Labor Dept.: Baby Boomers Hit Hardest By Recession's Aftermath

[eridani]

http://crooksandliars.com/susie-madrak/labor-baby-boomers-hit-hardest-recess?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

In the current listless economy, every generation has a claim to having been most injured. But the Labor Department’s latest jobs snapshot and other recent data reports present a strong case for crowning baby boomers as the greatest victims of the recession and its grim aftermath.

These Americans in their 50s and early 60s — those near retirement age who do not yet have access to Medicare and Social Security — have lost the most earnings power of any age group, with their household incomes 10 percent below what they made when the recovery began three years ago, according to Sentier Research, a data analysis company.

Their retirement savings and home values fell sharply at the worst possible time: just before they needed to cash out. They are supporting both aged parents and unemployed young-adult children, earning them the inauspicious nickname “Generation Squeeze.”

New research suggests that they may die sooner, because their health, income security and mental well-being were battered by recession at a crucial time in their lives. A recent study by economists at Wellesley College found that people who lost their jobs in the few years before becoming eligible for Social Security lost up to three years from their life expectancy, largely because they no longer had access to affordable health care.

[global1]

1. I'm A Baby Boomer And I Am Caught Up In This Squeeze Right Now....

I really can't afford to retire.

All those things I was told about this point in one's life seem like fantasies now.

Work hard (the company I was working for went out of business had to fend for myself).

Buy that home in the suburbs with the white picket fence (now the property taxes are as much as my mortgage and going up and coming around faster and faster every 6 months and the value of my home on the open market has gone done but the appraised value for taxes keeps going up).

Save money (put money in IRA's and the banksters took most of that away).

When you get to be 65 - your house will be paid off and you can retire and enjoy life and travel.

Well gang - here I am - 1 year away from 65 - and I'm struggling to keep things afloat. Travel - right - gas prices make it hard to make it from week to week to get around. I'm sure that when I buy that hybrid or new car that gets double the gas mileage - the oil companies will compensate by raising the price of the gas to double what it is now. Threading water is more like it.

I thought things would be easier now. They ain't. Having to do more with less just ain't cutting it anymore. Been to the grocery store lately. They are trying to make more money by giving you less.

Prices of everything are going up. Everybody has their hand in my back pocket. Food, gas, utilities - and now cell phones, internet, cable TV and my health insurance. I was caught in the bubble. ACA won't kick in til 2014. I'll be able to get into Medicare by then - if it's still around. Social Security - hmmmm - will that survive.

Blue Cross/Blue Shield - keep raising my premiums - knowing that I have to pay whatever they charge. Just try to switch plans to save some money at this age. You have to start all over and complete all their forms again to switch plans - even though they have your complete health history. They're just waiting for some discrepancy to catch you and deny you coverage. So I have to keep paying the high premiums and higher deductible in order to make it to 65 and Medicare. No dental insurance - that just adds more cost to my premium - right when you're at that age when the teeth are going. No eye insurance - right when you're at that age when the eyes get worse. More money out of pocket.

So here we are. A 64y/o and struggling baby boomer. One would think that the government might make it a little easier for one to retire now. Some incentive to make room for jobs for the younger generations coming up. But no. They are making it even harder for those generations. Sold a bill of goods by us baby boomers - to get a good education. Now they are up to their ears in student loans and they can't get a job and are forced to live with us old boomers.

And our parents - well they are forced to live with us as well. Dementia setting in. Cataracts. Pacemakers.

Well here we are. Ain't things great? Just happy to watch the Super Bowl. Would never be able to afford to actually be there. No that's for the likes of politicians like Chris Christie that can sit in the commissioners box with the Harbaugh parents. That's for the likes of the corporations (they're people too you know). That's for the likes of the Hollywood types. Us common folk have to be content with watching the commercials - to have more things dangled in front of us to buy that we can't afford.

Well folks - the Baby Boom has gone Bust - and it don't look like anyone in D.C. is intent to fixing it - so we'll just have to dream about that life we were promised when we got to this age. Dream about kicking back and traveling the world. Dream. Dream. Dream.

[canoeist52]

2. I'm right there with your righteous rant.

Add to that, having to replace appliance after appliance that costs three times as much and lasts three times as less as the lat time you replaced it. We should be angry. I keep telling everyone to point the finger of blame where it belongs - WALL STREET!

[upi402]

7. I just had to reply

This completely sucks. For what it's worth - I tried for decades to prevent this - marching, donating, writing articles, delegate to this & that... nada.

Americans were propagandized. Chickens voted for Colonel Sanders. Big money controls both parties.

We plan to retire to SE Asia. Medical is higher quality in the major cities. The cost is cheaper than a copay. Medication is a fraction of the cost. Housing is cheap and the food is great.

[flamingdem]

15. What area is known for a good retirement spot?

Crime rate? Medical? I've thought about South America but Asia has great aspects.

[boomerbust]

11. Please look at my DU name

<<<<<<<<<<<

[William769]

3. Recommended.

[upi402]

4. I wonder if austerity wil punish further

By denying benefits to younger boomers, as proposed, this will be the death knell of our foundation.

rec

(Go Inslee!)

[glowing]

5. Perfect reason for Medicare for all and an early

retirement option...

[marions ghost]

6. Thank you

this is the situation for many of us Boomers in the 50's-60's. Generation squeeze. And we know what we've lost because we are taking care of parents who never dreamed of this kind of worry.

[xchrom]

8. du rec. nt

[Zoonart]

9. Me Too

Five years ago, my husband took a 33% pay cut in order to keep his job. He was called in and told take it or leave it just two weeks after the bankster crash. (His company is privately held and all of there monies comes from factors) He looked for work for three of the last five years and finally gave up. He is sixty two now. Eleven years ago- 2001- we sacrificed everything to take this job. We pulled up stakes, left a paid mortgage and took on debt. This was the dream job. His boss thought nothing of destroying our future in order to keep a couple of more dollars in his pocket.

Now, of course, all three of our remaining parents are in medical free fall. They all need attention and we spend every week-end and most of our vacation time driving hours back and forth to manage their care. My husband's Mom will probably have to go into a nursing home where her income plus her Medicare, Plus her long term care policy will fall short by about $5,000. per month. Bye Bye inheritance. My parents are well off, but refuse to help us, because, you know...we need to
fend for ourselves... be strong...they had it tough too. My Dad got laid off once. It is not the same and they won't hear it. Now they need us to drive them and take them to appointments and run around all the time and never offer us a penny for gas.

I'm an artist and I had a fabulous year last year. I sold four paintings. I made $8,000.00.
I have all the respect, awards and envy I can eat. Some artist friends and I opened a gallery last year. Good news is it's still open. Bad news is, it's still open. As Leonard Cohen said: "I'm still holdin' up this little wild bouquet."

We feel badly that we can't help out our kids or spoil our grandchildren. Sometimes I watch an old movie and remember when my husband and I would go out to dinner and a movie every Friday night. Date Night. We never go out now. We can't afford it.

My husband's sister was in this situation too, on the left coast- San Fran. They were losing their house. One night in 2009, her husband put a gun to her temple while she slept and took her life, then he took his own.

Why am I telling you all this? I don't really know, except as an act of solidarity. This is a wonderful community. I wish you all strength. I hope you never despair and I hope you still have some fight left in you. We will need it.

http://www.zoonart.com if you want to see what I do.

[progressoid]

10. Rec.

[toddwv]

12. I don't know, I kind of feel like it was the Boomers who busted us.

From the Reagan "Democrats" to the "Tea Party," the Boomers decided that "Trickle-down" economics, along with the destruction of the federal government, should be the forefront of their cause.

And now here we are. We can't pay our bills, nobody feels that taxes should be paid, and the social wedge issues of the past few decades have split us right down the middle and allowed the fringe right to take the reins of some very important state governments. Add to that the tepid economy and constantly deregulated financial industry constantly sucking trillions of dollars out of our pockets through fraud and a military that has become so bloated that it has to create wars to justify itself and the Boomer legacy is a dark one indeed.

My parents are Boomers. They just bought a new house last year and as their health deteriorates, I worry about their financial well-being on a daily basis.

[boomerbust]

13. So says the GenXer

Who is afraid to lose his inheretence.

[toddwv]

14. I've never expected an inheritance.

I just don't want to see my parents lose everything that they've accumulated throughout their lives.