Boomers, Social Security, and The Golden Years

I confess that I am part of that generation that are commonly called baby boomers. I really hate that name, but it is probably going to stick, and, I guess we might as well accept it.

This is a very tenuous period for most of us, since we are fast approaching that age that only our parents experienced. For some reason, we thought it would never happen to us. How could any generation who spawned the Beatles, CCR, and Kiss ever get that old?

Lately, I’ve been watching some really lame commercials featuring smiling couples who proclaim that their retirement years, the “golden years”, are the best years of their lives. Kind of makes you wonder how really bad their first 70 were, doesn’t it? They couldn’t have been exactly stellar if they think that arthritis, wrinkles, stents, and colonoscopies, rock.

Now, we are told that Social Security is going to be permanently in the red by the year 2016. So, what happened?

Well, the government says that they didn’t realize that there would be so many boomers headed for retirement. Either they didn’t check out all those census records that they keep taking, or, they were banking on most of us dropping dead sooner.

Anyway you look at it, it isn’t good news for us or for future generations.

So, I have a few questions. Who, exactly was in charge of all the money that we and our employers contributed? And, why, in the light of their incredibly inept financial prowess, should we trust them with anything?

I have been wondering what life was like before Social Security and Medicare. Obviously, now, most seniors would be up against it without these government controlled functions, but, is it a case of the chicken and the egg? Did the cost of medical treatment increase exponentially with the fact that Medicare would cover it, or would it have skyrocketed anyway? By initiating this program did the government actually encourage inflation?

Well, that’s water over the dam. We paid for SS and Medicare, and, like it or not, we are going to need it, and, so are our children and grandchildren.

The good news is, that 2016 comes after 2012, which the Mayans, who apparently know everything, claim is the end of the world. The bad news is, I am retiring in 2017, so either way, I’ve had it!