Why is no one talking about the future crisis of poor retirees? (relations, raise)
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We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.
Can be interpreted in several ways. To me it means we keep striving to have all the people of this country a decent life - including healthcare. You can't lead a horse to water, but if it wants to get there, you shouldn't put obscene obstacles in the way.
Legally speaking, the "right" to healthcare is absolutely NOT in the Preamble to the U. S. Constitution. The Preamble is a very generalized statement of why the framers set out to write it; it contains no specifics whatsoever. The entire remainder of the Constitution contains the specifics, including various rights which are enumerated: freedom of speech, of religion, etc. If a right it not enumerated, it is not constitutionally required, although it can be created by law later.
What constitutes "the general welfare" would be subject to endless debate, and the Constitution establishes the parameters for such debate - the U.S. Congress as elected in such and such a manner and having the right and power to enact legislation, such legislation becoming law only upon the agreement of the President or its passage over his veto by greater margins. Congressional legislation is subject to certain limits: For example Congress cannot do away with freedom of religion because that would require amending the Constituion itself. But Congress could, it seems to me, create a right to universal health care. That right does NOT yet exist.
Well I am feeling it already. My dad was self employed for his whole career. Mom was a stay at home mom most and had no retirement funds.
And dad had to spend all of his savings during an ill-faited early retirement. What this means now, my sister and I have to fund the gaps between social security and VA healthcare. This started right when I turned 30 give or take. First it was the cell phone bill for the whole family. Not long after it became property taxes on the family land that was part of our "inheritance." Then it was a loan when they were going to be foreclosed on. Now it is property taxes on their current home. Car maintenance. Extensive dental work caused by a refusal to accept our help with dental insurance.
And the financial burden has increased over time. And I am single and unmarried. So I also need to worry about my own savings and retirement and goals. It's hard, because my parents are from the generation you keep your money problems to your self. So I don't know the extent of help needed. And they don't tell me (and my sister) they need money till the last minute.
Top it off with the fact that for the bulk of my 20s and early 30s I worked at companies too small for company sponsored retirement plans. My generation is the one where employers never contribute. I haven't seen that since 2002. My retirement savings is way below where it should be at this age. And it is hard to catch up when the parents needs are unpredictable.
I have no clue how I will save enough for retirement. Maxing out my 401k now but there is still more to do.
My sister had a boy friend who died of a heart attack for 3 days before he was discovered. He had dogs and they were barking. I guess the neighbors must have notified the apartment owner. But so what, when you're dead, your dead. He has family but they didn't live with him. Even if you live with other family members you can be dead unexpectedly also. My daughter's dentist had a mother who was living with her but they went out shopping and she died of a heart attack in the two hours they were gone. I even heard a recent story of someone we know that he died of a heart attack even with doctors in the house. His son and daughter in law were both doctors. Stroke is a common cause.
Of course there are unexpected deaths at any age. That is not what we were discussing. We were talking about retirees who had no or limited resources financially and socially which would alleviate possible suffering. We were discussing the causation of how that person got in that position in the first place.Again, the title of this thread is why is no one talking about the future crisis of poor retirees.
we may as well talk about famine in Ethiopia or any thing else negative in the world .. in the mean time they live it .
great we discuss it , so now what ?
any change has to come from them , not us discussing it .
hypothetically wouldn't this time here have been better spent in a more informative thread learning to better your own situation and better play the cards you are dealt ? i fail to see any positive that came out of this thread for anyone struggling or looking to do better .
high fiving others in similar situations never puts food on the table or pays the bills .
Last edited by mathjak107; 01-20-2017 at 04:37 AM..
Young Gen-Xers and Millennials are starting decent paying careers much later in life, making much less than their parents, and are unable to save any money at all due to high cost of living and debt, and flattening investment gains.
Their retirement will arrive and they will have likely zero or negative net worth. On top of that, social security will likely be somewhat insolvent and unable to pay even the meager benefits it now provides. And medicare will hardly be in better shape.
The only way I see this crisis being handled is by the economy taking several enormous body blows, a plummeting housing market, along with plummeting cost of services, e.g. massive deflationary pressures, product/food shortages, etc.
Rich baby boomers make the political decisions in this country and the insane wealth of the baby boomer generation (and even their pension-fattened parents) is distorting the discussion here of what it means to be a retiree - even a modest retired couple of a mailman and a teacher are retiring filthy rich compared to how the young generations will.
Are there any think tanks studying what it will mean for a generation to retire with virtually no money, in a country that will likely not have today's safety net?
Better start saving! Cat food and crackers is an aquired taste.
Well I am feeling it already. My dad was self employed for his whole career. Mom was a stay at home mom most and had no retirement funds.
And dad had to spend all of his savings during an ill-faited early retirement. What this means now, my sister and I have to fund the gaps between social security and VA healthcare. This started right when I turned 30 give or take. First it was the cell phone bill for the whole family. Not long after it became property taxes on the family land that was part of our "inheritance." Then it was a loan when they were going to be foreclosed on. Now it is property taxes on their current home. Car maintenance. Extensive dental work caused by a refusal to accept our help with dental insurance.
And the financial burden has increased over time. And I am single and unmarried. So I also need to worry about my own savings and retirement and goals. It's hard, because my parents are from the generation you keep your money problems to your self. So I don't know the extent of help needed. And they don't tell me (and my sister) they need money till the last minute.
Top it off with the fact that for the bulk of my 20s and early 30s I worked at companies too small for company sponsored retirement plans. My generation is the one where employers never contribute. I haven't seen that since 2002. My retirement savings is way below where it should be at this age. And it is hard to catch up when the parents needs are unpredictable.
I have no clue how I will save enough for retirement. Maxing out my 401k now but there is still more to do.
Sounds like your parents were/are extremely irresponsible.
Of course there are unexpected deaths at any age. That is not what we were discussing. We were talking about retirees who had no or limited resources financially and socially which would alleviate possible suffering. We were discussing the causation of how that person got in that position in the first place.Again, the title of this thread is why is no one talking about the future crisis of poor retirees.
I was responding to your post. Go back and reread your post, particularly the one I was quoting.
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