Demography and the economy

As boomers wrinkle

The most troublesome age group ever still has some last fireworks up its sleeve

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Readers' comments



There are no easy answers to this dillema: The boomers have way less children to care for than previous generations. This increased their wealth and spending power over the last few decades. This also means that there are way less of us to take care of them and pay into social security over the coming decades. The Republicans will never be able to juggle lower taxes and reduced deficits as evidenced in the recent tax deal with President Obama. I like the way Sense Seeker put it


Citizen of the World wrote: The policy question is not whether J.G. himself was a net wealth creator from a macroeconomic perspective, but rather, will the boomer generation collectively cost more in benefits than was paid into the system (or more importantly, what the current working demographic is capable of supporting on a pay-as-you-go basis).

That has absolutely nothing to do with anything. I was forced to pay a mandatory social security tax by the federal government for over 35 years of my working life, starting at age 15. I was promised this funded entitlement upon my qualified retirement age up until the date of my death. This fund is solvent but has been used by the federal government to pay for "other" social services far beyond what it was intended for upon its creation. So while your speculating on limited entitlements, why not pencil in misappropriation of funds and abuse of authority for the billions that the government borrowed without the consent of the hardworking Americans who funded this program towards their retirement. I absolutely resent your assertion that seniors are somehow siphoning more than they paid for; especially when the government had an opportunity to invest this money decades ago into growth funds that would have increased the amount in this fund by enormous proportions. Prudential offered to manage social security long ago. So the pay as you go scenario you described is the same system I belonged to as a dishwasher at 15, during my years of military service, and to all my other years of civilian work; to that end I am entitled to what I was promised, and I live to be 100, I expect to see my entitlement in my bank every month.


I am not having children in part because all of my money will have to go to my boomer parents who haven't bothered to save a thing for their retirements and who can't be bothered to eat anything other than junk and whose only exercise is walking from the couch to the car, and then to my husband's boomer parents, who are fortunately still young enough to save a tiny smidge before landing in our home. My own retirement saving (and I am not planning on any bloody social security to help me out there) is going to be based on what I can stash away before my health-neglecting, obese parents start failing. I love them, but I don't think they really realize what they've done.

Wayne Bernard


If it should turn out that there is, in fact, a generational housing bubble, the recent decline in the value of housing will seem miniscule by comparison. Boomers that are counting on using their houses to fund their retirement may be shocked to find that their primary asset is worth a lot less than they anticipated.

Sense Seeker

When reading an article like this I almost look forward to seeing the Republicans in power. Boy, will they struggle to reconcile their diverse agenda items: reducing deficits without hurting the old and the rich.

My guess: they'd succeed in not hurting the old and the rich. Their track record for deficit reduction doesn't inspire great confidence.

citizen of the world

Carefully reading comments by both OarKid and J.G., I suspect that they are both correct and incorrect at the same time. Perhaps, the danger in trying to generalize across an entire generation of people.



Being born in 1947 I take great exception to comments like those of “Oarkid”. Firstly, we Boomers work hard, have paid our taxes and some, but not all, of us grew prosperous. On the whole we have been pretty generous to our own kids and a lot more generous than our parents could have been to us. Like most of my peers, I struggled to pay for my kids education and I’ve watched them glide into high paid management jobs at a younger age than I could have ever dreamed of and they already have a life style that makes my wife and I envious. On top of that many of us Boomers have already helped our own aging parents through their retirements, paid their medical bills or are now supporting them through the last stages of their lives.

From the day we started work we knew we would have to save in order to support ourselves as we aged. As a result Boomers have been at the forefront of wealth creation and have driven rather than adapted to change; we may have made a few mistakes on the way but we certainly never gave up on progress and were never as negative as some younger folks seem to be. Right now I’m looking at the next generation of business leaders and politicians and listening to their dialogue and I’m not feeling all that excited about it; although there are a few exceptions. What I mainly hear are claims of entitlement rather than a dialogue about innovative ways to create a bigger pie. I for one do not intend to sit quietly in an easy chair and do as I am told and I particularly resent being labelled as the problem. Unlike my parents, I intend to grow old disgracefully and as a result I will become even more politically active than I was in the late 1960’s; being healthier than any previous generation remember Boomers have still got the energy to push for more change; I will be pushing for innovation and more wealth creation. Sorry if some of you don’t like that.

Curate's Egg

Thomas Friedman blasted the boomers as the failed generation, a generation that has for years spent beyond its means and has failed to hold its children to a high standard of educational attainment. True or false?


There is no escaping the issue, young and old.

The solution begins with each individual: stop waste, for starters. There are billions wasted every year. All governments must reduce waste to help obviate cutting services and/or raising taxes. All suppliers to the health industries must be more firmly monitored and regulated.

No pain - no gain, as always. Do it now, or do it later. But do it, we must.


I fear a scism between the generations in the developed world as the younger cohorts wake up to the fact that the 'lucky generation' has emptied the sweetie jar.

As the 'boomers' retire onto (and continue to lobby and vote for) unaffordable healthcare & pension schemes paid for by current workers, that working generation will confront some stark realities. They are unable to afford (as parents) the kind of homes they grew up in, climate change is a (deniable) threat and economic decline (with regard to emerging eastern economies) is all to noticable.

The 'boomer' generation must accept the need to be part of the solution, not just the problem. By working longer and moderating their expectations of unearned 'entitlements' they can preserve a generational link that may otherwise be in danger. A dystopian future of the type chillingly (if badly) portrayed in 'Logan's Run' may otherwise be closer than we dare to imagine


"This may reflect a “cohort effect”, the notion that a person’s lifelong voting habits are established early on. Charlie Cook, a political analyst, says today’s retired were shaped by the perceived failure of Jimmy Carter in the late 1970s and the success of Ronald Reagan in the 1980s. In 2008 some may also have identified more with the 72-year-old John McCain than the 47-year-old Mr Obama."

Probably more like:




Federal Revenues, Expenses, Deficit
FY1996 -- 1.458 -- 1.560 = 0.102
FY1997 -- 1.579 -- 1.692 = 0.113
FY1998 -- 1.721 -- 1.651 = 0.070
FY1999 -- 1.827 -- 1.705 = 0.122
FY2000 -- 2.025 -- 1.788 = 0.247
FY2001 -- 1.990 -- 1.863 = 0.127
FY2002 -- 1.853 -- 2.011 = 0.158
FY2003 -- 1.783 -- 2.160 = 0.378
FY2004 -- 1.880 -- 2.293 = 0.413
FY2005 -- 2.154 -- 2.472 = 0.318
FY2006 -- 2.407 -- 2.655 = 0.348
FY2007 -- 2.568 -- 2.731 = 0.163
FY2008 -- 2.524 -- 2.983 = 0.459
FY2009 -- 2.105 -- 3.518 = 1.413
FY2010 -- 2.162 -- 3.456 = 1.294
FY2011 -- -- = 0.291 2 months

FY2010 Federal Revenues:
$0.901T Individual Income Tax
$0.863T FICA
$0.192T Corporate Tax
$0.131T Other;
$0.076T Federal Reserve
$2.162T TOTAL

FY2010 Federal Expenses:
$1.419T Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid
$0.677T Defense Spending
$0.414T Debt Interest
$0.162T Unemployment Bailout
$0.070T Food Stamps
Other activities
$3.456T TOTAL


Entitlement Spending

SocialSecurity|Medicare|Medicaid (IN TRILLIONS)
.............SS....M care..Mcaid..Total.. ...Increase/yr.
FY1996 .314 + .281 + .xxx = $0.595
FY1997 .358 + .305 + .xxx = $0.663........0.068
FY1998 .372 + .314 + .xxx = $0.686........0.023
FY1999 .383 + .211 + .108 = $0.702 .......0.016
FY2000 .402 + .218 + .118 = $0.738........0.035
FY2001 .426 + .241 + .130 = $0.797........0.059
FY2002 .448 + .256 + .148 = $0.852........0.055
FY2003 .467 + .277 + .161 = $0.905........0.053
FY2004 .488 + .300 + .176 = $0.964........0.059
FY2005 .514 + .335 + .182 = $1.031........0.067
FY2006 .548 + .378 + .181 = $1.107........0.076
FY2007 .577 + .374 + .191 = $1.142........0.035
FY2008 .607 + .389 + .202 = $1.198........0.056
FY2009 .659 + .429 + .251 = $1.339........0.140
FY2010 .696 + .450 + .273 = $1.419........0.080


As a result of the recent plunge of the stock market they I think many Boomers are seeing the folly of the Republican plan for privatization of Social Security. A result of this plunge and loss of savings means Boomers must work well beyond the age 66 retirement age in order to live above the poverty level.


Unfortunately, retirement age for us "boomers" is 66, not 65 as indicated in the article. What a difference a year makes!


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