Listen, up kids. Those of us in the baby boom generation have given you rock 'n' roll, computers, war protest, the breakup of the family and the breakdown of social order, the sexual revolution, drugs, sport utility vehicles and the elevation of self-indulgent narcissism to an art form. We created the world you live in by squandering the heroic sacrifices of the Greatest Generation.
Now it's your turn to start taking care of us:
Less than half of the nation's communities have begun preparing to deal with the needs of the elderly, whose ranks will swell dramatically with the aging of the baby boomers, according to a study to be released Wednesday.
A survey of more than 1,790 towns, counties and other municipalities found that just 46 percent are looking at strategies to deal with aging America.
The issue is critical because the baby boomers _ those born between 1946 and 1964 _ began turning 60 this year and are rapidly approaching retirement age. By 2030, the number of people over age 65 in the United States will exceed 71 million _ double the number in the year 2000, according to the Washington, D.C.-based National Association of Area Agencies on Aging, or n4a, one of the sponsors of the study.
I don't ask much. A nice little condo will do, perhaps with a tennis court and swimming pool, at taxpayer expense. Oh, and my drugs -- the legal kind, which are getting way too expensive. Borrow the money from your kids if you need to. That's what we did.
Comments
Leo...what about the bike trails, the billiard room, and the bocce ball courts?
And can we get ALL of that on ONE level, thank you very much?
;)
B.G.
Amen to the one level Bob!!!
I really take offense when I hear the phrase "The Greatest Generation." Too me it appears that some person or group has chosen a particular generation out of all generations too be the best.
Too me those who declared Independence from England were just as great. In Fact those who fought in the civil war were pretty darn tough and men of principals. What about those of WWI?
My father fought in WWII and has written a book about growing up in the depression and WWII. I have his WWII 8 mm home movies of Europe and Japan. I am proud of what he and his fellow service men did for this country and the world. However, at the same time this greatest generation also created Social Security and Medicare.
I do not expect my children to have to pay social security or Medicare benefits to my generation or to other generations when they have known for decades these programs were flawed. Altmyer testified before congress in 1944 that Social Security was already in the whole $16.5 Billion and that the payroll tax of 2% should be 7% if not more.
Why should you expect someone else to pay your Social Security and Medicare benefits when you did not pay sufficient payroll taxes to fund your own benefits yourself?
http://www.justsayno.50megs.com/pdf/social_security.pdf
Uh Oh....there goes that ol' common sense and decency raisin' it's ugly head again!
Touche' William!
Tim, I guess
I would be remiss if I didn't remind people of the FACT that how ever many "thousands" of dollars you MIGHT have "nest-egged" away all those years aren't even worth HALF of their face value....!
That alone speaks volumes as to being able to retire comfortably.
And since SO many of us are NOT in that lucky 5% of the population (richest, that is), we HAVE to worry about our money (or the increasing LACK of it, thanks to inflation, taxes, and anything else someone wants to toss at us.
That's why we have (nay, NEED) TWO income households (and the requisite problems that poses with our youth and the family in general), not to mention those people that HAVE to work TWO JOBS just to make ends meet.
That $5 USED to get you and entire BAG of groceries...what does it get you NOW, hmm?
B.G.