The Convergence Of 3 Factors Is Driving A Worldwide Retirement Crisis

[xchrom]

http://www.businessinsider.com/worldwide-retirement-crisis-coming-2013-12



***SNIP

The crisis is a convergence of three factors:

— Countries are slashing retirement benefits and raising the age to start collecting them. These countries are awash in debt after overspending last decade and racking up enormous deficits since the recession. Now, they face a demographics disaster as retirees live longer and falling birth rates mean there will be fewer workers to support them.

— Companies have eliminated traditional pension plans that cost employees nothing and guaranteed them a monthly check in retirement.

— Individuals spent freely and failed to save before the recession, and they saw much of their wealth disappear once it hit.

Those factors have been documented individually. What is less appreciated is their combined ferocity and their global scope.



Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/worldwide-retirement-crisis-coming-2013-12#ixzz2otiGAhoT

[Laelth]

1. k&r for the truth, however depressing it may be. n/t

-Laelth

[Thinkingabout]

2. As for the US, people who bargained for retirement benefits received less money per hour

In order to receive a pension when they retired. Wages has been stagnant for thirty years and prices continued to rise and there was less money saved. Their children has remained somewhat dependent on parents because of lack of jobs paying enough to totally live on their own. Many are raising their grandchildren. I work on a minimum wage job and have younger co-workers who have worked minimal wage jobs for years, they sure can not save money while trying to stretch $250 per week for food, housing and transportation. They are not teenagers on a first job as many of the politicans think or at least this is what is said. The teenagers are competing with workers of all ages for the jobs. This trickle down economics Reagan promised did not happen. I think many will be living on the amount of Social Security they receive and on average this is $1200 a month.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

3. Quite right.

And this makes the talk about cutting Social Security all the more scary.

All of it is horrible.

[loudsue]

4. All because the 1% are HOARDING their money, and not contributing in proportion

to their success. If they make 480 times what a worker makes, they should pay 480 times what the workers pay in taxes up to the first 5 million. After that, they should pay a flat 60%.

[Nye Bevan]

5. They pay much more than 480 times the worker in taxes.

Simple example: married filing jointly, no deductions.

Income=$50,000; tax=$4,822

Now let's multiply the income by 480:

Income=$24 million; tax=$9,499,288.

So making 480 times as much, you pay 1970 times as much in taxes.

http://www.taxcalculator.org/?gclid=CKy2xcy21rsCFTJp7Aod5TsAZw

[SomethingFishy]

7. Do you actually believe that the person with a 24 million dollar income

Pays 9 million in taxes? Really?

24 million buys a lot of accountants. And a lot of tax loopholes. Warren Buffet claims he pays less of a percentage than his secretary. I tend to believe him.

[jeff47]

8. Psst....There's more taxes than income taxes. (nt)

[Triana]

6. Social Security in US has not ONE THING to do with the debt

Social Security did not contribute one dime to the debt and should not be included in any efforts therefore to reduce the debt. In fact, the real debt is in the SS trust fund itself, which the gov't "borrowed" heavily from and now doesn't want to raise revenues to pay back. Gawd forbid the rich robber barons had to pay any taxes.

SS didn't contribute to the debt. The account was robbed and the robber barons don't want to replenish what they stole. So, it's really quite the opposite than this propaganda that SS somehow contributed to the US debt and therefore must be cut.

This is Koch Bros/ALEC/"Fix the Debt" Pete Peterson propaganda. The damn media will not stop peddling it.