Madame,
Even if we manage to avoid a Great Recession/Great Depression type
calamity, few are ready for the looming “Retiremageddon.”
Retirement is a relatively modern invention to accommodate much
longer life expectancy. Its invention rested
on a three legged stool: 1) pensions
companies and governments set up (defined benefit), the largest piece; 2) individual savings
(defined contributions, sometimes assisted), the next largest piece, and 3)
Social Security, the smallest piece.
In the 1970s and 1980s the assault on pensions was intensified for
misleading reasons I might detail in another post. Today,
the war of annihilation on pensions is nearly complete. Few have them anymore and they are often
being modified or eliminated (at least for new employees).
That left retirement to somehow make it on two legs, even though
stools don’t make it on two legs. Not to
worry, the plutocratic misleaders told us.
Companies would “match” all sorts of savings, and the government would
even give economic incentive to save.
What they failed to tell everyone was that, despite great increases in
productivity (the profits from which went to a few), wages would almost
certainly not keep up, leaving little to save.
And that each individual would also become responsible for more and more
things, and thus further be able to save even less and less.
Contributing to the misleading discourse have been the financial idiots
who are always blathering on that they wish they could “opt out” of their
pension (for those few lucky enough to have one) or Social Security and “keep
that money for myself.” Those suckers
are the financial equivalents of the voters who keep voting against their
economic interests. Like them, they have
bought in to a philosophy where it is all too easy to exploit the individual.
An individual has so little economic power, even on occasions when
they might have a little financial savvy.
They can’t command the economic clout that big institutions can. And so, consequently, they don’t get the same
financial returns, even when fees are small, which they rarely are. What’s worse, individuals get hammered and
exploited in the upswings and downswings of the market, let alone the crashes. They have little to no protection against
inflation either. And that’s even if
they don’t get outright ripped off by a financial industry that purposely
complicates and confuses things to prey on ignorance and take advantage of
greed.
A generation that bought the 401k, IRA, etc. “promise” is about to
discover some pretty harsh truths. When
the money—for those frugal and lucky enough to have some saved—runs out, the
wailing will begin. What am I talking
about? Read on, readers!
According a March 2015 study, among households on the verge of
supposed retirement, the median retirement account balance is…less than
$15,000. Not the yearly income one could
expect from the “investments,” but the
total BALANCE. Over 60% of American
working households aged 55-64 don’t even have a total retirement savings sum that
even equals ONE YEAR of their annual income.
And what of the formerly 3rd (now 2nd) leg of this weak
stool? Social Security replaces, percentage
wise, the greatest amount for lower-income earners. Yet at most that is 40% of one’s annual
income—and that’s for low income earners.
If they can barely make it now on 100% of their income, they sure aren’t
going to make it on 40%. For middle
income earners, the prospects are even bleaker, with Social Security replacing
at most around 15-35%.
But even that is uncertain now.
The plutocratic (and their shills/politicians) assault against Social
Security is relentless—and increasing.
The lies being spread against one of the most successful social
responsibility institutions ever devised are repeated over and over because the
plutocrats—and the media they control—know that a lie endlessly repeated gets
believed.
Our disengagements from being informed and being involved mean we presently
live in a plutocratic oligarchy with the veneer of a democratic republic and
the last remaining vestiges of social responsibility. The vast majority of Americans are poorer,
more stressed, more insecure, see fewer opportunities, and see most of the economic
trends going in the wrong direction, even though they strongly disagree on
causes and solutions. Their educational
systems and infrastructure are either crumbling or starving for real investment,
even when people don’t recognize the plutocratic withholding about all
that. Somewhere in the back of their
minds, they suspect that all this debt—personal, business, government—is due to
fundamental weakness, that things aren’t making it, once again even when they
don’t recognize the plutocratic withholding that contributes strongly to
that. They fret about health care—the number
one cause of bankruptcy—regardless of what “side” they are on. They know the tax code is unfairly tilted
away from them and toward the already rich.
They realize how corrupted and ineffectual the so-called “elites” have
become. They feel helpless against
giant, rich, powerful entities that do what they want and face no real
consequences from us. They probably suspect
at some level that our priorities are all off, that maybe we shouldn’t have a
giant, ravenous, corrupting military-private sector-security-intelligence
resource sink, and one used in perpetual conflicts that sink resources even
more—and change us for the worse, maybe Orwellian-like. They may see—or experience—freakish weather
catastrophes, droughts, or floods, may even agree with scientists that we are
changing the climate for the worse.
Then they blank it all out.
Or latch on to some minor thing.
Or simplistically lay blame on one (usually wrong) cause—and usually
with some equally wrong “solution.”
Thus leaving the problems to the few activists—and to the power of
money. Leaving it to others (including
their descendants) to deal with, let alone try to solve.
While the battering rams of our failures to meet our problems
thunder at our doors, our response so far is only to turn up the volume louder
on our electronic and other diversions.
This mass denial, if it continues, will be—rightly—judged harshly and
venomously by future generations.
Instead of The Greatest Generation, we will be known as The Failure
Generation, The Despised Generation, The Contemptible Generation. Unless we quit diverting and “amusing
ourselves to death” in Neil Postman’s apt words, we will, like opiate addicts and lotus eaters,
still be diverted when the problems break through and finish us.
Every day we don’t arrest our descent is future pain—deep, agonizing,
lengthy pain—for ourselves and our descendants.
GD, we can do so much better.
I for one don’t want to be despised by the future.
And yes, I realize that, except for the last few paragraphs, I
sound surprisingly similar to Bernie Sanders.
What a pity the man has no power base, no team of best and brightest, no
movement to sweep with him into office in state and national legislatures. Without that, any effectiveness of his would be greatly reduced. Even a year and a half is not enough time for anything except near-total people power to overcome the many (and deliberate) roadblocks and transform the political scene. It takes a lengthy effort, not some relatively brief and emotional one.
It requires a continually engaged public. One not in evidence so far.
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