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dwot (99.57)

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April 07, 2012 – Comments (4)

Seeing how the aging population is hitting so many countries at the same time, this is going to affect long term furture investment income by slaughtering disposible income.

 

I just went looking back at a post I did looking at projections of workers to retired, http://makingsenseofmyworld.blogspot.ca/2008/05/aging-population-canada-vs-us.html.  I really wish that I had citations of where I found my data as I'd like to go back and see where it is now.

 

 For Canada they've started to address the problem by increasing the age by two years to age 67 to qualify for Old Age Security, but I don't think that's going to be enough, and my goodness, I just turned 50 and it does affect me some in that the age starts to increase for anyone under age 54 right now.  Personally, I think they should make everyone have to take a means test to qualify to get it.  I completely disagree with just giving money to people just because of age that you've never paid into that comes out of general revenues.  There is a claw back, but I think the income to have it all clawed back is around $110k or something like that, and it doesn't start to claw back until $68k of income.  How fair is it that family struggling is being forced through taxation to transfer income to people who are better off?  

 

There isn't a single social program/benefit out there that hasn't been cut just as I qualify for what used to be.  It happened with student loans/grants, programs to help buy a home, tax breaks, consequently, I have little faith or belief that the way it "is" now will be anything like what it will be like when I get to retirement age.  I completely disagree with slaughtering the programs to help young people get a start in life, the use of goverment as a transfer of wealth from those with the least to those with the most.

 

 

4 Comments – Post Your Own

#1) On April 07, 2012 at 12:39 PM, outoffocus (24.51) wrote:

"Personally, I think they should make everyone have to take a means test to qualify to get it.  I completely disagree with just giving money to people just because of age that you've never paid into that comes out of general revenues"

Agreed.  That alone will resolve the social security crisis right then and there.  But theres no political will to make required changes.  Baby boomers are beginning to retire and they hold most of the country's wealth.  Social security should be like welfare.  If someone has several million in retirement, there is no need for them to be collecting social security. 

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#2) On April 07, 2012 at 2:17 PM, Valyooo (99.82) wrote:

How about ending it all together, instead of just changing it to another unfair form of socialism?  You don't like that you may not get it, but I don't like that I may pay into it for the next 37 years and get nothing back just because I do well in my life.

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#3) On April 07, 2012 at 4:27 PM, VExplorer (30.98) wrote:

In general I agree with Valyoo. But, you can do well in your life and just loose all your savings like my grandparents did when USSR fail. Any goverment may confiscate wealth as well as freedom and even life. Do you think it cannot be true about US? Just your opinion. 40 years just too far from now. Remember, Warsaw Jews lived in amaizing enviroment in first decade of XX century. So, these kind of problems do not have "solutions". People may and, at some point, will live without wealth and SS, faith will help.

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#4) On April 07, 2012 at 8:21 PM, dwot (99.57) wrote:

When I was looking at some history of this stuff when it first came out there was a means test.

The only reason this stuff worked for as long as it has is because of the dramatic population growth, where there has always been far more younger people then older people and that is so totally turning around.

Valyooo, equality doesn't exist anywhere.  I'm a believer in reasonable socialism.  I had an elected friend and he was telling me about a senior woman who went to his office and she showed after paying just basic bills she did not have enough money left for food.  There is and will always be a need for social programs.  I just think that social program should be about only providing for people who need help to cover food, shelter and utilities.  

VExplorer, loosing everything can happen in all kinds of ways.

I'm going start spending rather then saving way more of my "wealth."  I'm going to Europe for 6 weeks this summer and I'm going to do something truly worthwhile every summer from now on.   There's a lot of countries over there, it is probably going to a few summers to get a taste of a good selection of them.

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