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Guest Post: 10 Things Baby Boomers Won't Tell You
Authored by Catey Hall, via Jim Quinn's Burning Platform blog,
The aging 'me' generation is still putting itself first...
1. “Paws off, Junior. This cash is mine.”
Children of boomer parents shouldn’t expect a big inheritance, even if their parents are rich. Only about half of high-net-worth baby boomers — those with more than $3 million in investible assets — say they consider leaving money to their kids a priority, according to a 2012 U.S. Trust Survey. In contrast, nearly three-quarters of people older than boomers say it’s important to them.
Even boomers — typically defined by demographers as those born between 1946 and 1964 — who do plan to leave an inheritance may do so with strings attached. Indeed, nearly seven in 10 high-net-worth boomers surveyed by U.S. Trust said they were not fully confident that their children could handle an inheritance.
“More often than not, clients leave inheritances in trusts,” says John Olivieri, a partner at New York law firm White & Case who works with a lot of boomer clients. With a trust, a third party manages the money and doles it out at intervals that the parent has specified. “Some parents have concerns about how their kids would invest and spend the money,” Olivieri says.
2. “Make room, kids. We’ll be living with you when we’re old…”
Boomers are expected to live longer than any previous generation. At the same time, many haven’t saved nearly enough for retirement. More than 44% of early boomers (whom the Employee Benefit Research Institute defines as those born between 1948 and 1954) and 43% of late boomers (born between 1955 and 1964) may not be able to afford basic living expenses in retirement, according to a 2012 analysis by EBRI. The result? Kids could be supporting mom and dad well into their 80s and 90s.
One of the biggest drains on boomer retirement savings will be health-care expenses. Medicare pays for only about 60% of the cost of health services the typical retiree will face, estimates EBRI. A couple that is 65 today might need nearly $300,000 to cover health costs. “People who haven’t saved enough for health-care costs may deplete their assets,” says Michael Markiewicz, a partner at New York-based Fogel Neale Partners. “A lot of them may have to live with their kids or depend on them for money and care.”
If parents do move in, their kids should expect to spend an extra $6,000 to $10,000 annually on food, clothing and other basics, says Andy Cohen, CEO of Caring.com, a website that provides resources for caregivers. Add thousands more for big-ticket items like wheelchair ramps or home health-care aids. Expensive as that sounds, it’s still often less than what it would cost to move a parent into an assisted living community, about $42,600 per year, on average, according to 2012 data from the MetLife Mature Market Institute.
3. “…and we blame you for that.”
Nearly one in six people ages 45 to 64 say that paying for their kid’s college tuition got in the way of saving for their own retirement, compared with just one in 20 who say that buying a home did, according to a 2012 study from Capital One ShareBuilder.
That’s not surprising, given that the typical middle-income family will spend more than $230,000 to raise a child from birth to age 18, up 23% (in today’s dollars) since 1960, according to data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. When you add paying for college to the mix — for tuition, fees and room and board as of the 2012-2013 school year, you’d pay an average of $17,860 per year for a four-year in-state public school, $30,911 per year for a four-year public out-of-state school or $39,518 per year for a private four-year school, according to the College Board — you could easily spend upwards of $100,000 on the basic’s for your child’s education. This means that retirement savings can really take a hit. “A lot of parents prioritized saving for their kids’ college over saving for retirement,” says Dan Greenshields, the president of CapitalOne ShareBuilder.
The reason? “Parents often equate paying for college with helping their child become successful in life,” says Deborah Fox, the founder of Fox College Funding, a San Diego-based college-funding consulting firm. That’s something they feel they have a duty to do, whether or not they can afford it, she adds.
4. “We can’t face reality.”
What boomers think retirement will be like and what it actually is like are two very different things. A case in point: The forever-young generation just can’t deal with the idea of growing old. Only 13% of pre-retirees (people over 50 who have not yet retired) think their health will be significantly worse in retirement than it is now, while 39% of retirees report that it actually is worse, according to 2011 research by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Harvard School of Public Health.
Boomers are a little fuzzy on the financial realities as well. While only 22% of pre-retirees think their financial situation will be worse in retirement, roughly one-third of retirees say that it is worse. Along those same lines, only 14% of pre-retirees predict that life overall will be worse when they retire, but a quarter of retirees report that it actually is worse. “There’s a real disconnect because your life pre-retirement is much different than your life post-retirement,” says Hal Hershfield, a professor at NYU’s Stern School of Business who conducts research on judgment, decision-making and social psychology with an emphasis on how thinking about time can alter decisions and emotions.
5. “ ‘Til death do us part’ doesn’t apply to us.”
Boomers are untying the knot at a record pace. The divorce rate for people over 50 has doubled in the past 20 years, says the National Center for Family and Marriage Research at Bowling Green State University, compared with a slight decrease in divorce overall. More than 600,000 individuals over 50 divorced in 2009, and if the rate continues to grow at the current pace, that number will hit more than 800,000 by 2030.
What’s fueling this trend? Empty nesters find they are a lot less compatible when the kids aren’t around is one phenomenon, says Toronto-based psychologist Tami Kulbatski. Another might be that boomers are more likely to have married young (boomers were far more likely to be married when they were between the ages of 18 and 30, than were members of Generation X, according to research from the Pew Research Center for People & the Press). Now, a lot of boomers are in their second, third or even fourth marriage, and these marriages are more likely to end in divorce, says Krista Kay Payne, a researcher at the center.
Divorce will likely take a chunk out of the average boomer’s already inadequate retirement funds. Lawyers’ fees alone can range from a couple of thousand to tens of thousands of dollars or more, says attorney Jeff Landers, author of “Divorce: Think Financially, Not Emotionally: What Women Need to Know About Securing Their Financial Future Before, During and After Divorce.” Add to that things like alimony and having to split up assets, and boomers’ financial picture gets even murkier.
6. “We’re unhappy …”
Boomers are the least happy of all age groups, according to a 2008 study published in the American Sociological Review journal. “The generation as a group was so large, and their expectations were so great,” Yang Yang, the author of the study, told the American Sociological Association, “not everyone in the group could get what he or she wanted due to competition for opportunities.“
Another report from the Pew Research Center came to a similar conclusion: On a scale of one to 10, boomers, on average, rate their lives a 6.2, compared with a 6.7 for older adults and 6.5 for younger adults. That may not look like much of a difference, but this pattern has held steady for the past two decades. In other words, the boomers — even when they were younger — have been consistently less happy than other generations for the past 20 years.
7. “… and we eat our feelings.”
Nearly 40% of people ages 60 and up and nearly 37% of people 40 to 59 are now considered obese, according to a 2012 report from the Centers for Disease Control, compared with less than one in three for people age 20 to 39. What’s more, baby boomers are fatter than their parents’ generation, according to a study released this year by JAMA Internal Medicine, with nearly 40% of boomers reportedly obese, versus 29% of the previous generation.
Obesity can lead to serious health problems, including diabetes and heart disease. A 65-year-old person who has been obese since age 45 personally incurs roughly $50,000 more in Medicare costs over the course of his or her lifetime than a “normal weight” 65-year-old does, according to the National Center for Health Statistics. Medicare and Medicaid end up paying for roughly half of the cost of obesity, which accounts for $190 billion in medical spending annually, according to a 2012 study published in the Journal of Health Economics.
8. “And we’re addicts.”
Maybe it’s because so many grew up in the ’60s, but whatever the excuse, boomers are drinking and drugging their way into old age at a rate much higher than their parents’ generation. The number of people 50 and over who were admitted to substance abuse treatment programs increased 136% between 1992 and 2010, according to the latest data from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.
Alcohol is the most common reason that boomers seek treatment, but the proportion of admissions of people over 50 for heroin abuse nearly doubled and for cocaine use more than tripled over that period. “Because of the magnitude of these changes and their potential impact, it is increasingly important to understand and plan for the health care needs, including the substance use prevention and treatment needs, of this population,” the administration writes.
Treatment doesn’t come cheap. According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, the mean cost per admission for outpatient substance abuse treatment is more than $1,400 without methadone (a synthetic opioid used to treat heroin and morphine addictions) or $7,415 with it; prices can run into the tens of thousands for inpatient treatment. What’s more, Medicare will only pay about 65% of an outpatient treatment program, and it will pay for inpatient treatment only if a doctor deems it “medically necessary” and the care is in a hospital. (Medicare doesn’t fund treatment at those designer “rehab spas.” Sorry, boomers.)
9. “We will bury you in debt.”
We’re a nation in record debt — an estimated $16 trillion — and the sheer number of boomers is expected to significantly add to that in the coming years, as more begin to receive Social Security and Medicare benefits. (Social Security and Medicare spending represented 38% of federal expenditures in fiscal year 2012, and “both programs will experience cost growth substantially in excess of GDP growth through the mid-2030s,” according to the Social Security Administration.)
But in many ways, boomers have been less willing than other demographic groups to support policy changes that could trim the debt. Fully 68% of boomers oppose eliminating the tax deduction for interest paid on home mortgages, compared with just 56% of all adults, according to the Pew Research Center. Furthermore, 80% of boomers (vs. 72% of all adults) oppose taxing employer health insurance benefits and 63% of boomers (vs. 58% of all adults) oppose increasing the age one qualifies for full Social Security benefits, the study shows.
Many boomers are more opposed to these plans because “they would feel the impact more than other groups,” says Kim Parker, the associate director of the Pew Research Center’s Social and Demographic Trends Project. But without some sort of deficit reduction, future generations will be left with the dire economic consequences a massive deficit can cause, she says.
10. “We’re obsessed with (not) aging.”
Sagging skin, crows’ feet, a dull complexion — these used to be the inevitable signs of aging. But if the boomers have anything to say about it, that’s going to change. Revenue for so-called cosmeceutical companies — which manufacture cosmetics with pharmaceutical capabilities, some of the most popular being wrinkle-reducing moisturizers and creams that even skin tone — is expected to hit $5 billion this year and is expected to grow 7.5% each year through 2018, according to data from market research firm IbisWorld; people over 50 account for more of cosmeceutical companies’ consumers than any other age group.
And it’s not just lotions and serums that they’re into. People 51 and up had 24% of all surgical cosmetic procedures, like face-lifts and tummy tucks, and 30% of all cosmetic “minimally invasive” procedures like cellulite treatments, Botox injections and laser hair removals, in 2012.
It also appears that boomer men are one of the fastest-growing segments of the population going under the knife. While overall cosmetic procedures in men increased just 9% in 2012 compared with 2011, face lifts, which are typically performed on the over-50 set, increased 21%, according to data from the American Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery. And this will become more popular, says Jack Fisher, the president of the society, as many boomers want to look and feel young.
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Lol. I told her I'll spawn after she's dead so she can't infect my kids.
Sounds like Mom needs a couple dabs of Vitamin Pb behind the ear...
More like copious amounts of Ayahuasca. But I appreciate the suggestions.
If you have such a great business idea, why not work your butt off and accumulate your own capital, or entice investors to join in with you, rather than whine about Mommy not handing you an easy life.
I'm rather surprised at the support you are getting. Apparently wealth redistribution and free lunches are fine if they come to YOU.
I see absolutely no difference, except in scale, between a banker who demands society make him whole and a child who demands his mother make him whole. Both are asking---demanding---something that is not available to everyone equally. Your slope might not be as high as Jamie or Lloyd's, but it is just as slippery.
I definitely don't demand anything from my parents, and i'm the only kid they know out of a crapton of their friends whose kid is willing to see them once a week. You know, like real families used to do way back when. Even though I'm not fond of one half of my parents, I still visit because it's the right thing to do. And I did used to accumulate wealth. It was a really nice pad in the Los Gatos Mountains. Try getting 7 acres and two houses in the Los Gatos School District. Until I met the Divorce Court Complex. Then I saw the error of my ways. So now I take more than I give. I won't be a pack mule for the other gender, nor the older generation who wants to pay me wages insufficient to have a family. Sorry, but I'll cop the new repub slogan 'let it burn'.
Because starting from ZERO is super hard - historically near on impossible odds.
If it was easy, everyone would be doing it - if they could'a, they would'a.
Which is why a lot of cultures inherently incorporate the idea of multi-generational support and inheritance.
The Jews, Chinese, Indians... and on and on.
Those peoples who have been through hard times, value and understand the importance of one generation of family handing on to the next, so that ultimately everyone stands on the shoulders of the previous generation.
It is only the naive, deluded West that idolizes the rugged lone individualist.
Finally someone with a high IQ responds. The families that control wealth do give a shit about their kids success, and will help fund it. I grovel in your general direction.
You say "it is only the naive, deluded West that idolizes the rugged lone individualist". I have to wonder how much experience you have in the wider, non-Western world.
Reality is often different than the commonly held beliefs. China just this week passed a law allowing parents to sue their children for non-support and for not visiting. Surprised? What about all those Tiger Moms we hear about incessantly? Exception and not the norm? Also, in most of developing Asia, where I have spent a good portion of the last decade, it is the children---sadly, often very young ones---who are obligated to support the parents. Kids work to give money for the parent's home. Filielpiety. All over the supposedly non-naive, non-deluded East that idolizes the group over the individual I've seen countless parents selling their kids, pulling them from school, forcing them into labor or begging at a tender age, or simply making more babies just to get "inventory" for future begging/labor.
I am not arguing this is the right way, but it is far more common (from my observational experience) than the parents who sacrifice all for the kids.
I am of the view that one expects nothing. That saves disappointment, and also encourages one to put himself on to the challenge of making it in life. Lots of folks fail. That has always been the case. In the end, Darwin rules. We can wish it wasn't that way, but that is denying reality.
And this is the reason that only the "deluded" West can produce individuals like Einstein, Bohr, Feynmann, Gel Mann etc. who actually change the world in a fundamental way. Collectivist cultures will never produe a single Richard Feynmann and nor an Edison, Ford, Hughes, Jobs etc. The individual is the engine which drives the world: on this Ayn Rand had it positively correct. The war is always and forever between the mediocrities and statists who demand their "fair share" and the few exceptional individuals responsible for all human progress. We would never question this truth in sports, so why in other areas. Show me a collectivist whiner and I'll show you someone lacking skills and abilities as well as discipline. The best steel comes from the hottest furnace as Dickens once stated. Just compare the acheivements of the autocratic Medici (sponsors of de Vinci, Galaleo)in Italy to that of the democratic Swiss (the cuckoo clock)!
Hats off, well spoken chap!
The essence of humanity, and inherently for all sentience for that matter, is refinement. Some of this grand collective have done a bang-up job so far, and others not so much. Quite horrible in some directions, actually. But the fact remains, that we are here to refine. In what directions, and in what order of importance, neccesity will dictate as it always has.
Let me tell you one thing, and one thing only: mediocrity cannot refine. And all I see around me is mediocrity at best. Communities must learn to do and care more for its members, or perish. In the end, we'll all go back to our tribes, home sweet home.
p.s. most of the folks you mentioned were mediocre themselves. You gotta look deeper than that, man.
Edison, especially. A brilliant thief, liar, and crony perhaps, but certainly no genious.
Tesla, on the other hand..
And how many people do you burn in your furnace, to get it hot enough to make your finest steel...?
Philosophical claptrap.
How about we look at Steve Jobs as an example instead. He was the first to admit that it took a team. In fact he spent about half his time finding the best talent, and then forging it into a unified collective.
@ John Coltrane:
Just based on the list of names you've given, it's apparent that you have nothing but admiration for those engaged in physics, science, and technological innovation.
To that end, I would say that these same people have brought us:
The atomic bomb.
Weapons of mass destruction.
Carcinogenic food additives.
"Frankenstein" medical science.
GMO Food.
The technological Matrix that spies on us, all the time.
Environmental destruction.
I can keep going....so how do you weigh the 'benefits' of the technologies these people have brought us?
I agree with you that the individual is the engine that drives the world; at the same time, I have to be realistic in assessing the fact that these "benefits" have killed millions of people.
Each one of those "millions of people" was potentially a world-changer in their own right, but we'll never know now.
Personally, I'd rather have another great writer, or a great musician, as opposed to "Moar shit I don't need".
Good,
You can save quite a bit of money when you need a MRI by instead of going to a hospital, you put in a CD of Ozzie.
@ shovelhead:
You miss the point entirely. Mankind existed for thousands of years, without any of the iShit, atomic bombs, or any of the other crap that has come into existence through science and technology in the last century.
While I am not saying ALL science is bad, I am saying that there is a negative side to it also.
Case in point, text messaging: Conversation is a dying art among young people. Rather than call someone, or visit them in person, we 'send them a text'.
Personally, I'd rather just live my natural life cycle, and "go when it's my time".......as opposed to being one of these old people clinging to life through medication, regular trips to the hospital, and spending my last days hooked up to machines like some freakish medical experiment, all in order to benefit the medical industry.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KWuBwf_KMYE
The entire western world is depenentistan, so have we voted to become soft skinned collectivists, not rugged nor individualist.
Ibogaine
I see you are in favor of wealth redistribution, provided it is intra-family. Your accident of birth, apparently, entitles you to start-up funds to chase your dream? You might not agree with what she spent her own money on, but her spending had a multiplier effect in society and rewarded those who were producing a good or service for which there was demand.
To a large extent the crowd around here is pro-Randian, so your +/- score is a bit surprising. I guess when push comes to shove, or rather when it gets personal, many think they are owed the production of others just because of who whelped them. Maybe your Mom and the dog-service providers should have abandoned you and moved to Galt's Gulch, leaving you with your own bootstraps to pull up. That's tough love, but in the long run a better life lesson.
If your attitude is representative of your generation, we might look back on the Boomers as 'the good old days'.
Is this a bit harsh?
Lol I expected blowback it's ok. I definitely didn't want a half million from my parents, merely pointing out how a dog is more important than a child. That's a boomer phenomenon, in case you didn't know. And if you don't give them grandkids, the more dogs they aquire. Perhaps you didn't have the pleasure of myopic parents from the country club. I actually would have preferred the tough love, then I wouldn't feel beholden to visit them once a week. Then I could blow them off like 95% of the population does with their parents, and visit them grudgingly once a year so they can have pictures for their yearbook/facebook. But alas, I had the last of the parents that barely tolerated each other for their kids, and they were quite nice, if selfish. How often did you visit your parents out of curiousity.
the one thing you have to remember about WASPs: they love animals and hate people. ... Gordon Gekko (Yuppie God).
:-)
So, we're calling "progessives" less pejaritive names now, to deflect from their devining all that is good with the magic of pixie and unicorn horn dust. Mythical like Mr. Gekko.
Obviously she didn't think thast you would have provided her with a return equal to at least 1 Lhasa Apso. Sge sounds like she is smart...
So did you start a business anyway? Or did you just spend your time in a whine about Mommy and her puppys.
as long as she owns the business and you work for her
Amazing you are an ungrateful beggar and you see no wrong in it. True.
The +1 I gave you was for your Mom. Only commies or socialist "feel" possive of money earned by other people.
Funny. I learned the same lesson from a lady friend.
Defending the faith eh? Listen to yourself. This is nothing more than Friday night red meat. Why not jump on the Trayvon/Zimmerman trial. It's bound to be a riot.
Divide & conquer. Same as it ever was.
Oh, Fuck Jim Quinn. Sideways.
Divide et impera indeed!
The author of this article is a tool. "Boomers are assholes" is the next wedge driven through US society, after feminism has done its work.
Sounds a lot like current japanese thinking. Hurry up and die.
I don't blame these people as much as I blame government for selling them a line of bullshit that they clearly bought hook, line, and sinker. Sure the programs were already in place, sans Med D etc, but they were expanded exponentially by government, who knew the inherent lethality of such things and did nothing.
Mostly, it's irrelevent. The math will take such decisions out of their hands regardless. By getting in early, they will still see some benefits.
Just like the current crop of countries going bankrupt, the ones that do it early, get the best deal.
As crappy as they feel retirement has been, sadly, they will still have seen much better results from their contributions than later generations have any hope of realizing.
"I don't blame these people as much as I blame government for selling them a line of bullshit that they clearly bought hook, line, and sinker."
And with a flick of his magic rhetorical wand, he made it all no-one's fault!
... Back in reality, where you can ask any boomer exactly how he/she has been voting and spending money for his/her whole life, and find out exactly why we are here today, never said they started it, but they SURE AS SHIT DIDN'T SEEM TO MIND WHILE THE GRAVY TRAIN WAS STILL ROLLIN'.
That.
And I'll add that the reasons are irrelevant at this point. Generational transfers are meeting hard reality very quickly. Boomers were over-promised. And they'll keep getting their way right until enough of them die off to lose control of the reigns of power. Then we're gutting that bitch. 'Fair' will have nothing to do with it. Necessity will. You can't carry the old by enslaving the young forever. And when it snaps back it will be brutal. Europe is on the verge of it now. We've got maybe 10-15 years and we'll be there, too.
We have neither the demographics nor the growth to keep it going like this. What was "promised" or what's "fair" will have little say in the outcome.
If you're young, you will know what the meaning of "tax burden" is (if you are lucky enough to have a job). If you are old, you will see your "benefits" lose pace with simple inflation, let alone the stuff that makes getting old really expensive (healthcare).
Nailed it. I keep using that same phrase — "over-promised" — with my family. I've got a brother-in-law who works for the state. He's a good guy, smart as hell, but he was promised stuff that just is not going to be feasible. He's accepted it and isn't bitching about it, which makes him one of the few.
But make no mistake about it, promises were made that cannot be kept. Whether they were made in good faith or as a means to purchase votes is irrelevant at this point. The money isn't there, people are going to have to pull together, and the notion that government is going to take care of us during retirement needs to die a quick death over the next decade or so. One might even go so far as to suggest retirement itself — in the sense of sitting on one's ass for the last 20-30 years of life — is a historical aberration, a fluke brought on by a combination of debt money and world-wide destruction which spared the United States in the wake of the second world war.
It remains to be seen how long we'll try to ignore reality in an attempt to keep the promises of the past going, or to what lengths we'll go in terms of taxation and increased central planning. But "work till you die" has pretty much been the rule since the human species came to be, and folks better grow accustomed to that rule again.
Perhaps you should reread what you in fact quoted.
Clearly, I blame them both.
Let me ask you this;
If you were in your sunset years, had planned on utilizing programs that were sold to you as things to which you were entitled, had paid into those programs for years with the understanding ( and in fact outright assurance from government ) that they would "be there for you", would you then vote against your own interests?
I don't pretend to absolve the BBers from culpability, but......really?
Your only possible answers are;
a) I wouldn't like it and I'd feel really awful about it and it's sooooo unfair and ..... yeah I'd pursue a voting course that kept the checks coming.
In which case you'd be a hypocrite.
Or....
b) I would never do such a thing. I would have planned for my twilight years accordingly. I wouldn't expect future generations to finance my continued prosperity. I promise sweetie just the tip......
In which case you'd be a liar.
Rebuttal?
----------------------
edit; The rebuttal comment is more of my ....... , rhetoric, as you so kindly pointed out.
Because ...... I don't expect one.
Well, at least one that does anything more than show you to be the pissed off youngster ( rightly so, I might add ) that you are.
I might also add that I am in my early 40's, and as such, about to be fucked almost as hard as you are.
I say almost, because thankfully, I have a good job and learned of the upcoming structural pyrotechnics early enough to plan accordingly.
And even though I will be among the first generations to be subjected to rear entry as far as entitlements go, I'll at least be able to weather the storm to a certain extent.
You younger guys though, ugh.
You sincerely do have my sympathy.
Social Security benefits were clearly promised, but the level of SS benefits were never promised to provide 100% of retirement needs. SS was a supplement. But Americans (boomers or otherwise) have lived way beyond their means for a long time (and not because they had to -- NO ONE needs a house over 1,500 sq ft, a new car, more than 3 pairs of shoes, going to any restaurants or movies, any pets, or cable tv, or vacation trips, etc, etc). Hence, they will have no funds for retirement (largely because they were greedy and spent them on totally unnecessary things)and have come to expect others to take care of them. But they do not lack funds because someone told them they would have all their needs met in retirement.
I am presuming I will see no benefits as retirement benefits quickly become welfare for the elderly (any benefit that is means tested is welfare). So I continue to live well below my means so I can take personal responsibility for myself and my family, now and in retirement years.
Those disgusting pieces of shit brought us all manner of ills that this nation will never recover from. Drugs. Divorce. Destruction of the family. And so forth. And most aren't even the slightest bit repentant.
Some actually did do the best they could under the circumstances. Sadly, most did not.
Fuck them.
Dingleberry,
Why do you have to bring up liberals. They stink the place up.
Interesting that you can still smell the putrid stink of the right wing over them.
what is this "us" you speak of?
when they brought you drugs, who was forcing you to take them?
if your marriage ended, why try to pretend it's someone else's fault?
kid, you need to grow the hell up, take responsibility for your own circumstances, and stop blaming others.
if you can't learn to be an adult and take responsibility, you'll always be a child and a victim.
No, that was John Kerry.
They're not actually officially "old" fucks yet. Just in case you are really as stupid as you sound I would like to remind you that if you are lucky you will some day be old. I just hope you won't be nagged by shitforbrains fools calling you an old fuck.
I love to watch non Boomer's whine. Fuck you, I got NOTHING from my parents and never asked for anything. Busted my ass for years for very little in return and my taxes raised a bunch of spoiled slackers. You whining clowns can starve for all I care.
Peace out, bitches.
"people over 50 for heroin abuse nearly doubled "
anyone with an opiate based addiction or alcohol addiction should be aware of Ibogaine which comes from the bark of a shrub in Africa but is illegal in the states. If you or a loved one has a serious addiction problem, a trip to Costa Rica's IbogaHouse.com should be on your list of possible solutions. It resets your receptors to their original setting and something like 68% simply never do drugs again after the treatment. No wonder the FDA has banned it.
really, allow us to exit peacefully, gracefully and swiftly. why not? we can reason this through with no great difficulty when it comes to our pets----why not ourselves?
Because in the end no one really cares that much about their pets compared to people and their pets if they could speak would probably say "go fuck yourself, I don't want a damn needle".
There's exceptions to every generality and every personality of course.
Boomers are a ticking time bomb
Two billion ways to die. Choose one.
I'll choose old age. You can hurry if you want to.
How wonderfully ironic that "boomers" end up getting a dual meaning to their generational title.
Geriatric saboteurs; you should see how they take advantage of their entitlements.
Entitlements us 20 something fuckers will never ever see, and we're going to have to be the clean up crew for society once the boomers blow the place up. Some dinner guests, huh? They eat their fill and trash the place on the way out. We get the scraps on the floor.
"Entitlements us 20 something fuckers will never ever see,"
hi-larious!
this is like the bank robber whining that the bank robber that was just there before him emptied out the vault.
you just admitted that you are no better than they are and would have done the same thing they did, so you can get down from your moral high horse now.
instead of fantasizing about robbing others via the arm of uncle sam, do something productive, help create a sustainable future for yourself and others.
it's not a handout, it takes work.
I work, and they're taking my money earned through my labor to support their lifestyles and entitlements.
You want me to do more?
Just let me keep what the fuck I earn and I won't care about old-ass entitlement-seekers taking advantage of a system that I have to "support" for the next 40 years, minimum.
no, i don't want you to do more.
i want you to do less!
stop supporting a corrupt govt., stop paying for others' "entitlements", and stop claiming that you should receive entitlements from others.
"Just let me keep what the fuck I earn"
i fully support you keeping 100% of what the fuck you earn.
my suggestion is, learn to move as much of your life and your income stream outside "official channels" and the reach of the govt.
My boomer in-laws (65-75 group) plan to -- and I quote: "Spend all of our sizable savings on lifestyle, and make sure that the last check bounces". Gotta love that frontier mentality. ;-)
Given that most of their investments are liquid an earning zilch in interest -- about which they're very unhappy ("What, money not making money!?") -- they will actually have to dip into the principal.
The movie "Se7en" has some good ideas on how to deal with your in-laws...
My inlaws are from Iowa. They grew up in an all white Iowa community. They graduated from high school. They went to work painting tractors green for John Deere. 20 years later they retired. They bought hundred grand motor homes. They live in Florida during the winter, They live in Iowa during the summer. Their biggest decision is whether to go fishing or play golf. They spend more on the healthcare of their ankle biter dogs than I spend on myself.
They are die hard Democrats because the Democrats are for the "common man" - like they have any idea what the common man is.
They are convinced that I'm a racist.
They are convinced that the system works.
They are convinced that you should go to school, get a job and work hard and everything will be OK.
They are living in a bubble. By the time that bubble pops, they will be long dead. My nine year old son will never retire comfortably after painting tractors green.
It's amazing how people who did so little, have so much; while people who do so much will have so little.
And there it is. The generational hatred that's brewing. I'm not picking on you personally, Trapper. Just that there is no escaping this friction. The pieces are on the chess board in certain positions to make this unavoidable. Younger generations will NOT have the standard of living of their parents and grandparents and they'll quietly despise them for that. The attitude of most boomers to their own children will only add gasoline to the fire.
Cast the "blame" wherever you want to. It won't change coming reality.
You are so very right. The blame game will not change the coming reality. I upvoted your comment.
Im busting my ass to provide for, educate and set a good example for a boy who will one day become a man. I'm leaving him a pile of shit and that weighs heavily upon me. At least he will have a stack of shiny coins rather than a stack of crinkled paper.
How true, how true.
The one thing I respect about my in-laws, is that they freely admit that they were born in the very peak of the human Goldilocks era, and that things will be much, MUCH tougher for subsequent generations until the age demographics rebalances. Even then, they recognize, the era of cheap carbon fuels will be over and the world even more over-populated. By the time they pass on, they expect the real 'fun' to start for the rest of us.
"It's great to be good. It's better to be lucky.", seems to apply to them.
You hit the nail on the head. "They are diehard Democrats." Liberalism is really what fucked up the country. I don't have much faith in the millenials, they were stupid enough to put in obama and believe in "global warming". For the most part they're total morons. It's progressives who divide. And conquer in that they grow the size and power govt and we lose our liberties. Ironically the boomers fell for the progressive hippie bullshit when they were young and disliked the "old" folks of their time. ( over 35) Look at progressive obama, he doesn't miss an opportunity to create a wedge. Look how divisively he handle the Trayvon incident with his remarks, that's just the MO of the left.
"If you're not a liberal at 20 you have no heart, if you're not a conservative at 40 you have no brain."
Guess that's where I went wrong, should have been a conservative at 20, could then be a liberal now in 40s!
The original saying was actually 20 and 30. Somehow we've upped it to 40.
We're living longer, that's all.
stop bastardizing the term liberal- Thomas Jefferson and many Founding Fathers considered themselves to be such.
The progressives bastardized the term liberal, not me. Actually I should say they "hid" behind the term liberal. We know there's nothing liberal about the statist bastards.
While I understand your argument, Otto, those on the self-professed Left have stolen the term. Like I've said before, it's like trying to reclaim "gay" as meaning "happy" at this point. We've lost the language war, unfortunately. I sometimes call myself a classical liberal, like Jefferson. Most people on the Right think that means I'm a fucking hippie.
And those folks on the Right who label themselves "conservatives" are hardly any better. When is it that Republicans have shrunk the government? Oh, that's right — fucking never. And people can whine about how those Republicans aren't "true conservatives" and whatnot, but at the end of the day, most of them will go and pull a lever for some douche with an (R) by his name solely because he says he loves Jesus and wants to defend our children from da queers. We still occasionally have people on here lamenting that folks deigned to vote for Ron Paul or Gary Johnson instead of Mitt Romney, as if our situation would be radically different with Magic Underpants Man in office. Ridiculous.
People need to wise the fuck up and realize that the "liberalism" they hate is just one side of the coin. The Left is all up in our business in any number of ways, no doubt about it — but so is the Right. Both sides are busy-bodies, those nosy neighbors your parents complained about when you were a kid, the smarmy assholes next door always trying to tell you how to live your life. Politics by its very nature attracts such people. Whether they call themselves Left-wing or Right-wing, they're all more appropriately called statists. It falls on those of us who merely want to be left alone to continuously point out that fact and, when necessary, to simply tell them all to fuck off.
Sorry it became a rant. It's late and I'm mildly intoxicated.
^^^ +100
From - http://www.fredoneverything.net/TACDemocracy.shtml
Plumbing the Depths
How the Gears Turn
March 9, 2008
Common delusions notwithstanding, the United States, I submit, is not a democracy—by which is meant a system in which the will of the people prevails. Rather it is a curious mechanism artfully designed to circumvent the will of the people while appearing to be democratic. Several mechanisms accomplish this.
First, we have two identical parties which, when elected, do very much the same things. Thus the election determines not policy but only the division of spoils. Nothing really changes. The Democrats will never seriously reduce military spending, nor the Republicans, entitlements.
Second, the two parties determine on which questions we are allowed to vote. They simply refuse to engage the questions that matter most to many people. If you are against affirmative action, for whom do you vote? If you regard the schools as abominations? If you want to end the president’s hobbyist wars?
Third, there is the effect of large jurisdictions. Suppose that you lived in a very small (and independent) school district and didn’t like the curriculum. You could buttonhole the head of the school board, whom you would probably know, and say, “Look, Jack, I really think….” He would listen.
But suppose that you live in a suburban jurisdiction of 300,000. You as an individual mean nothing. To affect policy, you would have to form an organization, canvass for votes, solicit contributions, and place ads in newspapers. This is a fulltime job, prohibitively burdensome.
The larger the jurisdiction, the harder it is to exert influence. Much policy today is set at the state level. Now you need a statewide campaign to change the curriculum. Practically speaking, it isn’t practical.
Fourth are impenetrable bureaucracies. A lot of policy is set by making regulations at some department or other, often federal. How do you call the Department of Education to protest a rule which is in fact a policy? The Department has thousands of telephones, few of them listed, all of which will brush you off. There is nothing the public can do to influence these goiterous, armored, unaccountable centers of power.
Yes, you can write your senator, and get a letter written by computer, “I thank you for your valuable insights, and assure you that I am doing all….”
Fifth is the invisible bureaucracy (which is also impenetrable). A few federal departments get at least a bit of attention from the press, chiefly State and Defense (sic). Most of the government gets no attention at all—HUD, for example. Nobody knows who the Secretary of HUD is, or what the department is doing. Similarly, the textbook publishers have some committee whose name I don’t remember (See? It works) that decides what words can be used in texts, how women and Indians must be portrayed, what can be said about them, and so on. Such a group amounts to an unelected ministry of propaganda and, almost certainly, you have never heard of it.
Sixth, there is the illusion of journalism. The newspapers and networks encourage us to think of them as a vast web of hard-hitting, no-holds-barred, chips-where-they-may inquisitors of government: You can run, but you can’t hide. In fact federal malefactors don’t have to run or hide. The press isn’t really looking.
Most of press coverage is only apparent. Television isn’t journalism, but a service that translates into video stories found in the Washington Post and New York Times (really). Few newspapers have bureaus in Washington; the rest follow the lead of a small number of major outlets. These don’t really cover things either.
When I was reporting on the military, there were (if memory serves) many hundreds of reporters accredited to the Pentagon, or at least writing about the armed services. It sounds impressive: All those gimlet eyes.
What invariably happened though was that some story would break—a toilet seat alleged to cost too much, or the failure of this or that. All the reporters would chase the toilet seat, fearful that their competitors might get some detail they didn’t. Thus you had one story covered six hundred times. In any event the stories were often dishonest and almost always ignorant because reporters, apparently bound by some natural law, are obligate technical illiterates. This includes the reporters for the Post and the Times.
Seventh, and a bit more subtle, is the lack of centers of demographic power in competition with the official government. The Catholic Church, for example, once influentially represented a large part of the population. It has been brought to heel. We are left with government by lobby—the weapons industry, big pharma, AIPAC, the teachers unions—whose representatives pay Congress to do things against the public interest.
Eighth, we are ruled not by a government but by a class. Here the media are crucial. Unless you spend time outside of America, you may not realize to what extent the press is controlled. The press is largely free, yes, but it is also largely owned by a small number of corporations which, in turn, are run by people from the same pool from which are drawn high-level pols and their advisers. They are rich people who know each other and have the same interests. It is very nearly correct to say that these people are the government of the United States, and that the federal apparatus merely a useful theatrical manifestation.
Finally, though it may not be deliberate, the schools produce a pitiably ignorant population that can’t vote wisely. Just as trial lawyers don’t want intelligent jurors, as they are harder to manipulate, so political parties don’t want educated voters. The existence of a puzzled mass gawping at Oprah reduces elections to popularity contests modulated by the state of the economy. One party may win, yes, or the other. But a TV-besotted electorate doesn’t meddle in matters important to its rulers. It has never heard of them.
To disguise all of this, elections provide the excitement and intellectual content of a football game, without the importance. They allow a sense of Participation. In bars across the land, in high-school gymns become forums, people become heated about what they imagine to be decisions of great import: This candidate or that? It keeps them from feeling left out while denying them power.
It is fraud. In a sense, the candidates do not even exist. A presidential candidate consists of two speechwriters, a makeup man, a gestures coach, ad agency, two pollsters and an interpreter of focus groups. Depending on his numbers, the handlers may suggest a more fixed stare to crank up his decisiveness quotient for male or Republican voters, or dial in a bit of compassion for a Democratic or female audience. The newspapers will report this calculated transformation. Yet it works. You can fool enough of the people enough of the time.
When people sense this and decline to vote, we cluck like disturbed hens and speak of apathy. Nope. Just common sense.
Yeah... old people are scary. Even with 77 million 'boomers', if they were all retired all at once and stayed alive all at the same time (neat trick) would make up only 24% of the population. The 'economy' went when the manufacturing was sent overseas.
i'm a boomer & that sure doesn't describe me. after raising three kids, paying for dental, cars, car insurance, school fees, clothing & all the 'entertainment' needs that i never had as a kid, i'm barely scraping by in this inflationary environment. in fact, my youngest adult child, almost 30 years old just can't make it on a $11/hr job so i'm helping her with her rent & car payment ! no wonder there's no inheritance to leave, i'm being bled dry in the here & now.
Lynnybee these articles are just put out there to make sure that we all remember to tear each other apart like a bunch of savages before we ever turn our gaze towards a small group of people who have managed to rig this whole system.
I expected better from Jim Quinn, who I usually enjoy reading.
While I agree with the gist of your comment - the Boomer generation really are a fucked lot of assholes, all the same.
>> the Boomer generation really are a fucked lot of assholes, all the same.
What have you done differently?
Not voted for more war and debt, for starters. Why is this so hard for you people to understand?
Voting doesn't change anything BUT IT DOES REVEAL YOUR ENEMIES. Jesus H. Christ. Are people responsible for their choices WHICH THEY BELIEVE TO HAVE CERTAIN CONSEQUENCES,or aren't they? Think real hard before you answer.
Unfuckinbelievable, what a bunch of Stockholm sufferers, these people attempted and succeeded in FUCKING us all at every chance. They are MORALLY no different from the puppetmasters, who merely exploit the stupidity and greedy that is already there in such great quantity.
Ha ha ha you think anybody voted for war and debt? Did they ask you? They sure didn't ask me. They just went ahead and did whatever the hell they wanted.
O but now that you are here you will straighten everything out. I can hardly wait.
Nope, they didn't vote for Reagan or Clinton or Bush, not no way no how... The most counted and solid voting block never voted for any of that shit after they were told for decades that it will not change anything, but lesser evil BS pounds sand...
Bullcrap!!! Most of the damned country was Gung Ho...when it came to Iraq and Afghanistan. It made me sick.
Everytime I watched one of those Tomahawks fire off to a target in Iraq I laughed out loud. Really I did.
Now I DID NOT LAUGH at the Death and Destruction being levied on the Iraqi People. I found that UNREASONABLE as there were no Iraqis on any of those Hijacked Planes. There were no Afghanis. In fact we needed to BOMB Saudi Arabia. So that is NOT what I was laughing about at all.
I was LAUGHING at those whom supported that. I would picture these jerks in my mind and LAUGH, "There goes that jerk's Retirement Check. Boy it just exploded. I hope that he enjoys that. His retirement just went up in flames.
Oh...Another one? There went that jerk's retirement up in flames.
All of you whom supported the Iraqi and Afghani War??? YOU DESERVE THIS!!!
All of you whom voted for that Warmonger George Bush...YOU DESERVE THIS!!!
I watched Pensions being detonated, launched and detonated...into Iraq. YOU DESERVE IT.
I am Laughing Out Loud...AT YOU. There has never been such a DESERVING LOT...AS YOU.
Tall Tom
I Cor 13
"You can't cheat an honest man."
The boomers are disgusting because they are not honest. With themselves or anyone else.
When someone....anyone...promises you OPM in the future for your vote today.....you know deep down, in a fleeting moment of honesty....that you are stealing. Even if it is from the "rich" who have more money than God...or because "banksters do it, why can't I steal too?"
now they have infected the generations (particularly millinials) that will only vote for the party of the freebie.
Can you guess which one that is?
Can you also guess what will happen to those "promises"?
"Ask not what you country can do for you....."
A Democrat actually said that. Back when Boomers were coming of age.
Could you even imagine a democrat saying that today? Or a Boomer?
Neither could I.
Every job sent overseas while the products made were sold back into this country I considered total theft... not just for me but for you and all American workers. Globalism ... its a disease not an economic theory... something in Article 1 Section 8 of the US Constitution says something about regulation of trade between nations ... maybe the founders knew something our current political class doesn't seem to care about.
you just said you were going to moon all of the govt employees in your 'hood when it falls apart- isn't that a kind of class warfare? .gov employees are are huge % of "workers" now.
My point is, it's not age warfare. There are groups of people that ripped off the system, and I very much crave the moment when they realize the promises they made to themselves won't be kept.
But I am not going to lump everyone in an age bracket in there together and send them all down the river. You made the same reference in your post regrding the .gov employees.
My in-laws live in an IL Wel Webb community (hell on earth) that is booming and the vast majority are boomers that retired from .gov. anybody in the private sector that has retired since the dotcom bust is getting their dicks pounded in the dirt. sometimes I feel like everyone is complicit and nobody gets out alive.
You should feel like that. That is the thread that ties us all together on here, no matter what our differences may be. The few of us on here look around in horror not only at what is happening, but the total Ostrich head in the sand mentality of everyone around us.
@ fonz,
I agree. What The Global Criminal Oligarch Cabal Bankster Intelligence Crime Syndicate wants & needs is Order Out of Chaos. Divide & Conquist will be their goal.
Lol.
Just because a buddy says something stupid and needs a slap in the head doesn't mean I won't stand beside him on the barricades.
There would have been more fist-fights at Valley Forge if they had more calories to burn.
If anyone really thinks 'Divide and Conquer' works it only means you're hanging with the wrong people.
You are very wise Fonz. You see exactly the game being played out. When everyone understands that we are all in this together & no one gets out unscathed. We have been lied to & set up. It's time to pay the piper & as long as they keep shifting the blame, the real culprits make out like the real bandits they are..
The strategy of "Divide and Conquer" has been an extremely reliable one throughout the ages - well before Roman times - and used to "good effect" by people such as Margaret Thatcher.
"Where has ALL the "money" gone??" - http://www.declineoftheempire.com/2012/10/the-inevitable-rise-of-wealthy-global-elites.html Co-operation, via development of oligopolies, rather than "true" Marketplace Competition.
Those afffected are waking up, but one wonders if it will be a case of "too little, too late" http://www.globalresearch.ca/divide-and-conquer-strategies-in-america/23411.
And we all have a "particular extra problem" to deal with now - http://www.nukefreefuture.com/fukushima2012/ although other sources may think this assessment is somewhat overblown http://english.ruvr.ru/2013_03_04/WHO-Fukushima-disaster-consequences-pose-no-threat-outside-Japan/
I was going to say this, thanks for doing so.
We can write articles on all the so-called lazy, entitled, self indulgent kids who do not have goals and don't know how to apply themselves or presevere. We could find statistical evidence for it, if we liked. Hey childhood obesity is up in staggering numbers. Lets knock the kids for that too. That too would be taking the bait. Age, race, gender, all of it keeps us at each others throats and not on the throats of "a small group of people who have managed to rig the whole system."
Thanks again.
Being critical is what makes things get fixed and makes people aware that shit is messed up. The Boomersvoted for the Great Society, they hoisted Welfare and this onto the rest of us.
When did they lower the voting age to 11?
Maybe I left my voter registation in with my baseball cards...
Mathematics is not an esoteric subject at it's more elementary levels.
You should try it. It will make you appear smarter.
Maybe.
.
We don't deal with Jim Quinn, don't deal with RCD, instead we deal with a small group of people who have managed to rig this whole system?
but why?
Lynnybee, I agree with fonz. These articles are crap. I don't know any boomers (my parents included) who didn't try to make life better for their kids.
The generational warfare (just like any other class warfare) is VERY popular, but it's stupid. How many baby boomer women had a Coach purse at age 25, compared to today's 25 year olds?
Sure, a lot of boomers are delusional, but that's not a generational problem. My point is that most boomers have lived the majority of their lives with a much lower standard of living than the rest of us.
we're all fucked. boomers, gen exer's, the unborn, and the dead. take it out on your government and quit bitching. (and get a job!:)
fonz - great post, but open your eyes bro on the Jim Quinn thing.
I think most boomers are a little more selfish than you lynne.
You're a rarity lynnybee. ;-)
i'm a boomer & that sure doesn't describe me.
I have no doubt. I speak in terms of the averages. As does, I belive, the author.
I'm long broadbrushes...
Your're long "self integration". I'll tickle your fancy
hey lynnybee....are we brothers? Sounds like similar boats we are in.
Totally agree with lynnybee, I am a boomer too. We have spent our lives working our butts off so our children could have everything we "thought" we were deprived of. Huge mistake. We put 2 kids through a private school, braces, dancing, sports,etc. We gave each a car after graduation & turns out they appreciate it more if they actually work for it & make payments.. Boomers grew up in a generation where no one had money & it was really OK.. Times were much simpler, safer & family & friends were everything.
Hard to believe when we were little we had a black & white TV with 3 channels. At midnite it went to fuzz.. If the president was on, you were totally screwed..
Remember, boomers are called the "Sandwich" generation, we are sandwiched in between aging parents, children & grandchildren.. So, if some out there are drunk, who the hell can blame them.. We have worked our asses off to have it stolen by a bunch of educated ivy league pricks. Bitter, yes we are.. So, whatever any of us have left, we should enjoy it but most will never have the chance.. We are playing a game, none of us will win.
Have you ever considered that a farmer worked just as hard for a poor harvest as for a bountiful harvest?
Your work ethic notwithstanding, your generation should be called The Luckiest Generation In Human History.
History will judge if it remains the "Greatest", and I have my suspicions what that judgement will be -- because they did zip, zilch, zero about the ultimate financial Ponzi in human history: CBs, fiat money and FRB.
Farmers do work hard, I was raised on a farm.. Have first hand knowledge.. If you are blaming boomers for the ponzi, you have to understand.. Most families, husband & wife were both working full time to provide for their children.. We had no idea about any of this.. There was no internet, CBS & ABC provided the news. Who had time to watch it? No one is more shocked than boomers about this entire ponzi.. We were told work hard, do without all the extras so you can save every dime for retirement.. Well, we did it & we have had most of it stolen.. I bought a fucking McMansion for some ivy league prick I have never stepped foot in..
So, the fact remains, now that WE ALL know about the ponzi, what are WE going to do about it?
farmers- yet another group of Uncle Sam's subsidized babies who "earned it".
Some morons will get offended if you point out why they are morons.
I believe you're referring to corporate agrifarming & not the wholesale slaughter of the family farm.
Fuck me runnin' - the blame on this thread is unbelievable. I guess Willy Nelson was doing farm aid concerts for the likes of ADM & MON.
Did it never occur to you that giving your children everything was not actually helping them?
That it was actually creating a dependency?
That it was turning them into lazy low end adults with a sense of entitlement?
Did it ever occur to you that this is why they are working for $11 per hour?
Did it ever occur to you that YOU are the reason why they are losers?
lynnybee:Wise up, stop being a doormat. They have to learn to take caare of themselves, you won't live forever, they don't have much time to get smarter and won't with you propping them up.
Only ten, eh? It's prolly a lot more.
I plan to die of a cardiac event while mounting some young hottie.
LOL, truly funny.
But, you DO realize that your mindset typifies all too many ppl (of all ages), who have a consumerist or scorched-earth mentality?
I submit that our easy western lifestyle, our culture and mentality of affluence we've enjoyed for decades, has conditioned us to forget all those countless generations before us who had to struggle just to survive, and to pay little heed to the generations to come.
Our false prosperity was based on easy access to cheap and plentiful resources while the rest of the world either lacked it or was scrapping, and on plenty of fiat money.
All good things come to an end. In the case of carbon fuels, it'll be a permanent end.
Richard pryor has a word for that. Its called recycling
Make sure you finish first.
My boomer dad has a sizable retirement savings. He says his goal is to spend every penny he has before he dies, including the equity in his now paid off house.
On #9, you are confusing boomers and politicians, many of which were voted into office by the 18->40 year old set.
Catey,
Your "generation," whatever it is, has the opportunity to change things, and your most powerful tool is communication, which the "boomers" didn't have.
It's good to see that you're using your most powerful tool to... bitch about the "boomers."
Does your Tesla have enough juice to make it to the dispensary? I hear Harborside is having a special today.
Bring back the CAROUSEL !!!!!!!!!!
I see ponzi people.
I have to admit! There's some pretty awesome "Baby Boomers" out there. I'm slightly behind that age group, and I got my first opportunity into business ownership from some really kool boomers. They financed me, and made a killing off my work.
Categorizing people is the worst mistake an entrepreneur can make.
Every age-group is full of assholes. Surround yourself with " Like Minds". If you have a good idea, you'll be hunted...
Damn straight. Don't take the bait, we are all individuals.
Excellent post Yen.
#10, Nancy Piglosi call your office! Disgusting Hag!!
Boomers I or The Baby Boomers
Born: 1946-1954
Coming of Age: 1963-1972
Age in 2004: 50-58
Current Population: 33 million
For a long time the Baby Boomers were defined as those born between 1945 and 1964. That would make the generation huge (71 million) and encompass people who were 20 years apart in age. It didn’t compute to have those born in 1964 compared with those born in 1946. Life experiences were completely different. Attitudes, behaviors and society were vastly different. In effect, all the elements that help to define a cohort were violated by the broad span of years originally included in the concept of the Baby Boomers. The first Boomer segment is bounded by the Kennedy and Martin Luther King assassinations, the Civil Rights movements and the Vietnam War. Boomers I were in or protested the War. Boomers 2 or the Jones Generation missed the whole thing.
Boomers I had good economic opportunities and were largely optimistic about the potential for America and their own lives, the Vietnam War notwithstanding.
Boomers II or Generation Jones
Born: 1955-1965
Coming of Age: 1973-1983
Age in 2004: 39 to 49
Current Population: 49 million
This first post-Watergate generation lost much of its trust in government and optimistic views the Boomers I maintained. Economic struggles including the oil embargo of 1979 reinforced a sense of “I’m out for me” and narcissism and a focus on self-help and skepticism over media and institutions is representative of attitudes of this cohort. While Boomers I had Vietnam, Boomers II had AIDS as part of their rites of passage.
The youngest members of the Boomer II generation in fact did not have the benefits of the Boomer I class as many of the best jobs, opportunities, housing etc. were taken by the larger and earlier group. Both Gen X and Boomer II s suffer from this long shadow cast by Boomers I.
I find it fascinating that the date range for the Boomers has expanded so much over time. Admittedly, I am considered a Boomer II, aka Generation Jones. I watched with disgust and horror from the 60's onward as the first boomers turned into the hippies, then the yuppie, and finally, the greedy.
I could see the writing on the wall back in the 80's. There was a chance to make itty-bitty changes to social security that would have it in pretty good shape today. Congress ignored it. I knew then that I would never retire.
I had/have few resources and many setbacks over my life and I'm well aware that my meager savings (what remains after the financial fraud of 2008 - present) 'might' just see me through one year of no work. I still expect to wind up as a dried up corpse on the side of some desert road.
Oswald Spengler would say we are about done:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uha7WWgoeX4
OP:
SIGH !
If you don;t have great expectations for yourself, then in later age you are not so depressed with disappointment.
When I got on that plane headed home from Viet Nam, after survuving a year in the mud and covered in blood, its all good from here on out.
Been with the ole lady for 40 years, two grown kids and 3 young grandsons. House and small farm paid off, elder parents with a nice house in a small city, small farm here, and oil wells in Oklahoma providing nice checks every month,
I don;t thing I have done too bad, but the one point is, I paid into SS since 1964, started working for other farmers then, so paid into SS for 47 years before I started drawing at 62.
I have also paid into medicare for almost the same time, so if your generation wants to pay me back all I have paid in, I will release your generation from any further month payment! I won;t even charge interest while they used it just pay me back what I and my employer paid into for the last 43 years!
Thank You for your service Stud Duck.. You have to admit, it wasn't always easy. We worked for what we have, nothing was given.. Social security was forced on all of us.. You had no choice, no opting out.. Haven't started collecting yet, few more years to go.. Doubt it will even be there for me.. My Father-In-Law is 86 & is fairly wealthy.. He says he has already collected way more than he ever paid in. He retired after 36 years with an oil company.. The poinzi was only supposed to work on the WWII Generation, it was designed to collapse on baby boomers..
Steel Mag, thanks for the posotive comment, but don;t thank me, thank those that have their name on that wall in DC and the families of the same that lost the last 40 years or more with a son that they spent so much time, love and money on!
I got caught up in the meat grinder and some how survived, I am super bitter to the system that sent me with the reason of "to save South Viet Nam from communism" lie I believed.
My father got caught up in the WW 2, then Korea, was super anit war and tried to get me to realize the seriousness of what I was getting into. At 87 he is still kicking and still super anti war, you should of heard him 10 years ago on the Iraq deal!
Again thanks, I have read many of your comments, as well at Otto S, I had good vibes on both, but no so much with Otto now!
He seems to be a bitter, no it all, with not much life experiences just broad generalizations when you review his stuff!
no need to fear- medicaid will pay out way more on average than people have put in- it's all part of the pyramid scheme( like SS). at least you got to kill a commie for your mommy ;)
Well,, Otto, I certainly hope you mother and father are not depending on you for assistance in their time of trouble that will be comming soon! I certainly wish for them a daughter or another son that will step up and help them.
As for your comments of "kill a commie for mommie" I have to surmise that you have no experience's in war. I never actually saw a commie except once, and he was still running in those black pajama's after I spent 3 clips at him bopping across a rice paddy. I did get to experience see my best friend die a grusome death by a mine with his guts torn out and his legs blown off, but that took almost 10 minutes, screaming to God and then his mother for help. I saw lots of other guys ahot and maimed but those were just a blurr that that point in time!
Shoot a commie for your Mommie, good god man your need help!
@SD - are you the one that did a tribute to your fallen comrades from hill #? (can't remember) was it hamburger hill?
Hamburger Hill was hill 861, as the men in those platoon refused to go back up after the 3 assualt, the line officers were pulled and more agressive officer put in place, the men rufused orders even then. The word got around and those men were cheered on. The officer corp began to look at the men as possible officer killer then, The bad ones retreated to their bunkers, the good one began interacting with the men on the new objective. The "absolutism" of the officer corp disolved then and we were asked instead of ordered!
Just talked with one of the guys that was there at the time, great guy, have known each other for over 30 years professionally as insurance adjusters for different companies. He is like me, does not dwell on it much, just getting along with life, enjoying our grandson's and life in general.
I, a Baby Boomer, think the source of unhappiness is the CHANGES that we have had to endure. We were born free and have been shackeled by our government.
The Greatest Generation and FDR are the ones that fuct things up. Over promised and under funded their Ponzi.
Harvard MBA's are the ones that fuct things up. We HAD plenty of oppotunities until CEO's learned to work only for Wall Street and not Main Street.
And you sat around asking for more gravy on your fries... fat, dumb and happy. I hope the movie Fight Club is real and they come for your fat ass to make soap from your sit-back-do-nothing-carcass. For the children, of course. Call me when you grow a pair and can recite the Constitution from memory.
Bring it asshole. I'm a 60+ lean and mean fukker who can still do 75 push ups at a time. But I'd just as soon shoot your sorry ass than engage in a physical fight. Have to save my health for more important things than you ya know.
Face it. The reality is that if 2008-2009 crashes had not happened the current Occupy This and That movement would BE IN LOCK STEP WITH DOING WHAT THE WORLD WAS DOING.... PUTTING THEMSELVES FIRST.
Nice little 10 point fascist classification system. All you ME vets ready to start fighting with Vietnam vets? Nice divide and conquer.
let's get the party started- Gotterdammerung bitchez.
#11 Boomers are the first Dysfunctionally Self Absorbed (DSA) generation. Explains points 1-10 perfectly. I'm embarrassed for my generation, my year is 1956 so I'm at the crest. Yes, there are plenty of good people like lynnebee above, but more likely is subtle or quite obvious hypocrits. A humorous category would be getting a buzz on: How many times have you heard a boomer in some righteous posture on the easiest subject: canibus? Have a cocktail and wax eloguent. Oh, by the way, hope no one finds out self absorbed past. Or your sexcapades. Or your...Work hard on that Denial...oh, forgot to mention eating alot is a common coping mechanism.
Tie it all back to disfunctional self absorbtion and you"ve got a big cause.
Thanx Tyler,nailed another one.
Speaking in generalities is a sign of a weak mind.
Could you be more specific?
It's Cannabis. And this 60+ year old likes the stuff and thinks is should be decriminalized.
Who gave you children the Internet?
--bks
Darpa
I'm stacking to pay for my kids' college. If it doesn't cut it I'm going to blame ZH and the boating industry at large.
We never bought into their bs but now we have to pay the piper. Everything they touch turns to poo. Well back to the old ways, their crap is noise man. Jive talkin turkeys all of them.
This piece generated a lot of pompous outraged denial when it appeared over at MarketWatch. Gotta love the Hedge. You get a wittier, more reality-based commenter pool over here.
one of the best inventions made by Baby boomers:
the Pill.
7 billion Idiots in this world is quite enough !
wr;)
Really wise of them to kill off the ones that would have paid for their retirement