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Yanno, I am always saddened by the cold-hearted attitude of some folks towards others here who just assume because people are not well off at the latter stages of life they are to blame for their situation. Talk about rubbing salt in the wound.
Maybe some people didn't do anything to try to ensure their financial future but others like myself did all we were supposed to but lost what we had at an advancing age due to as in my case a union's mishandling of investments, layoffs and medical bills. It isn't quite fair to lump those who tried to do the right thing and those who didn't.
In these times there are many in this boat but some of those who still "have" take on a superior attitude towards those who have lost. I am proud to say I have come back as far as I have even though it will mean working at least part time for the rest of my life rather than being able to take full retirement.
Like Stealth's employer, my present company is doing their best to lay off or fire long-time employees close to retirement age. How easy will it be for them to begin all over with a new job? There go the savings.
I think a little more compassion and a little less criticism would be in order. Hard times can happen to anyone.
I think a little more compassion and a little less criticism would be in order. Hard times can happen to anyone.
I second the sentiment. No one is immune to the effects that unprecedented massive economic inequality, globalization, global warming and a flock of unforeseen and unforgiving Black Swans will wring in the years ahead. I remember 1971 quite well; some of us were fighting in the Vietnam War, some of us were fighting against the Vietnam War and I guess some of us were joyfully counting their beans. They were callow heartless jerks then and they will remain that way right up to the moment they discover that to the powers-that-be everyone is expendable. To bolster my case I submit the following link:
Minervah, if it's any comfort, not everyone feels that the people struggling are doing so because they were irresponsible. I'm one of the lucky ones - husband and I have a pension and enough savings that we are comfortable, though by no means "rich." Yes, part of it was because we saved, saved, saved. But I also realize that we were extremely fortunate, in that we never had a long period of unemployment or illness that set us back.
I grew up in a household that had both - Dad lost his job and during the time he was unemployed, my sister was diagnosed with a serious illness (while they had no health insurance). Life was grim for a very long time - it took them years to dig out from under. The experience left me very aware of the bad things that can happen to good people.
While I worked, I saw so many people in their 50's and 60's who lost their jobs, and either found no work or had to take serious pay cuts. Certainly their retirement plans were seriously altered. I'm also aware that many people don't make enough to be able to save what they need to insure a secure retirement. John Bogle of Vanguard has done some pieces in the past about how when 401K's were originally set-up, they were never designed to be a person's sole income source in retirement.
Life has a way of throwing us curve balls, and we're none of us really immune to a financial downturn.
26 TV station websites across the country and who are part of Hearst Argyle Television have launched a webpage for baby boomers. Here is the announcement article:
Since the announcement says all of the sites have the same content, I looked at the first one listed which is a Boston channel and see a few links to articles that might interest retirees like "Should I Buy a Home Now For My Retirement," and "Which States Have the Lowest Taxes" and a number of calculators like Calculate Savings and Health Risks. There is also a story on the first baby boomer to collect social security.
It might be a good site to bookmark and visit from time to time.
Really cool! Most of my 60+ years, I've felt as if I didn't fit in anywhere. Now, there is so much out there for baby boomers that caters to our needs and interests, I finally feel as though I'm a part of something important. Imagine, the only thing I had to do was be born a certain time in History. Yeah!!
Originally Posted by SelflessGene
Given the bottomless chasms of economic inequality that now exist in this count[r]y...
Have you been to Brazil? South Africa? Surely you know you're exaggerating.
Well, I am not SelflessGene, but I don't think it is an exaggeration to say there is a chasm of inequality. Sure, there are places where the poor are even poorer than here. So what? We should put up with a problem because the problem is even worse somewhere else? The concentration is bad all over. Not being the widest or deepest chasm doesn't make it something other than a chasm.
The only thing that we Baby Boomers share is the period into which we were born. I get a little tired of the idea that an historical accident is relevant to anything. Given the bottomless chasms of economic inequality that now exist in this county many of us have nothing at all in common except that maybe we grew up listening to the Beach Boys ...
Forget about all the birth rate hoo hah.
Look at other things like shared social environment, significant turnings / events, etc.
I use the Strauss and Howe Generational Analysis tools.
Very interesting and informative.
One thing about S & H is it slightly shifts the generational boundaries - generally makes them all earlier. For example, S & H's "Boom" Generation (not Boomer, but Boom) starts during not after WW2 and ends Fall 1960. Reasons - As an early 1940s - 1960 cohort, Boom can't remember WW2 but experienced the post-WW2 BOOM (hence the name) full force, during at least a part of childhood. Conversely, everyone in that Generation unless memory impaired or having an extremely poor memory of things after age 3, remembers when JFK was killed. JFK getting killed ended the 1st turning and ended the "Boom" era. Think of how quickly things went crazy after that.
Meanwhile, I cannot remember JFK or his demise at all, I was a baby when he was killed. However I grew up during the chaos of the 1960s and 70s, and was a latch key kid. I am therefore from the 13th Generation aka X. My own childhood social experience was the experience of the 2nd turning aka "The Awakening." It was fun (or crazy, or both, depending on point of view and military draft outcome) to be an adult during the 2nd turning, and it was especially that way for young adults. But for us kids during that time ... not so much.
Etc, etc.
This is how the theory works.
Last edited by BayAreaHillbilly; 10-22-2015 at 03:55 PM..
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