By Dev S Khalsa
It has been a double whammy for the average worker. Twenty years of free trade, globalization, offshoring and outsourcing has lost America 8.5 million good paying jobs and 42,400 businesses.
And now for the icing on the cake. For most of us there will be no retirement.
Between 1945 - 1964 almost 80,000,000 Baby Boomers were born in the US. As this wave traveled through life it has had a profound influence on society and the economy, from the building of schools and the rise of children's toy manufacturers in the 1950′s, to the student riots of the 60′s, to the sustained housing boom that started in the late 70′s and continued until the end of the 80′s. Any business that catered to the needs of Baby Boomers was in the right place at the right time.
And now Baby Boomers are reaching retirement age. The first of them turned 65 in 2010. This new wave is now beginning to crash on the shore and will peak around 2023.
It is obvious to all who care to look that we are witnessing a pension tsunami of historic magnitude. Even if the economy was in good shape the pension system would not be able to withstand the numbers of new retirees. And we are NOT in good shape:
- Government debt has become bloated to the point of being unsustainable.
- State and local government pension plans are hopelessly underfunded.
- Dozens of large corporate pension plans have either collapsed or are on the verge of collapsing.
- Social Security is now a complete financial disaster, a giant Ponzi scheme.
- Unemployment figures are now at levels not seen since the Great Depression (when you actually include all the people out of work)
- And, nearly half of all Americans have nothing saved up for retirement.
There is simply no way that we can keep all of the financial promises made to the Baby Boomer generation. The crumbling US economy will not be able to support the comfortable retirement of tens of millions of new senior citizens. The truth is that we are all going to have to start fundamentally changing the way that we think about our golden years.
So my question to you is "Do you have a PLAN B?" Even if you are not a Baby Boomer it is clear that depending on a pension plan for your financial security is NOT an option if it ever was anyways. You have to create your own home business.
It has been a double whammy for the average worker. Twenty years of free trade, globalization, offshoring and outsourcing has lost America 8.5 million good paying jobs and 42,400 businesses.
And now for the icing on the cake. For most of us there will be no retirement.
Between 1945 - 1964 almost 80,000,000 Baby Boomers were born in the US. As this wave traveled through life it has had a profound influence on society and the economy, from the building of schools and the rise of children's toy manufacturers in the 1950′s, to the student riots of the 60′s, to the sustained housing boom that started in the late 70′s and continued until the end of the 80′s. Any business that catered to the needs of Baby Boomers was in the right place at the right time.
And now Baby Boomers are reaching retirement age. The first of them turned 65 in 2010. This new wave is now beginning to crash on the shore and will peak around 2023.
It is obvious to all who care to look that we are witnessing a pension tsunami of historic magnitude. Even if the economy was in good shape the pension system would not be able to withstand the numbers of new retirees. And we are NOT in good shape:
- Government debt has become bloated to the point of being unsustainable.
- State and local government pension plans are hopelessly underfunded.
- Dozens of large corporate pension plans have either collapsed or are on the verge of collapsing.
- Social Security is now a complete financial disaster, a giant Ponzi scheme.
- Unemployment figures are now at levels not seen since the Great Depression (when you actually include all the people out of work)
- And, nearly half of all Americans have nothing saved up for retirement.
There is simply no way that we can keep all of the financial promises made to the Baby Boomer generation. The crumbling US economy will not be able to support the comfortable retirement of tens of millions of new senior citizens. The truth is that we are all going to have to start fundamentally changing the way that we think about our golden years.
So my question to you is "Do you have a PLAN B?" Even if you are not a Baby Boomer it is clear that depending on a pension plan for your financial security is NOT an option if it ever was anyways. You have to create your own home business.
