Hi everybody,
Am I the only one reading the "Overheard at Work" thread and feeling concerned about the long-term political and fiscal implications?
As the workforce has evolved from taking one job with the same employer for 40 years and retiring on a pension / defined benefit plan to job and career-changers depending on their 401(k)-type defined contribution plan, the investment risks have completely shifted from employers to employees.
Meanwhile, uneducated and spendthrift employees for the most part don't save enough for retirement (whether within their DCPs or their own IRAs or taxable investment accounts), take loans against their DCPs, don't know how to invest or manage their investment risk, and live paycheck to paycheck.
That takes away two of the legs on the old retirement tripod of pension - Social Security - one's own savings.
Furthermore Social Security as currently funded cannot fully pay its bills going forward - either payroll (or other) taxes must increase, benefits must drop, or some combination of the two. I doubt the US Government would simply pay SS benefits out of general revenues without tax increases or benefit cuts.
I could certainly foresee sob stories from the grasshoppers who didn't save anything for retirement complaining "I can't live on Social Security" (which, by the by, was never intended to serve as the full source of retirement income) and convincing the Congress to impose higher taxes on us mustachian ants to keep the grasshoppers going.
What does the community think?
Sorry if this is too US-focused; what do our non-USian members see in their own countries?
I'm not trying to start a political fight here, and would prefer if the thread remained in the Antimustachian Wall of Shame category, given its proximity to the "Overheard at Work" thread. However, if our Mods disagree and decide to move the thread, so be it.
Cheers,
Elysian