Baby Boomers Suck and They Are Going to Screw Us All (1 Viewer)

[Henrin]

No problem, we can just rob them back.

I'm sorry, but what does that mean?

 

[specklebang]

I'm so glad I'm a war-baby so I don't stand condemned with all those pesky boomers!

So, of course, my parents were depression era folks and they still had the second dollar they ever made. The only reason they didn't have the first dollar was because Lucky's had bananas on sale for 5¢ a pound and they gave in. So they never did one nice thing for themselves, they accumulated $3 million dollars and my mother gave 100% of it to charity in her final weeks. My father is 100 and determined to live forever so he can keep collecting his military retirement pay as long as there is an America.

Me, I was a pretty good saver. I basically saved 1/2 of what I made, had some fun etc.

I remember they told me that I would never see Social Security. It would certainly go away long before I retired. Instead, eat your hearts out, I get $2177 a month from good old Social Security.

Oh, ****, back to the topic. I don't understand how anyone can generalize the boomers this or the boomers that. Obama is a boomer and he's President Of The ****ing United States. Mitt Romney is a boomer and he has much more money than you do, my son is a boomer and at least he has a job and my best friend is a Gen-Xer and makes a lot of money. Some winners, some losers in every generation.

 

[jet57]

Baby Boomers Suck and They Are Going to Screw Us All

Actually sounds like he was being funny, not bigoted.

So, uh, what's your brilliant idea for saving yourself?

 

[Alyssa]

I'm so glad I'm a war-baby so I don't stand condemned with all those pesky boomers!

So, of course, my parents were depression era folks and they still had the second dollar they ever made. The only reason they didn't have the first dollar was because Lucky's had bananas on sale for 5¢ a pound and they gave in. So they never did one nice thing for themselves, they accumulated $3 million dollars and my mother gave 100% of it to charity in her final weeks. My father is 100 and determined to live forever so he can keep collecting his military retirement pay as long as there is an America.

Me, I was a pretty good saver. I basically saved 1/2 of what I made, had some fun etc.

I remember they told me that I would never see Social Security. It would certainly go away long before I retired. Instead, eat your hearts out, I get $2177 a month from good old Social Security.

Oh, ****, back to the topic. I don't understand how anyone can generalize the boomers this or the boomers that. Obama is a boomer and he's President Of The ****ing United States. Mitt Romney is a boomer and he has much more money than you do, my son is a boomer and at least he has a job and my best friend is a Gen-Xer and makes a lot of money. Some winners, some losers in every generation.

'nuff said. :lamo

 

[DiAnna]

Yup, and they did nothing to kill it and most of them support the ****ing thing. When my generation comes and goes and that turd is STILL there and most of them support it I will blast them for it too.

Robbing from your kids because you suck. Best idea ever.

Right. I hadn't been born yet. But I suck because a president before I was even conceived came up with Social Security and forced me to pay into it from the time I was 14 until I was completely disabled 50 years later.

No, if it was ageist scapegoating we'd be blaming the Silent Generation and the GI Generation as well. Uniquely, it's the boomers who have utterly failed in their time to strengthen rather than tear at our society's foundations. Uniquely it's the boomers, who received more wealth and advantage than any cohort in human history who have become it's most profligate spenders and consumers. The GI Generation saved for the retirement, and knew how to live on less than they made; Boomers wanted credit cards and when those got maxed out they took out HELOCs. The only generation less socially responsible and less imbued with the virtues that make self government possible are the ones the boomers raised - or, in many cases, failed to raise; as Boomers are also the generation that gave us the broken household. And that generations' damage is mitigated thus far only because they are still young.

Yeah, right. The people born in a 20-yr span are responsible for all the horrors of the modern world. Or so the narcissistic idotics would pretend.

Boomer's fault. Terrible fiscal policies. Kicking the can down the road, taking loans from the future they had no intention of paying back. Get rich quick/ ponzi schemes. Not all, but a significant portion of this future crisis (and what we've seen thus far is a warm up) is the thanks to the Boomers.



yep, and the problems we have caused, people will deny as well. Such is life. Why else does history always repeat itself?



too busy working and paying interest on Boomer's loans.

That is so disgustingly idiotic that it literally makes me sick to my stomach. You just keep finding someone to blame for the problems in 2012, even if you have to go back 70 years to find a scapegoat. **** you.

 

[cpwill]

Right. I hadn't been born yet. But I suck because a president before I was even conceived came up with Social Security and forced me to pay into it from the time I was 14 until I was completely disabled 50 years later.

no. your generation sucks because they have failed to demonstrate the most basics of personal responsibility. If boomers had been saving instead of spending themselves stupid for the past 40 years, the fact that SS and Medicare aren't going to be able to support them wouldn't be as big as a problem - large portions would be able to support themselves, and SS/Medicare could focus limited resources on supporting those that needed. Instead the vast majority of boomers have completely failed to prepare themselves, with the results that these systems which are doomed to reduction are not going to be capable of meeting the need. We're going to have to wreck everything else just to keep these fools alive.

Yeah, right. The people born in a 20-yr span are responsible for all the horrors of the modern world. Or so the narcissistic idotics would pretend.

Actually I don't think anyone is arguing that. Though thank you for demonstrating the combination of self-absorption, victimhood, and hyperbole that has marked the Boomer generation more than any before it.

 

[d0gbreath]

It's too bad I'll be long gone by the time you retire Will. I'd like to see the expression on your face when you discover that the 2 Million dollars that you've saved, plus your SS will only keep you going on a tight budget for 6 or 7 years. Welcome to the club.

 

[Alyssa]

:mrgreen:

Right. I hadn't been born yet. But I suck because a president before I was even conceived came up with Social Security and forced me to pay into it from the time I was 14 until I was completely disabled 50 years later.



Yeah, right. The people born in a 20-yr span are responsible for all the horrors of the modern world. Or so the narcissistic idotics would pretend.

See, no responsibility for anything. The babyboomers lived through some of the most prosperous years in US history, and saved next to nothing for their own retirements. They paid way less into medicare and SS than they are entitled, and now they self righteously demand their checks while refusing to acknowledge even the slightest bit of guilt for the world they are leaving their grand children.

You should feel sick to your stomach, Di. Just look at the country your children and grand children will inherit. Take a good, long look. And then continue to absolve your generation from any responsibility for it. Makes things easier . . .

That is so disgustingly idiotic that it literally makes me sick to my stomach. You just keep finding someone to blame for the problems in 2012, even if you have to go back 70 years to find a scapegoat.

Who do you blame for today's staggering debt?

**** you.

As a dungeon master, I'm sure you know where this comment belongs.

 

[Truckstop]

Right. I hadn't been born yet. But I suck because a president before I was even conceived came up with Social Security and forced me to pay into it from the time I was 14 until I was completely disabled 50 years later.



Yeah, right. The people born in a 20-yr span are responsible for all the horrors of the modern world. Or so the narcissistic idotics would pretend.



That is so disgustingly idiotic that it literally makes me sick to my stomach. You just keep finding someone to blame for the problems in 2012, even if you have to go back 70 years to find a scapegoat. **** you.

Stupid twenty somethings, take responsibility for the 14 trillion in debt, and crumbling infrastructure you brought on yourselves. I hate irresponsible kids.

 

[Henrin]

Stupid twenty somethings, take responsibility for the 14 trillion in debt, and crumbling infrastructure you brought on yourselves. I hate irresponsible kids.

I am about to hurt everyones feelings....

1. There is too many damn roads to maintain. There is little doubt about this fact.

2, In no time in history has a country ever pulled out of the debt situation we are in without collapsing...ever.

 

[PrometheusBound]

I'm at the tail end of the boomers and admit that I've been annoyed at the silliest of the boomers, but as was mentioned earlier, they have and are now spending their money on their kids. This goes hand in glove with your comment about free tuition, which, as far as I know, is not being demanded by the younger generations. What they want and what I agree with, is tuition at such a level that it doesn't turn a kid out of college saddled with mortgage sized college debt. In my day, My friends and I found it possible to work our way through college and live on our own and maybe get a little help from the folks if something came up. Today, that is not possible. Tuition and books, even for community college is expensive and the state college is easily ten times that. Everyone complains about the U.S. keeping up with other countries, but how can we when our young people are going so deeply into debt before they start their lives? It's not an enticing path.

The reason that those with the power to do anything about it are ignoring this common criticism is that the present exclusive system suits them best. They only want their own children to succeed, so it's all about buying them all the good jobs and condemning the other classes into a permanent underclass. Birth not worth is the law of the rulers.

 

[Henrin]

Right. I hadn't been born yet. But I suck because a president before I was even conceived came up with Social Security and forced me to pay into it from the time I was 14 until I was completely disabled 50 years later.

I'm not sure how I didn't already cover that.

 

[kamikaze483]

It's too bad I'll be long gone by the time you retire Will. I'd like to see the expression on your face when you discover that the 2 Million dollars that you've saved, plus your SS will only keep you going on a tight budget for 6 or 7 years. Welcome to the club.

I believe there is a lot of truth to this. I started a 529 for a nephew who was born two weeks ago. Calculations showed that the cost of 4 years of college at the University of Georgia will cost $252,000 in 18 years.

At the same time, I believe that the Baby Boomer generation HAS created a culture of indebtedness in this country. Baby Boomer's parents were depression era- tended not to borrow money, but to live on what they made. The Baby Boomer and subsequent generations have embraced the credit card, car loans, etc.- to their own detriment and, to some extent, to the detriment of our society as a whole.

In my opinion, THIS is the downside of the SS/Medicare safety net. People (even young people) PLAN to be dependent on SS/Medicare, or at the very least hold that in their back pocket as they make poor financial decisions. (ie. What's the worst that can happen? At the very least I will have guranteed income and medical care.)

 

[haymarket]

I am about to hurt everyones feelings....

1. There is too many damn roads to maintain. There is little doubt about this fact.

2, In no time in history has a country ever pulled out of the debt situation we are in without collapsing...ever.

What about the level of debt the USA had after WWII?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_public_debt

Social programs enacted during the Great Depression and the buildup and involvement in World War II during the F.D. Roosevelt and Truman presidencies in the 1930s and 1940s caused the largest increase — a sixteenfold increase in the gross public debt from $16 billion in 1930 to $260 billion in 1950. When Roosevelt took office in 1933, the national debt was almost $20 billion; a sum equal to 20 percent of the U.S. gross domestic product (GDP). During its first term, the Roosevelt administration ran large annual deficits between 2 and 5 percent of GDP. By 1936, the national debt had increased to $33.7 billion or approximately 43 percent of GDP.[13] U.S. public debt relative to GDP rose to over 110% to pay for WWII.[14]
After reaching its post-WWII low in 1974, debt relative to GDP rose rapidly in the 1980s. President Ronald Reagan's economic policies lowered tax rates and increased military spending, while congressional Democrats blocked attempts to reverse social welfare spending.[15][16] As a result, public debt as a share of GDP increased to 41% by the end of the 1980s.[17]

We were extremely successful at retiring the lions share of the debt from the war before Reagan became president and then things went to hell. And that was much larger as a percentage of GDP than it is today. Although we are fast approaching that same level again.

 

[haymarket]

no. your generation sucks

Cp - have you ever read GENERATIONS by Strauss and Howe? It really is the definitive work on the subject. In my humble opinion, it is one of the five most important non fiction books written in the last 25 years.

 

[liblady]

It's the boomer generation who moved out the parents' house, got a job and paid into ss. Everyday people are not responsible for the ridiculous antics of presidents and congress.

 

[Gina]

no. your generation sucks because they have failed to demonstrate the most basics of personal responsibility. If boomers had been saving instead of spending themselves stupid for the past 40 years, the fact that SS and Medicare aren't going to be able to support them wouldn't be as big as a problem - large portions would be able to support themselves, and SS/Medicare could focus limited resources on supporting those that needed. Instead the vast majority of boomers have completely failed to prepare themselves, with the results that these systems which are doomed to reduction are not going to be capable of meeting the need. We're going to have to wreck everything else just to keep these fools alive.

Um, what hasn't been mentioned, is that boomers worked their whole lives, contributing to SS, with the promise that benefit would be there. So, essentially, the argument is, we should renege on that promise and they should just shut up about it. It's their fault they want to collect something owed to them?

As for those who did save and plan, as you and I have gone on about before, after the crashes of 2003 and 2008, retirement funds were severely dented, just as the first retiring boomers needed them. I know plenty who retired just as that happened it sent them back into the work force, in some capacity for a while longer so their nest eggs might recover a bit rather than diving in and using them up. Of course, those supposed retirees are now taking up jobs that other, younger workers could use right now.

 

[ttwtt78640]

no. your generation sucks because they have failed to demonstrate the most basics of personal responsibility. If boomers had been saving instead of spending themselves stupid for the past 40 years, the fact that SS and Medicare aren't going to be able to support them wouldn't be as big as a problem - large portions would be able to support themselves, and SS/Medicare could focus limited resources on supporting those that needed. Instead the vast majority of boomers have completely failed to prepare themselves, with the results that these systems which are doomed to reduction are not going to be capable of meeting the need. We're going to have to wreck everything else just to keep these fools alive.



Actually I don't think anyone is arguing that. Though thank you for demonstrating the combination of self-absorption, victimhood, and hyperbole that has marked the Boomer generation more than any before it.

The financial planners that I am aware of said to use your "projected" SS retirement as a base and then add to that with an IRA, 401K or other investments (including home equity) in order to secure a decent retirement income. In my case, I now live on less than my "projected" SS benefit is rumored to be, so "saving" more is not an option.

 

[cpwill]

It's too bad I'll be long gone by the time you retire Will. I'd like to see the expression on your face when you discover that the 2 Million dollars that you've saved, plus your SS will only keep you going on a tight budget for 6 or 7 years. Welcome to the club.

SS isn't going to be there for me. Medicare probably won't either - the boomers will destroy both of these programs by driving them off a cliff.

as for $2 mil inflation adjusted? :shrug: i ought to be alright.

 

[cpwill]

Um, what hasn't been mentioned, is that boomers worked their whole lives, contributing to SS, with the promise that benefit would be there.

yeah, and jacking up the benefit while refusing to adapt it to modern lifespans the whole time. Boomers spent decades writing themselves checks payable to my account.

So, essentially, the argument is, we should renege on that promise and they should just shut up about it. It's their fault they want to collect something owed to them?

no, the argument is that there isn't enough money to cover the Boomers bounced checks, and yet their utter lack of individual responsibility means that we are going to have to wreck everything else trying to cover as much of them as possible. renege on the promise that you made to yourselves? :roll:

As for those who did save and plan, as you and I have gone on about before, after the crashes of 2003 and 2008, retirement funds were severely dented, just as the first retiring boomers needed them.

you're going to have to sell the notion that that would knock the individual retirement savings numbers down to the ones we are seeing to someone who hasn't run the numbers endlessly in the SS debates.

I know plenty who retired just as that happened it sent them back into the work force, in some capacity for a while longer so their nest eggs might recover a bit rather than diving in and using them up.

:shrug: and good for them for making a wise decision.

Of course, those supposed retirees are now taking up jobs that other, younger workers could use right now.

no such thing as "stealing a job". productivity increases production.

 

[Helix]

i'm in my 30s, and i wonder if i'll ever be able to retire, collect SS, or be covered by medicare. i don't blame baby boomers, though. i blame multiple decades of going all in on trickle down theory.

 

[UtahBill]

I was born in 1946, 4th of 5 kids, my younger brother was born in 1949. The 3 oldest left home at 17, quitting school to get away from our mother. I left at 18. Little brother is a whole different story.....
Anyway, I left home with just my clothes. Other than that, I can say I had NOTHING.
At the time, Vietnam was hot, and the draft was still in effect. I had a quick discussion with my rich uncle and he agreed to pay my way thru some really good technical schools, but I had to work for him so many years in exchange.
I married a farm girl with 2 years of college, other than that, she also had nothing.
That is what we started with.....
Now we are well educated, have been well employed, are now well retired drawing a 6 figure retirement from her job, her SS, my SS, my Navy retirement, and a piddling amount from my 2 civilian emplyers. We go on a cruise every year, sometimes 2.
We had 2 kids, put them both thru college so they could get good jobs and pay into SS so we can continue to receive it.
We are saving for college expenses for 7 grandchildren. They won't need loans or grants. Life is good, and it wasn't from sitting around whining about how hard things are for our generation.
Anybody here wants to complain about boomers, call your mom and dad and chew them out for not paying your way thru college or saving part of their retirement to educate their grandchildren. Go ahead, do it now.....where there is a will, there is a way to get dis-inherited.....

 

[Gina]

yeah, and jacking up the benefit while refusing to adapt it to modern lifespans the whole time. Boomers spent decades writing themselves checks payable to my account.



no, the argument is that there isn't enough money to cover the Boomers bounced checks, and yet their utter lack of individual responsibility means that we are going to have to wreck everything else trying to cover as much of them as possible. renege on the promise that you made to yourselves? :roll:



you're going to have to sell the notion that that would knock the individual retirement savings numbers down to the ones we are seeing to someone who hasn't run the numbers endlessly in the SS debates.



:shrug: and good for them for making a wise decision.



no such thing as "stealing a job". productivity increases production.

Which checks and how?

Um, I was born, as were all boomers, into the Social Security system. We operated under the program as it existed, as a promise made. We didn't write or make the promise. The money was there, deposited over decades after it was taxed from their earnings, so they should just walk away? That was their responsibility, to pay into it and they did. Those who could, saved more. There are millions in your generation who are not saving right now because they are underemployed, or out of work. Surely they will be castigated by younger generations for this failure on their part to adequately provide for their retirement.


You deny that 401 (k)s have been destroyed twice? I actually know people who are living on less due to two busts in the 2000's. No selling need be done to me.

A wise decision, but not one that they responsibly planned for and again, are taking jobs from your generation, leaving them behind where they should be while trying to responsibly plan for their retirements.

I didn't say they were stealing the job, they are filling them instead of younger people as would have happened in the past.

Productivity increases production? How does this address unemployment? Retirees filling those jobs is supposed to provide more jobs?

 

[Alyssa]

Ok, let's give the boomers the money they put into SS and call it a day. If spread out over the next few decades, it would probably be less than a dollar a weak per person. We can handle that.

 

[specklebang]

Hey! I paid in $180,000.00. So far, I've drawn $49,000.00. At $1 a week, it will take 131,000 weeks to pay me off. I'll be 2,519 years old by then. And what about some interest on my pay-ins?

Maybe you should re-examine your math. Or I should re-examine my cost of living. At 12.5¢ a day, I'll have to shop very carefully.

Ok, let's give the boomers the money they put into SS and call it a day. If spread out over the next few decades, it would probably be less than a dollar a weak per person. We can handle that.