A growing number of people from among the baby boomer generation (born between 1946 to 1964) are experiencing homelessness, amid rising rent prices. Growing homelessness among baby boomers - YouTube, CBS Evening News, July 28, 2022 In the video, they say that the number of homeless people over the age of 55 is expected to spike to 225,000 expected by 2026, up from 170,000 in 2017. That's a 32% jump. (citing a University of Pennsylvania study) related threads: Housing prices and rents are soaring up shortage of affordable housing for young adults
You have to wonder what the future is going to be for the younger generations. If boomers who lived through some on the most economically favorable times are struggling. Easy to get into college, robust job markets, low housing prices, booming stock market, lower government regulations, etc... What is going to happen in the future when millennials and gen Z retire and lived through times of crazy housing market, high rents, lost of many jobs overseas, crazy entrance requirements and fees for colleges, huge government over reach, globalization etc...
Yep. They are retiring and realize that they did not save enough in their 401Ks while they worked. Median 401K balance in their age group is a measly $62,700. They had their chances but decided to spend the money as opposed to saving it. Banks are the winners in the 401K business, and most Americans are the losers. Maybe boomers took things for granted, while younger generations see things more clearly. Boomers should have known what was going to happen when pensions were killed 30 yrs ago. The boomers parents were called "pensioners" because their retirement was financed by their pensions but boomers were supposed to save up for it. Younger folks don't even know what pensions were.
I hate to say it, but this looks like a case where an annuity would have been a good idea. (Annuities are financial products, often sold by insurance salesmen, that are usually a bad a idea and almost considered a financial scam, but they might have made sense in situations like this. When you buy one, they continue paying out every month as long as you live. It's considered a way for people to hedge the risk that they might outlive their retirement savings. It's sort of like funding your own pension plan) According the U.S. Census Bureau, there are about 69.6 million "baby boomers" in the U.S. Doing a quick napkin paper calculation, that would mean that 0.32 percent of baby boomers are homeless. While that may not seem terribly high, the change can be used as an economic indicator. People who are living close to the edge will be more likely to end up homeless during an economic downturn. It's also very likely that the U.S. Census Bureau estimate undercounts homelessness by two or three times. That still would not represent a terribly high number, as even if that was the case a little less than 1 percent would be homeless.
The Baby Boomers were the first generation to grow up with television. I remember sitting on the floor playing with blocks looking up at the television to my left. See the USA in a Chevrolet! So the world is the result of television brainwashed consumerism. I don't even know if my high school had accounting as a course. Probably but no one ever suggested it. So kids either got financial training from their parents or they probably didn't get it at all.
How many people living in $300,000 houses are in debt to their eyeballs. That is better than homelessmess but not great. Accounting/finance could have been mandatory in the schools since Sputnik. When have economists or educators suggested that?
I seem to remember reading somewhere that 70% to 90% of the people are not financially ready to retire and never will be. Some say that boomers voted for economic policies that were unsustainable, me, me, me thinking. Well now, homeless people can't vote! Karma! Others say that this is end-stage capitalism. I don't know about that, but the economic policies are based on endless growth, and it turns out that humans are not exponential growth creatures and we are instead linear growth beings. Or, something. Basically, the business as usual policies are unsustainable and we're heading for a collapse of civilization, once again. Some call this the great filter. Can we break through with science and technology and reach a new stage of civilization? Or, will history repeat itself and everyone will have everything stripped of their wealth, reduced to nothing, and go back to a primitive state for another few centuries?
