[dissimulo]

The first PO related problem we are likely to see is a major economic downturn. 77.4 million US baby boomers are now retiring, or will be closing on retirement over the next decade.

That makes a very large segment of the US population that is going to be very sensitive to market conditions. What will the impact be if a large number of boomers lose a significant percentage of their investments over a short period of time? Between the looming housing bubble implosion and the inevitable decline in corporate profits, it seems we're facing a tough time to be retired.

If the baby boomers have to keep working or go back to work, how will that affect unemployment?

[AmericanEmpire]

It shouldn't suprise them when it happens. They lived through the last energy crisis and they didn't do shit about it for 30 years. They just wasted time.

[Tanada]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('dissimulo', 'T')he first PO related problem we are likely to see is a major economic downturn. 77.4 million US baby boomers are now retiring, or will be closing on retirement over the next decade.

That makes a very large segment of the US population that is going to be very sensitive to market conditions. What will the impact be if a large number of boomers lose a significant percentage of their investments over a short period of time? Between the looming housing bubble implosion and the inevitable decline in corporate profits, it seems we're facing a tough time to be retired.

If the baby boomers have to keep working or go back to work, how will that affect unemployment?

[EdF]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('AmericanEmpire', 'I')t shouldn't suprise them when it happens. They lived through the last energy crisis and they didn't do shit about it for 30 years. They just wasted time.

[cube]

I was having a discussion with my parents yesterday and it ended up being an argument. The topic of the day was 401K's. My parents were telling me about the "importance" of maintaning one, especially my mother. (you know how moms can be)

I laughed at the idea and told them it's a joke. I explained to them that the value of stocks can be very high if people put money into the system instead of pulling out. But it can be quite a different story when there are more people trying to offload their stocks then people who want to buy them. The fact is there has not been a significant wave of people who have pulled out their 401K yet....that will change within 5 years when the baby boomers begin to retire. When that happens I believe the Dow will drop to 6000 pts.

My parents looked at me kinda weird and said, "well we've put money into a 401K and it has grown." I looked at them and said, "You just don't get it." They looked at me weird and had that look on their face, "Ohhh boy here he goes again with all the doom and gloom. First he mentioned peak oil now this."

Anyways when it was all done niether of us had a high opinion of the each other's ideas. Strange how often most of my conversations with my parents end up like this.

[smiley]

Many of these baby boomers have been spending like there is no tomorrow. They have no value left in their house, no savings, no solid pension plan and even pretty substantial debts. They think they are well covered because they have put a few hundred bucks in their pension plan every month. I do that too but I don't expect to see much of it back, and if I ever get it back I have no illusions that it will buy me much more than a room in the elderly home and some dry biscuits for the Sunday tea (Maybe not even the biscuits).

But the thing is that these people are our parents, and you have a moral obligation not to let them suffer (too much). So you are right that they are in a terrible situation and will be the first to feel the pain, but we are the ones who have to sort it out.

It is ironical isn't it? They are the ones who have f*cked up the planet. They are the ones who have been living too large. And we're the ones who are stuck with the legacy.

[Itch]

I've met few people in the boomer age group who are disciplined and respectable; the rest can't even start a sentence without saying, "I want." This group will fare off just like any other group of people who are selfish, uncooperative, and egotistical: they'll be thoroughly stomped on. Being frail, fat, and addicted to so many vanities that came to be through making hell for other beings, will only make the stomping harder.

Oh, and then they'll have to face the younger generations, who are pretty much just like them, only younger and far more violent. If for some reason the kids get the idea that these old folks gobbled up the planet in order to get their viagra, leaving nothing for their children, then, well, that's just another reason to be glad that I'm not old at this time.

[shady28]

I think people are generalizing boomers too much here, although I basically agree with the sentiment overall.

My mom probably qualifies as being in the lead of the boomers. She was born during WW II. Her blood father was killed in WW II in France, so she never really saw him beyond her first 9 months of life. My grandmother was a welder in a shipyard during WW II, later remarried, making my mom a stepchild. She paid a pretty heavy price for the foolishness of her parents generation - but perhaps not as high a price as her parents paid.

History seems to repeat itself again, different but yet the same in the important ways.

[jimmydean]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Tanada', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('dissimulo', 'T')he first PO related problem we are likely to see is a major economic downturn. 77.4 million US baby boomers are now retiring, or will be closing on retirement over the next decade.

That makes a very large segment of the US population that is going to be very sensitive to market conditions. What will the impact be if a large number of boomers lose a significant percentage of their investments over a short period of time? Between the looming housing bubble implosion and the inevitable decline in corporate profits, it seems we're facing a tough time to be retired.

If the baby boomers have to keep working or go back to work, how will that affect unemployment?

[dgacioch]

Theres been some talk of generational warfare and i think thats a definate possibility. True, theres a lot of well off boomers that are sitting good and liquid, however theres also quite a few that arent. Lets not forgot about the many that are expecting their homes appreciating values to help fund their retirement. I dont think any of them have even considered what happens when all those mcmansions all go on the market at once and that those of us between 20 and 40 have nowhere near the means to buy them. Even those that are well off have probably got a ton of money sitting in mutual funds and other investments which will likely tank. Since way too many of them have been trained to think gold and silver are horrid investments i think a lot will put money back into cash, cd's, and bonds and watch as their investments get inflated away when the US goes on its big money printing spree to avoid economic collapse. Lets not also forgot that many boomers are of the generation that got jobs at companies with defined benefit pension plans. I know and work with a lot of these folks and most of them put away next to nothing for emergency in old age because they didnt think they had too. As those companies begin to fail or default on pensions to stay in business, the pbgc governement agency is going to get swamped and probably go under very quickly. Medicaid and medicare are going to get slashed as well.

I see it unfolding like this, superescalating prices are going to keep boomers working till they die, causing major resentment in the workplace amongst youngsters who will likely be laid off first because said boomer has 30+ years seniority. Boomers who did retire will see their assets shrinking and many will decide to try and jump back into the workforce. This will create a labor glut and major resentment from the younger generation trying to get a foothold in todays world feeling that the previous generation raped and pillaged the economy, energy, the environment, and still cant let go (which im sorry to say, is essentially true). At some point generation x and y get ticked off enough to start doing things about it. Violence, an end to social security and medicare, confiscation of assets. all of the above. who knows. But i think some of it will happen because the kids of today going forward are going to have a ton of resentment and are going to blame someone. The AARP knows this too, thats why they start recruiting folks as young as 50 nowadays. They are trying their damndest to recruit as many folks into their ranks as possible to keep the benefit train rolling from Uncle Sam.

[lowem]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('smiley', '.').. it is ironical isn't it? They are the ones who have f*cked up the planet. They are the ones who have been living too large. And we're the ones who are stuck with the legacy.

[JBinKC]

Cube if your company matches your contribution in a 401 k go for it and put it into the guaranteed return. One good thing about a 401 K and a regular IRA is in most states it is totally sheltered from creditors in a bankruptcy. If your company does not offer a match, I agree with you because you are not going to make a return buying a diversified basket of large cap stocks that you have no imput in choosing. You are better off putting savings where you have much more control.

[GoIllini]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('dgacioch', 'T')heres been some talk of generational warfare and i think thats a definate possibility. True, theres a lot of well off boomers that are sitting good and liquid, however theres also quite a few that arent. Lets not forgot about the many that are expecting their homes appreciating values to help fund their retirement. I dont think any of them have even considered what happens when all those mcmansions all go on the market at once and that those of us between 20 and 40 have nowhere near the means to buy them. Even those that are well off have probably got a ton of money sitting in mutual funds and other investments which will likely tank. Since way too many of them have been trained to think gold and silver are horrid investments i think a lot will put money back into cash, cd's, and bonds and watch as their investments get inflated away when the US goes on its big money printing spree to avoid economic collapse. Lets not also forgot that many boomers are of the generation that got jobs at companies with defined benefit pension plans. I know and work with a lot of these folks and most of them put away next to nothing for emergency in old age because they didnt think they had too. As those companies begin to fail or default on pensions to stay in business, the pbgc governement agency is going to get swamped and probably go under very quickly. Medicaid and medicare are going to get slashed as well.

I see it unfolding like this, superescalating prices are going to keep boomers working till they die, causing major resentment in the workplace amongst youngsters who will likely be laid off first because said boomer has 30+ years seniority. Boomers who did retire will see their assets shrinking and many will decide to try and jump back into the workforce. This will create a labor glut and major resentment from the younger generation trying to get a foothold in todays world feeling that the previous generation raped and pillaged the economy, energy, the environment, and still cant let go (which im sorry to say, is essentially true). At some point generation x and y get ticked off enough to start doing things about it. Violence, an end to social security and medicare, confiscation of assets. all of the above. who knows. But i think some of it will happen because the kids of today going forward are going to have a ton of resentment and are going to blame someone. The AARP knows this too, thats why they start recruiting folks as young as 50 nowadays. They are trying their damndest to recruit as many folks into their ranks as possible to keep the benefit train rolling from Uncle Sam.

[dgacioch]

The problem is that Seniors vote. If they didn't, S.S. and Medicare would've been out the window under the Reagan administration.

Maybe we'll lose Social Security and Medicare, but no politician espousing generational warfare will ever win an election.[/quote]

Generational warfare does not necessarily have to be political. As unemployment rises and more folks cant make it, I can see a lot of seniors getting held up, robbed, etc, because they are going to be easy targets. Just like in wildlife people go after the weak. Start paying attention in your local news. Ive already seen several stories on a local level in the past several months about old folks who havent been heard from in a while, found dead in their homes tied to a chair, etc. It seems the fake utility man scam is back in vogue again. The motive is almost always robbery. Lets not forget that most investment/lottery/ etc. scams being pulled today are targeted almost exclusively at seniors or aging boomers. Why? Because in todays economy they are far more likely to have tangable assets than anyone else.

On the politcal note, yes the seniors do vote more than most other groups, but in the end I dont think thats going to save them from massive benefit cuts. The money will simply not be there to continue to fund many of the social programs they've come to rely on.

Sorry about that GoIllini. I screwed up getting your quote posted correctly.

[airstrip1]

I have bad news for Generation X people. The kids I teach regard you as just as big a bunch of has beens as the baby boomers. They also hold you equally responsible for screwing up the world. Youngsters worried about being drafted into the up coming resource wars are going to find they have a lot more in common with the grizzled Vietnam veterans of the 1960's and early 1970's than with people in their thirties whose most traumatic experience was sobbing over the untimely demise of Kurt Cobain. Remember folks, drink deep, enjoy, it is always later than you think.

[dgacioch]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('airstrip1', 'I') have bad news for Generation X people. The kids I teach regard you as just as big a bunch of has beens as the baby boomers. They also hold you equally responsible for screwing up the world. Youngsters worried about being drafted into the up coming resource wars are going to find they have a lot more in common with the grizzled Vietnam veterans of the 1960's and early 1970's than with people in their thirties whose most traumatic experience was sobbing over the untimely demise of Kurt Cobain. Remember folks, drink deep, enjoy, it is always later than you think.

[WisJim]

As a baby boomer (born in 1948), I don't have much faith in 401Ks etc. I like to have the things that I need bought and paid for--house, usable car, tools in the shop, PV and wind generator for power, solar hot water and space heating, orchard and garden that have producing for years, etc. I have a couple of sons who are nearby, and at least one of them has a similar philosophy, and the other two would do okay in a pinch. They were raised without running water, off the grid, in a house that we built, and even though things are "better" now, we still use a lot of the skills developed back then.

What bothers me are the recent college graduates who expect a high paying job without much work involved. They want the whole enchilada just because they survived the university and got their diploma!

Jim

[EdF]

We're not all dicks.

http://www.fromthewilderness.com/free/w ... es.shtml#3

- Ed

[Iamcuriousyellow]

I dare one of you Gen X pukes to touch anything of mine......you'll see how it feels

[falser]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('airstrip1', 'I') have bad news for Generation X people. The kids I teach regard you as just as big a bunch of has beens as the baby boomers.