by Marilyn De Angelis Pennell

Created on: July 02, 2008   Last Updated: July 11, 2008

WHEN THE BABY BOOMERS RETIRE....WILL THEY DRAIN AMERICA DRY?

Will we all be selling apples on the streets? Will our schools shut down? Will gas prices soar to $300.00 a gallon? Will everyone under 40 go bankrupt? Will the boomers drain America dry?

This is what economic conservatives would like you to believe. The Baby Boomers are out to rob American blind. And when we Boomers retire, everyone under 60 will be paying to support us until we reach 110 years of age. Conservative thinkers also say that the younger generation resents us. After all, why should they have to pay taxes so that we can sit around in our rockers and collect Social Security and Medicare?

Do the math. No one is going to get rich on social security payments. And for those who don't like the small percentages of taxes taken out of their paychecks for social security and medicare, stop and think about it. It's either pay a small amount now or pay a lot later on when your parents and grandparents are older and ill. If you don't want to take them in and care for them, can you afford the out of pocket costs of a nursing home, home helpers, doctors and medications?

The system is broken, say its critics, so let's blame the Boomers, those men and women who have worked for forty years and paid into the
"trust funds" so that THEIR parents and grandparents could enjoy the few precious years they had left for retirement. Let's find a scapegoat for the problems that we as a nation fail to face. Lets target those Big, Bad Boomers...

What are the facts? Why are our some political leaders so ready to take aim at those of us about to turn 60? Why are those young people who just entered the workforce already whining about the burdens placed upon them by the Boomers? Are the anti Boomer sentiments rhetoric or reality?

Well, the last time I checked, the social security system is solvent until the year 2040. The last statement that I got about the money that I started putting into the system at age 16, said that if I retired at age 66 I would receive about $1500.00 per month in benefits. That amounts to $18,000 per year. With the rising costs of gas and consumer goods, looks like I'll be sitting around in my rocking chair when I retire since I won't be able to afford to do much else if social security is all I have.

What about that other "freebie" Medicare? That kicks in at age 65, at least Medicare Part A. But now they've gone and made it all so complicated, There's a Part B, C. D and E and if I want those, I guess

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