Gen Z would rather cut SS benefits for seniors than pay more taxes

[Aerides]

Every generation has its problems and complaints.

And that is why articles positioned this way have no good point. Everyone, including the title, focus on "the youngs want bad for the olds" when in the next paragraph it says the exact same is also true in reverse: Those receiving SS would rather that GenZ pay higher taxes vs. seeing their benefits cut.

"Nearly 90% of Americans age 65 and older believe current retirees’ benefits should be protected—even if that means higher taxes on younger workers."

Note it also says a majority of GenZ would have benefits cut, but then it says "NEARLY HALF" so not even a plurality, and way way less than 90) Sounds to me like GenZ is more generous than they are being given credit for in the piece.

How many of us here want our kids/grandkids to pay more taxes? Not something I've ever heard. But maybe there are enough seniors who would fall into financial issues is SS were reduced, so it's a binary choice with no good outcome for anyone.

Either way, far too many here are taking the (rage)bait of this article. Save your ire for bad writing, vs. your fellow taxpayers.

 

[RetiredHappy]

This "horizontal transfer" is something I've been thinking about, I'm male, 5 years older then my wife, she could outlive me by 20 years. I'm considering giving at least some of my inheritance to my kids at my death. I may do this for several reasons, my wife can and will, live on much less then 1/2 of our nest egg, why make the kids wait, let them enjoy it while they are young. My wife can get a hair up her butt about, the daughters husband isn't who I thought he was when they married, she should have had a baby, and the list goes on, the house they are building is too expensive, I'm not giving our money to her adopted son. Not so much yet, said about our son, but he's younger and has time to get on the s#iT list. She could cut them out of any inheritance. BTW, they are both great kids, and they are both working hard and getting much joy out of life. Looking at it, they have the money/joy thing figured out much better than their parents. It doesn't hurt that their parents got them there. Is this a rant?

We got "everything" planned when we set up our trust on what goes to my son on my early demise. My taxable accounts and one of the 2 qualified (IRA) annuities will pass on directly to my son. My spouse gets my half of our home and my annuity that is currently in payout phase. He can continue to live his current lifestyle without my assets. I am 14 years younger than my spouse and in his case, everything that he has will get passed to me as he has no children of his own. If I go first, the plan is that he will leave our home and his money to my son, but he can always change his mind, hence I need to ensure my son won't live in poverty after I am gone, as he does depend on my financial assistance.

 

[junkanoo]

This "horizontal transfer" is something I've been thinking about, I'm male, 5 years older then my wife, she could outlive me by 20 years. I'm considering giving at least some of my inheritance to my kids at my death. I may do this for several reasons, my wife can and will, live on much less then 1/2 of our nest egg, why make the kids wait, let them enjoy it while they are young. My wife can get a hair up her butt about, the daughters husband isn't who I thought he was when they married, she should have had a baby, and the list goes on, the house they are building is too expensive, I'm not giving our money to her adopted son. Not so much yet, said about our son, but he's younger and has time to get on the s#iT list. She could cut them out of any inheritance. BTW, they are both great kids, and they are both working hard and getting much joy out of life. Looking at it, they have the money/joy thing figured out much better than their parents. It doesn't hurt that their parents got them there. Is this a rant?

A bit.

That said, the wealth transfer (and when) is a big issue/concern for many of us. For example, it might be far better from a Farmer's Kitchen Table approach, for my wife to not get my T-IRA, thus reducing her taxes, while benefiting my kids and charity earlier versus later. Particularly as my kids are in a low tax rate zone.

Others with significant taxable accounts, set up trusts that distribute income, but nothing else until certain goals/ages are reached.

We all take our chances.

 

[Finance Dave]

^^^ FYI, the official SS annual report says the cut is 25.8%, not 18%.

Yes, the numbers vary based on who presents them and when. I think my numbers were from a different group that made some assumptions, and they were before the WEP changes made about a year ago...so the cuts likely increased since then.

 

[Yegey]

No idea why anyone would be talking about Gen Z when Gen X and Gen Y (a.k.a. Millennials) come up to bat first. Heck, there are many Boomers that haven't received an inheritance yet because of "horizontal transfers" of first spouse to die to last to die of Boomer parents. The first of Gen Z were born in 1997 ... most of them will be waiting waaay longer than a couple of decades before they get a significant wealth transfer (other than the most wealthy to their grandchildren via trusts).

Robert Frank's note this morning:

"Long seen as a marketing ploy or exaggeration by the wealth-management industry, the great wealth transfer is now very real — and even larger than predicted. Cerulli & Associates just increased estimates for total inheritances by 20%, forecasting more than $100 trillion to be transferred from baby boomers and older generations by 2048.

The majority will come from the wealthy, with $62 trillion will coming from the wealthiest 2%, Cerulli said. Initially, much of it will go to spouses, known as “horizontal transfers,” which will lead to a steady rise in the global share of wealth held by women. After that, it will cascade down to Gen, X, and then to millennials and Gen Zers."

It’s mostly because Gen X is smaller and thus they become forgotten. The news used to talk about the lazy millennials for not willing to ruin work life balance but now that they have been in the work force in a while they are switching to Gen Z as the next salacious news item.

 

[Time2]

But is the ire that you observed age/generation based or is it more income/wealth inequality based?

I ran across this (sad to me) reddit subgroup. It's anti Capitalist, and anti boomer. Reminds me of a book I have "Whatever it is, I'm against it"
Someone posted facetiously, "All because we just needed that gotdamn avocado toast" LOL

https://www.reddit.com/r/lostgeneration/comments/1q5o5b0/you_can_expect_less_than_that

 

[audreyh1]

^^Why I don’t go there.

 

[Time2]

^^Why I don’t go there.

It may be self protective to know what other people are thinking in a societal sense. I hope it is just a small portion of the population that is having these ideas/problems, but it looks the numbers are growing. The problem with social media, you have now idea about the numbers, usually just the volume of the rhetoric.
While I still think hard work and frugalness is they way. There are people complaining about making $7.50 an hour. I can see how that would be tough. I know housing is a costing more.

 

[Original Wally]

It may be self protective to know what other people are thinking in a societal sense. I hope it is just a small portion of the population that is having these ideas/problems, but it looks the numbers are growing. The problem with social media, you have now idea about the numbers, usually just the volume of the rhetoric.
While I still think hard work and frugalness is they way. There are people complaining about making $7.50 an hour. I can see how that would be tough. I know housing is a costing more.

I agree with keeping a thumb on broader happenings.

 

[audreyh1]

It may be self protective to know what other people are thinking in a societal sense. I hope it is just a small portion of the population that is having these ideas/problems, but it looks the numbers are growing. The problem with social media, you have now idea about the numbers, usually just the volume of the rhetoric.
While I still think hard work and frugalness is they way. There are people complaining about making $7.50 an hour. I can see how that would be tough. I know housing is a costing more.

Not for me. Too much irrational noise already. I focus on living my own life, not trying to know what other people think or guessing the future.