Baby Boom
February 13th, 2008, 8:28 am · Post a Comment · posted by aubreywoods
Here’s some exciting news for the 80 million baby boomers in America.
On Tuesday, Kathleen Casey-Kirschling, 62, of Earleville, Md., and Vero Beach, Fla., received her first Social Security retirements benefit check. The retired teacher was born one second after midnight on Jan. 1, 1946.
I was born in 1957, making me one of the younger babies born during the Baby Boom years between the end of World War II in 1945 and 1964.
Why is it exciting news? For one thing, many of us Baby Boomers have spent our lives working and paying into a system we weren’t even sure would be in existence when became our turn to collect.
My children and the children of many other Baby Boomers often complain about how their Social Security payments will be collected and spent by their parents and how it’s likely there won’t be any money left when it’s time for them to retire. That argument has some strong merits especially because many people, such as my 80-year-old Dad, are living longer.
I still have concerns about there being any SS money for me, especially if no changes are made in the coming years.
Without changes, the Social Security administration will begin paying out more than it collects in payroll taxes in 1917. That’s about nine years before I can retire. Projections are that the SS trust fund will have depleted its reserves by 2041.
The only good news I’ve heard on the subject in recent weeks is that many Baby Boomers have no plans to grow up, let alone retire any time soon.
I’ve told my wife, half-jokingly, many times that I’m going to retire less than five years from now when I’m 55. The truth is I’m probably like the majority of the Baby Boomers whoo never plan to grow up and retire.
