It’s the billionaires! Do not be distracted by articles like this.
Came into the comments expecting people would pile on boomers, as per usual. Was pleasantly surprised to find that most people are getting the message that it’s a class war.
The idea that boomers are “hoarding America’s wealth and power” is ludicrous.
I’m GenX, and I’m trying to pay off my house, so my son will have the option of being a homeowner when I die. I think it might be the only chance he’ll have.
Why are houses more unaffordable for your son than they were for you? It’s totally not hording, just boomers being unwilling to build a better world for their children and grandchildren.
It’s not hoarding if it’s needed.
Look at where all the wealth from economic growth has gone since 1980: almost all to the ultra-rich. That’s hoarding, not someone’s nest egg.
people hoarding money you say? Isn’t that one of the signs of a recession?
I haven’t read more than the title ye5. So this is a response to that alone. But don’tmost people want to avoid running out of money before they die (and are the most vulnerable)…?
Another article to distract us from the class struggle. Billionaires and corporations are the ones hoarding wealth and need to be eradicated, preferably by taxation, but I’m open to alternatives.
This is a dumb article. It sounds like they are blaming boomers for having money, then the article basically explains why they have money, and for the most part it’s justified.
I’m not going to lambast anyone that got a cheap house at a low interest rate, then worked for 50+ years to get to retirement to find out they need more money. It’s not like all of these boomers are sitting on millions, they have hundreds of thousands in retirement, no mortgage, but have fears of medical bills or nursing homes.
Fuck, I hope someday I approach retirement with enough money to live out the rest of my life in relative comfort. I’m fortunate in that I’m in my mid thirties and have a house (mortgage for now, but at least I’m getting equity). That shouldn’t be held against me like it is to boomers in this article.
What I won’t defend is boomers that complain about not having enough money when they continually voted for all of this. Statistically, boomers lean right, but I try not to generalize entire demographics like this. There were a couple of quotes I. His article that highlighted some of the worst offenders out there, but I mostly read about people that know that one illness will wipe out their savings, so they keep working until they can’t.
If I can amass the monies I need to retire early, I’m out ASAP. My company offers a 55/10 plan where if I retire at 55, I can keep my medical coverage until I’m 65 when Medicare kicks in. That’s my current goal, but shit happens, and it can happen to any of us. I just wish that shit happened to the billionaires and not everyone else.
Aging absolutely sucks. The complete lack of emphasis on anti-aging research is baffling to me. Give me back my 25 year old body.
Weird I thought it was the billionaires hoarding wealth. I guess we shouldnt be mad at the billionaires anymore but at older Americans who have homes.
Yeah they are the bad guys !
And how dare they stay alive. I mean. The audacity !
Divide and rule, a tried and true propaganda method.
And since we have such a great social security system and retirement system and benefits and health care for retired people, why shouldn’t they just blow all their money in the trickle-up economy and let the banks take their house. Go be a greeter at Walmart you fucking fossils. What a bunch of assholes.
At some point we’ll have to shift focus from boomers hoarding money (which they are, absolutely) to the fact thay many people reaching retirement age in 20-25 years will have no plan, no safety net, and no options because of systemic changes in industry and government. These systemic changes were only ever considered for a few years out.
I don’t think there are any good solutions for the longer term issues.
What you’re calling “hoarding money” for many is also what you refer to as a “safety net.”
Like owning a house and having a 401k shouldn’t be considered hoarding. Especially since the social security system is fucked. People need to save for their retirement, or else they have to live their old age in poverty and still work until they die.
They make the distinction because those people getting the safety net are trying desperately to keep it exclusive.
lol no they are not.
I’m no boomer, but I know how they feel. Who can tell when the next crash will hit, and mega inflation will strike. There is just no real way to know you have enough saved. Unless you are like elon or such. And gieven all that. People are holding on to their money because they may have to help keep their kids afloat. It isn’t the boomers making the problem, it’s the mega rich scraping every dime they can put of the hands of everyone they can so that they can be secure in their wealth. The bokmers are just a biproduct of that brainwashing.
They were bought. They grew up in a world of plenty. They were sold the idea that it will always be this way as long as they vote conservative. Fox News (and less blatant media) came and pacified them by giving them excuses for being greedy, which enabled the worst wealthy actors to hoard their shit and codify the greed into the both culture and law. They were used to create a system that is fucked and now are confused when the system they built sucks and the world of plenty is being shown to just be a short term golden age.
I wish I could confidently say I’d do better, but probably not. We are products of the world we live in and are shaped by what we see and hear.
I dunno, my limited sample size says the boomers were raised by parents who lived through WWII, so they were raised frugal. Save as much as you can types. Then yes, things were eventually good… the 70’s had high inflation I think. So now they hold on to whaterevr they have. But yeah, can’t say I would have done better.
The headline alone is bullshit. They can annuitize their savings if they want to, but they don’t. Great, the whole article is pointless. Classic Fortune writing.
But I do think guaranteed pensions need to come back, and that right soon.
As maddening as this is, I can’t say I blame them. Being poor in America is designed to suck. Then again, they’re the generation that helped make it that way, so…
I mean, they did better than the generation before them
Well you know when they’re the ones that design the system. And they’re the ones that purposely made being poor a crime and anything but desirable. Of course they’re going to fear the system that they created.
Can’t they just calculate annual costs times yearly inflation against life expectancy… And add an emergency fund and some luxury options then boom. They’d know where they’re at rather than worrying.
Can’t they just calculate annual costs times yearly inflation against life expectancy…
The article explains that both these things have changed quite a bit since they started planning for their retirement.
Guess they need to stop eating avocado toast and Starbucks. Maybe pull themselves up by their bootstraps.
