https://www.cbsnews.com/news/baby-boomers-homelessness/
33 replies (most recent on top)
Per the former CEO of Home Depot. 3000 people started their careers at Home Depot. They took advantage of the stock ownership option. Although they started out at minimum wage or near that, today they are all multimillionaires. This is what capitalism is if you give it a chance. It is hard work and is not a handout. The vices of capitalism are better than the vices of socialism. In capitalism, you always have opportunity to advance and then own and then hire. Opportunity is the key word.
The generation that kept voting for us to be wage slaves is suffering from their own short sighted and selfish choice of electors? Sounds like the complaints coming from the top deck of a sinking ship to me.
Most of the baby boomers are rich? Define rich please.
“ The point is that the more money that flows into the market the higher risk it gets overvalued”
That risk is there but this is the best you could do in a market based economy.
The alternative is not to save and ask the government for a handout or to stash $ bills under your mattress or in a savings account with minimal interest.
Hope you are not proposing either of the above as an alternative.
@ukd+1hYFBpOL The point is that the more money that flows into the market the higher risk it gets overvalued. Sure, maybe you’re an investment wh-z that can avoid the worst and come out ahead and, yes, historically it is the best long term rate of return.
Just hope you’re not overexposed in a dip or need the money when prices are falling.
There are a lot of baby boomers out there. Most of them are rich. Sure there will always be poor ones too like the single mom, disabled veteran, etc. There will always be a homeless section in each generation. Not new but still very sad.
Ok thank you for answering - so basically just a lot of bad luck and bad decisions over the course of decades
Post ID: @1gzj+1hYFBpOL
You could read the news, help out at a food pantry, volunteer at a VA hospital, deliver Meals on Wheels on the weekends, and learn about those who have had hard lives and been less fortunate than you.
Can someone just help me understand how you get to that stage of life and end up homeless? Like what events need to happen?
I’m trying to put myself in your shoes.
Post ID: @czb+1hYFBpOL
I don’t know where you’re getting your info from, but I can pretty much guarantee you it’s not the Boomers who are wasting their money on Avocado Toast and Starbucks. Your lack of insight is humorous, to say the least.
Most of the boomers I know are trying to help our kids (whom we love) pay for college, semesters abroad, weddings and babies. At the same time we are, gratefully, helping our aging parents.
Just saying that you might need to get a couple more years under your belt before you start throwing out silly generalizations.
I occasionally quietly hope that those who stand in harsh judgement of others get a good dose of “walking in the other man’s shoes” to teach them a lesson.
But then I remember that judgemental people are possibly angry, biased, cruel, bitter, condescending, ignorant, cold-hearted, ugly, etc because of something that’s happened to them too. Then I calm down and I’m thankful I’m not them.
Yes clownish regulators from FINRA impose it on the investment industry along with many other goonish regulations including DOL which ensure noone with less than 250k investable assets can get help anywhere.
The statement “past performance is a good indicator of future performance” would be objectively accurate.
All those who say invest in the market, it will go up eventually - does “previous performance does not guarantee future returns” sound familiar at all?
No, what that person said does not indicate that they don't understand that there are representatives in our government. You're hallucinating again, just like you hallucinated your idea that people are poor because of their extravagant spending. (Hallucinated is the wrong word, that was planted in your head from right wing media, paid for by big corporations unwilling to lose out tax money for a social safety net or higher pay or benefits to their employees).
But keep being willfully obtuse so you can play your little pedantry card and pretend to be a big boy ignoramus debater like Ben Shapiro.
Any IQ above room temp knows how our government works, and yet some here are apparently completely unaware that we have representatives in government.
Yeah, let's keep pretending that the VAST majority of cases are examples of irresponsible behavior coming home to roost. Unless you live under a rock you probably know a ton of people that live pay check to pay check, not because they don't make enough to do otherwise, but because they constantly waste their money on poor spending habits. If you've got a $1000 cell phone, drink $5 cups of coffee, have a jetski / boat, subscribe to a bunch of services you don't need etc. don't come crying to me later about how you don't have enough money. You had enough and blew it. That's the hard truth people don't really to admit, even to themselves, and yet it's the truth all the same. Doesn't mean that there aren't occasionally people that are truly unfortunate, but the average person in this country wastes an incredible amount of money.
You seem to be unaware of the fact that the market has been the best investment for many decades. Keep putting your money in a mattress if you want, inflation will eat it alive. Or are you a "good for me and not for thee" guy that invests in the market but says others shouldn't?
Regardless, it's laughable when people argue against the power of compounding. It's literally the best thing you could ever do with your money. But go on, keep supporting the idea of a 0% return in an era of 10% inflation. It's fascinating watching Darwin in action.
Who said the homeless boomers referred to didn't save? Maybe they were bankrupted by our backwards extortionate private healthcare, or laid off from a fine psychotic institution like WF.
There are a lot of ways to go broke in a country so deluded that they take their third world callousness as a point of pride.
No spike in homelessness for millennials... they never had a home in the first place.
Agreed 100%
The amount of entitlement felt in this country is just unreal.
- Hard times create strong men
- Strong men create good times
- Good times create weak men
- Weak men create hard times.
Obvious where we are right now. The good news is my son born in 2020 is going to be strong.
All pays asking to save, take responsibility are being downvoted
That’s all you need to know about the state of affairs
Thoughts on simply saving throughout a career? Easy to do.
Well look up who put social security in the general fund, reducing Medicare benefits, exploded the H1B visa program, and now is pushing to reduce or privatize social security and Medicare.
I’ll wait but won’t hold my breath that those who get talking points from a certain news network or social media will DO THE WORK.
Americans are so lazy which is why we will lose our democracy while your head is in the sand.
This could never happen to me, a humble responsible libertarian. It must be some personal failing on the part of their part; the right thing to do is to gloat over homeless people and keep pretending the market can solve everything.
401Ks were brand new when boomers were entering the work force, and they have come quite a long way since their invention in 1978. We grew up with parents who owned their own small businesses or had pensions.
I’m lucky in that that I come from a family of savers. Having said that, I think I only put in the minimum amount required to get a match for the first 10 to 20 years, and I had it in cash! Seems crazy now, but the information about investing wasn’t as broadly available, back then, as it is today.
Each generation has their weaknesses and strengths based on their own experiences and how they grew up. A little perspective goes a long way towards understanding each other.
Wishing the best for all of us!
I just hope this is a lesson learned for anyone in the workforce right now: save money. Don’t depend on social security or anything else.
Dang it. You know a ton of these homeless baby boomers are still enabling their gen Y grandkids that can’t hold down jobs as well.
So frustrated with society and people’s lack of personal responsibility. The rest of us just get forced to pick up your slack.
@zkd+1hYFBpOL These arguments crack me up. More money into the stock market means either stock gets overvalued (more investment demand, diluted shares or overblown price) or more worthless companies get listed - money has to go somewhere!
The only thing stock price does for companies is influence short term decision making to enrich the executives whose pay packages are based on the valuations.
Ok low info voter. You do know that if you took the exact same amount of $ you "invest" in SS but put it in a low cost index fund instead you'd retire a millionaire, right? SS has no compounding growth because they spend the money as soon as it's taken from your check. It's not an investment at all, it's a poorly designed Ponzi scheme. Also, shall we compare what happens if you die shortly after collecting benefits? With SS they cut your family a check for $200 and say "see ya!", with the 401 every penny of your money goes to your heirs. Which is better? SS administrators actually hope we all die young so they can keep their scheme going. SS is the worst thing that ever happened to retirees. All it did was squander a great investment opportunity and build dependency, which people now point to as why we "need" the program. It's literally a problem created by government, so that more gov can turn around and be the savior in exchange for votes.
Unfortunately for all of us, dependency is a powerful political tool, so the program will never be eliminated. The country will bankrupt itself first and that'll be all she wrote, for people of all ages.
Don’t be so dramatic! Not this baby boomer. No worries here
"There’s no reason for these baby boomers to end up in this spot. Just irresponsible."
Could not agree more. Take responsibility and stop blaming others.
like this was the fu----g point of Social Security. So senior citizens didn't have to die tied to the assembly line or be homeless. This is what FDR signed into law in 1935. This is what we allowed the rich to take away by telling us how much better the market would take care of us. How much more valuable 401k's would be. How much better it would be to invest that money. How social security is just a drain on the economy. Instead now we can watch Kyle Jenner take 17 minute flights in her private jet on TikTok so I guess we got that going for us...
Sad
Folks, set some money aside. $100/month will do. Contribute to your 401k.
There’s no reason for these baby boomers to end up in this spot. Just irresponsible.