Not Enough Adults

[vantexan]

8

You including the massive numbers of illegal's?

Are you expecting spending from them to make up for Boomer spending? But that may be a factor in letting them in beyond the political ramifications. All those millions have to eat, sleep somewhere, buy clothes, etc. That's really the point of legal immigration, it helps drive the economy. I'm the first to say that they're wrong in how they're handling illegal immigration. But I'm trying to look at underlying reasons rather than just say my side is right, your side is wrong, and I don't want to hear anything else.

 

[bbsam]

Geez, guys, it's like banging my head against a wall. It's not about people doing more to have a better life. It's about the reality that most people when they retire don't have the income to spend like they did when they were working. Think about that. That means the spending we took for granted from a huge generation in their prime earning years to drive the economy is going away. Has huge ramifications for our economy going forward. And outside of the U.S. it's even worse because they aren't replacing themselves at an adequate rate. The world we've taken for granted for decades is changing quickly and drastically. Expect to see real effects of this by 2030 and even more so in coming decades.

People might start to decide that capitalism sucks.

 

[rod]

They have mortgages, cars, kids, credit cards, vacations, RV's, etc. What you're missing is most retirees spend less than they did when they were working. Presumably they have a good deal less income. As Baby Boomers retire(and the oldest are now 76) that's taking spending out of the economy. The following generation, the Gen-Xers, are a much smaller generation so there won't be as much spending as the Baby Boomers. The Millennials will rev the economy back up. The U.S. is fortunate to have a lot more Millennials than other countrys. China and Japan for example have much older populations that are aging out and their populations are collapsing. That will greatly change how the world operates in the future.

Millennials and Gen-X'ers don't have the money to "rev" the economy back up. They are already in debt up to their eyeballs because they insist on living beyond their means. i don't see them being able to do that for much longer. They just HAVE TO HAVE the latest of everything from cell phones to vehicles to fancy houses and have to make payments on everything.. VERY FEW of them even think about putting money away for the future.

 

[bbsam]

Millennials and Gen-X'ers don't have the money to "rev" the economy back up. They are already in debt up to their eyeballs because they insist on living beyond their means. i don't see them being able to do that for much longer. They just HAVE TO HAVE the latest of everything from cell phones to vehicles to fancy houses and have to make payments on everything.. VERY FEW of them even think about putting money away for the future.

That’s why we’ll tax the rich and boomers. Because that’s where the money is!

 

[rod]

That’s why we’ll tax the rich and boomers. Because that’s where the money is!

You can only get so much blood out of a turnip. P.S. The rich have lots of legal loop holes to work with. The rest of the boomers will be gone soon so where does that leave you?

 

[bbsam]

You can only get so much blood out of a turnip. P.S. The rich have lots of legal loop holes to work with. The rest of the boomers will be gone soon so where does that leave you?

Probably taking all the social security money from the people who hated taxes for 40 years.

 

[rod]

Probably taking all the social security money from the people who hated taxes for 40 years.

I remember 50 years ago hearing how Social Security would run out in 5 years.

 

[bbsam]

I remember 50 years ago hearing how Social Security would run out in 5 years.

See? It’s still there for the taking.

 

[Wally]

People might start to decide that capitalism sucks.

Many have already. They are dependent on government to live.

 

[bbsam]

Many have already. They are dependent on government to live.

Don’t kid yourself. We all are.

 

[vantexan]

Millennials and Gen-X'ers don't have the money to "rev" the economy back up. They are already in debt up to their eyeballs because they insist on living beyond their means. i don't see them being able to do that for much longer. They just HAVE TO HAVE the latest of everything from cell phones to vehicles to fancy houses and have to make payments on everything.. VERY FEW of them even think about putting money away for the future.

We may not think much of them now, but a lot of them will mature, take on more responsibility, and make more money. Most generally don't make better money until in their mid-30's to early 60's. Trouble is there's a lot less Gen X-ers than Boomers. And in most developed nations they don't have a lot of Millennials either. Everyone is focused on people just doing more to do better and don't realize there's a demographic bomb about to go off. This isn't extreme alarmism. It's the reality of the numbers.

 

[rod]

We may not think much of them now, but a lot of them will mature, take on more responsibility, and make more money. Most generally don't make better money until in their mid-30's to early 60's. Trouble is there's a lot less Gen X-ers than Boomers. And in most developed nations they don't have a lot of Millennials either. Everyone is focused on people just doing more to do better and don't realize there's a demographic bomb about to go off. This isn't extreme alarmism. It's the reality of the numbers.

The trouble is most of them start out their 20's and 30's already swamped in debt from student loans and buying expensive stuff while working crappy low paying jobs-- . The first thing most of the new part time people at UPS do now is buy a new car or pickup and take on a 5 year loan. Boomers for the most part were more frugal (CHEAP if you want to say that). For example, I've had only one car loan in my life (for $600 when I was 18). I made double payments on it and had it paid off in about a half a year. Since then I have bought dozens of new vehicles (cars, pickups and motorcycles) and have paid cash for every one of them. I haven't had a house payment since the early 80's. I will buy another new pickup this spring for cash. All this has been possible because I was brought up to live within my means.

 

[vantexan]

The trouble is most of them start out their 20's and 30's already swamped in debt from student loans and buying expensive stuff while working crappy low paying jobs-- . The first thing most of the new part time people at UPS do now is buy a new car or pickup and take on a 5 year loan. Boomers for the most part were more frugal (CHEAP if you want to say that). For example, I've had only one car loan in my life (for $600 when I was 18). I made double payments on it and had it paid off in about a half a year. Since then I have bought dozens of new vehicles (cars, pickups and motorcycles) and have paid cash for every one of them. I haven't had a house payment since the early 80's. I will buy another new pickup this spring for cash. All this has been possible because I was brought up to live within my means.

But that's the thing, all that buying, etc drives the economy. But as the biggest generation in history ages out there will be eventually a lot less spending. The numbers aren't there to support the economy as we know it.

 

[allahuakbar]

The trouble is most of them start out their 20's and 30's already swamped in debt from student loans and buying expensive stuff while working crappy low paying jobs-- . The first thing most of the new part time people at UPS do now is buy a new car or pickup and take on a 5 year loan. Boomers for the most part were more frugal (CHEAP if you want to say that). For example, I've had only one car loan in my life (for $600 when I was 18). I made double payments on it and had it paid off in about a half a year. Since then I have bought dozens of new vehicles (cars, pickups and motorcycles) and have paid cash for every one of them. I haven't had a house payment since the early 80's. I will buy another new pickup this spring for cash. All this has been possible because I was brought up to live within my means.

Your house was probably $200 and a pack of cigarettes. Houses are minimum $300,000 in the ghetto these days.

 

[rod]

Your house was probably $200 and a pack of cigarettes. Houses are minimum $300,000 in the ghetto these days.

SO---you started work at 15 bucks an hour. I started at 65 cents working for my dad. --less than that if you count my newspaper delivery days. My first house was $18,500. My wife and I SAVED UP $10,000 for a down payment. We didn't go out and buy 2 new vehicles and every new gaming system put out and other expensive stuff. I have NEVER paid a dime of intrest on a credit card.

 

[allahuakbar]

SO---you started work at 15 bucks an hour. I started at 65 cents working for my dad. --less than that if you count my newspaper delivery days. My first house was $18,500. My wife and I SAVED UP $10,000 for a down payment. We didn't go out and buy 2 new vehicles and every new gaming system put out and other expensive stuff. I have NEVER paid a dime of intrest on a credit card.

My house downpayment was 40k and we live in a shack.

 

[rod]

My house downpayment was 40k and we live in a shack.

Around here you can still buy a fixer upper house for around $85,000.

 

[newolddude]

That’s why we’ll tax the rich and boomers. Because that’s where the money is!

The boomers have taken it all and they not giving it up.

Boomers ed their brains out in the 1960s and 70s. Then along came AIDS. Boomers did every drug they could and then told their Gen X kids to not be like them. Now the boomers are taking all the money.

 

[vantexan]

The boomers have taken it all and they not giving it up.

Boomers ed their brains out in the 1960s and 70s. Then along came AIDS. Boomers did every drug they could and then told their Gen X kids to not be like them. Now the boomers are taking all the money.

Were those the gay Boomers who got AIDS?

 

[dudebro]

See? It’s still there for the taking.

"There" is a relative term. There's 3 trillion dollars "there", but the benefits paid out would run out in two and a half years with no income. So the rest of social security is basically a legal ponzi scheme where the people paying in fund the people receiving benefits, so currently, the reserve will run out in 2034. You'd still have income going in, that doesn't mean benefits go to zero.

A dramatic decrease in income makes the shortfall a bigger problem. There are things you can do. one is - cut benefits in half. problem solved. Others involve raising retirement age, tax rate, or the cap where social security taxes stop coming out of income. The other side of the equation is to increase the number of people paying in through taxes. That's why the southern border is open, whether anyone admits that or not.