So what is it? Are we richer than ever or poorer than ever? I'm confused!

I don't know about that, the 'boomer' generation is living longer and health care costs are not just rising they are escalating, in the last 2 yrs my insurance has jumped an average of $1500 a yr!

with this problem that savings they have accured will be spent by them before it gets the offspring.

 

You think so? All of my grandparents are quickly approaching 90. Yes, all four of them.

My parents are 53 & 56. All considered there might be a longer time-line than that, especially when you take into consideration that they have lived much healthier lifestyles than the generation before them (non-smoking, regular exercise, better eating, etc). Not only that but they are both planning on starting businesses after they 'retire'.

I don't hold out any hope that I'll see SS money in my lifetime.

 

You bring up an interesting point, but I'm not sure that I comletely agree. You're right that part of the baby boomer generation has acquired a large amount of money, but that same group is likely to need a larger chunk of money than any previous generation. They're likely to live longer while paying a larger percentage of their money on health care.

I wonder if some of the children of boomers are counting on inheritance to bail them out of retirement, though.

 

There is already a growing trend of people having to 'take care' of their elderly parents - currently, this is a Boomer issue, but unless they find a solution, there may come a time where YOU will be the primary caregiver of your own parents.....now, this just might be more of a cultural issue, since in Asian and perhaps Middle Eastern societies, multi-generational family co-habitation is very normal and acceptable. The concept of "one-generation-per-household" is more of a US thing that may very well go away.....

Immigration is NOT the answer to anything, I don't think. How could it be? We have a problem, lets add MORE people to the mix? That's just plain silly.....

 

Well,

My point may be a slightly different topic (and I'm not talking about illegal immigrants). However, I think it fits into the long-term situation. We have a shortage of doctors, engineers, and such, coming up through the pipelines. We educate and train all these talented foreigners through college, resident programs, ect., yet they have to leave after they are finished. Why let this talent leave when we might have problems on the horizon?

 

They leave on their own accord - I don't want people in my country who adamantly refuse to integrate or adopt/tolerate Western culture and values. If the USA is 'really' the Best-Country-In-The-World, then these foreign folks will want to stay anyway (legally, I hope).....their work (and taxes paid) will support the US economy.

On the flip side, some foreign students are blatantly exploiting the US Education system - getting their degree, and leaving on their own accord to seek their fame and fortune back in their home country. This does NOT benefit the US, as we can agree. However, where do we draw the line? Prevent these students from leaving? Prevent them from coming in the first place, and opening more College Admissions slots to naturalized US Citizens? That's a tough question to answer....

 

The statistics showing increasing # of poor folks is highly misleading.

It is true there are more poor people, but its not the SAME poor people.

Many of the past's poor people have migrated to the middle class while gov't policies encourage ever greater numbers of poor through welfare programs that encourage increased birth rates and lax immigration enforcement that encourages increased illegal immigration.

Of course, an illegal that has a baby on American soil is the mother of an instant US citizen and therefore cannot be deported.

So, of course there are more poor people, and there can only be greater numbers as long as these two situations exist.