Future Gloomy for Most Boomers

Very few Boomers have set aside enough money for retirement, let alone a comfortable retirement. There are numerous reasons for this, but three stand out. First, society has put enormous pressure on boomers to be consumers and purchase goods and services from the time they were youths and this psychological manipulation has continued with success usually unabated deep into adulthood. Two other reasons are probably more significant. The era of good steady employment, often for an adult lifetime, that boomers' parents had, ended over a generation ago. Employment for many in the years since has been lacking stability, commitment, and certainty as employers have utilized a different model than what existed prior to the 1980s and 1990s, including lower pay and little if any benefits. In addition, employment-paid and -provided pensions for workers have disappeared. This was another hallmark that existed in much greater numbers for the parents of boomers. Employers ditched pensions for their workers and left workers to pay for their own futures and retirement. As a result of these sea changes, the future is quite uncertain, if not grim, for boomers to a large part. Expect an explosion of social services expenses in the next two decades as boomers age and cannot continue to work. The tax system on all levels will need to be adjusted to pay for these essential critical government expenses. In addition, some boomers will opt to end their lives through suicide rather than live in an environment that is unacceptable, such as in poverty, group situations, and, most of all, old folks homes.

http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/RetirementandWills/InvestForRetirement/BleakRetirementsFor150Million.aspx

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