bill, we'll pick up the check".

*duck*

-CC

 

[dex]

Let me be the second to thank them.

 

[grumpy]

Both of our kids are in that age range. I don't think they are complaining. We are pretty generous with them and have told them we intend to fully fund the college education of grandkids (if and when they come along). They also are aware that they are likely to inherit a tidy sum from us. Guess they are the exception to the rule.

Grumpy

 

[bongo2]

Are there a lot of Brits here? While I would probably agree with the headline, I don't know how much we Yanks can learn from this review of the "Blair Years."

 

[terminator]

'The Ipod generation has been reduced to galley slaves in the public spending empire of the baby boomers," Mr Bosanquet says. "The Government is in the process of mortgaging the future of a generation."

Over the top perhaps . . . but it is true. I can guarantee that the Baby Boomers definitely won't have Gen X writing odes to them as "The Greatest Generation."

 

[ziggy29]

For what it's worth, when my dad were alive, he basically told us kids that he didn't need his Social Security, and he figured we wouldn't get much (if any) directly, so he said he was saving it all and we'd get it one way or another, even if through inheritance.

But yeah -- if youth were as active and voted as much as seniors, this constant intergenerational wealth transfer would not be happening as we know it.

 

[DougViages]

The Book to read is BOOMSDAY!

My DW and I have both read this dark comedy about an "X'ers" revolt against the Boomers. Fun read, by the author of "Thank You for Smoking". Yea, demographics are HELL. We have these huge burdens coming up in the USA, and Western Europe, with an older population and vast socialist systems, will bury its young workers in debt and taxes.

I have no real suggestions about any of this. Necessity being the Mother of Invention, the crap will hit the fan here down the road. O0

 

[megacorp-firee]

I too thank them ... and wish them a long and prosperous future ... and keep those checks coming

 

[unclemick]

Wait a minute! - is this a rehash/rerun of ancient times? - The Beatles and Rolling Stones left and pissed and moaned about taxes so the Brit's elected Margaret Thatcher - so they could afford to come back.

Or is that just a fairy tale?

heh heh heh - . I haven't seen 'Are You Being Served?' reruns in a while.

 

[bssc]

In the States, taxation is lower than expenditures and the difference is made up by borrowing. It will be up to the iPod generation's kids to pay off this debt.

 

[Mudd]

18-34 year olds?

I just turned 35 a few weeks ago - Thanks suckers !!!

 

[Jay_Gatsby]

My DW and I have both read this dark comedy about an "X'ers" revolt against the Boomers. Fun read, by the author of "Thank You for Smoking". Yea, demographics are HELL. We have these huge burdens coming up in the USA, and Western Europe, with an older population and vast socialist systems, will bury its young workers in debt and taxes.

I have no real suggestions about any of this. Necessity being the Mother of Invention, the crap will hit the fan here down the road. O0

This is why you need to FIRE as quickly as possible. If you're not working, you're not paying into the system to support the Boomers. Not to engage in generational warfare, but I think our politicians have over-promised the Boomers on what is reasonable to deliver.

 

[lets-retire]

Are there a lot of Brits here? While I would probably agree with the headline, I don't know how much we Yanks can learn from this review of the "Blair Years."

One big lesson, don't promise huge social programs.

 

[lazygood4nothinbum]

which old pharts are we talking about? aren't beneficiaries who hardly paid into the system mostly pretty much all dead by now? my mom collected all of about 10 years worth and she had paid into the system for her entire working life. i paid into the system my entire working life but have yet to see a dime. i have no personal (to my own life) problem with anyone shutting social security down; but if you do i want my money back first.

 

[TickTock]

One big lesson, don't promise huge social programs.

One of TickTock's Big Money Rules(tm):

Discount heavily promises of money/benefits to you in the future. Be inclined to take money NOW instead of promises later, even if the money now is substantially less.

 

[segfault]

This is why you need to FIRE as quickly as possible. If you're not working, you're not paying into the system to support the Boomers.

Anyone who pays federal taxes is paying into the system to support the Boomers. Since the federal government is allowed to borrow from the SS trust fund and issue it Treasury notes, the whole distinction between FICA and regular federal tax seems pretty illusory.

 

[Eagle43]

Forty-three years paying; four years collecting (so far). I need 39 more years to break even. Checks are good. I love checks and transfer payments and medical insurance and senior discounts. As a certified old phart, let me thank you now.

 

[Jay_Gatsby]

Anyone who pays federal taxes is paying into the system to support the Boomers. Since the federal government is allowed to borrow from the SS trust fund and issue it Treasury notes, the whole distinction between FICA and regular federal tax seems pretty illusory.

This is assuming you're paying taxes while FIRE'd. I've met a few folks who have structured their investments to minimize the payment of taxes when they FIRE'd. All sorts of tax-free investments, tax offsets, etc... As for the Government raiding the SS trust fund and leaving IOUs, that's an entirely different subject. Fiscal responsibility has never been high on the priority list for most politicians, much less government bureaucrats. I'm in the government contracts arena, so trust me when I tell you this.

 

[Sisyphus]

Enjoy the SS checks...

Hopefully, at some point enough of the baby boomers will no longer be voting so we can straighten out this Social Security mess without the politicians being held over a barrel by AARP and scare tactics.

</soapbox>

 

[73ss454]

Hopefully, at some point enough of the baby boomers will no longer be voting so we can straighten out this Social Security mess without the politicians being held over a barrel by AARP and scare tactics.

</soapbox>

Don't blame the baby boomers blame the politicians. They are the ones that are taking the money out of the general fund not the baby boomers.
It's almost our turn so leave us alone. We paid out dues and we deserve our SS.

 

[Lusitan]

A special share of the blame for the problem is definitely reserved for the politicians. But in the end the system is irreparably flawed because the ratio of retirees to workers keeps growing.

IMO, the problem, 73ss454, is that yes, the Boomers paid their dues, but as a group they will pull out of SS far more than they put into it, because the system was designed poorly. When Boomers were young workers, they had to support a much smaller older generation of retired workers who lived for fewer years into retirement. It was a large group of young workers paying for a small group of short-lived retirees. The dues the Boomers paid reflected that.

Now we'll have a situation where a much smaller generation of young workers will have to support a much larger generation of Boomers receiving SS, living longer lives. I guess that's ultimately just a result of the Boomers having fewer children. It's really nobody's personal fault, but it is a problem with the system. And everybody's been ignoring it.

As Gatsby said, the only way out of the mess that I see for myself and my family is to get out of the rat race as soon as possible and to reduce my tax burden as much as possible.

I am not one for generational warfare either. And I understand your thinking that since you paid your dues you feel you have SS coming to you. But I have been "paying my dues" for over 10 years, and I expect to pay my dues for many more years, and there's a very good chance that I won't get anything back for it, or at least not anything anywhere near what you guys are getting back.

Many people my age feel the same way. So if we seem bitter at times, well, maybe you can see why. But whatever ... it's not going to change so I just treat SS as a tax that goes into the same black hole as all other taxes.

 

[73ss454]

Lusitan, you say that the baby boomers will take out of SS more than they paid in. IMHO this will never happen. I don't think too many people that worked their entire lives ever got out what they put in.

In my case I hope to get more than I paid in. (heh)

If the young people don't think it will be there for them then they should plan accordingly.

 

[laurence]

Huh, many of us Gen X'ers will see benefits from SS earlier than we think. SS checks are probably what is going to keep my MIL out of the poor house - or maybe my house - in her retirement. She hasn't saved a dime, and while she'll get a pension from her job, it won't be enough. So since there are many millions of boomers in her boat, there are millions of X'ers who will be spared financial hardship because of the Social Security checks their parents get. We'll have to take comfort in that.

Since we all agree politicians are gutless wonders, it's obvious the solution will be raise the cap on the tax and increase the age a couple years, and put off the problem until 2090 when we're all dead anyway.