Baby Boomers U.S. Worst Generation?

[Vol737]

That weird furry stuff on your head in the old pictures of you before you needed Viagra

You got something against Viagra?

 

[Tyler Durden]

Which wars do you think boomers started? What civil rights do you think boomers systemically blocked? Which market crashes are you attributing to boomers and who organized it?

Boomers started the Iraq war and decided to stay in Afghanistan for 20 years. Boomers were in charge and responsible for the market crash in '08, many of them played a role in the recession in the 80's under Reagan. Boomers passed NAFTA. Boomers implemted don't ask don't tell, stop and frisk, broken windows policing.

Now answer my question. What good have boomers done for the country?

 

[RavinDave]

Timely thread. Just got an email from the SSA today. Only took them 6 weeks but my retirement benefit got approved today. Thought about waiting past full retirement eligibility as I am still running my business and paying more income tax (six figures) than most people earn in a year. But I did the math and it makes no sense not to start taking it now. After paying in for 50 years why not start getting some of that back?

 

[Carl Pickens]

Boomers started the Iraq war and decided to stay in Afghanistan for 20 years. Boomers were in charge and responsible for the market crash in '08, many of them played a role in the recession in the 80's under Reagan. Boomers passed NAFTA. Boomers implemted don't ask don't tell, stop and frisk, broken windows policing.

Now answer my question. What good have boomers done for the country?

How old are you?

 

[GoDucks349]

w were thinking of doing that as well. But with some of the products coming out, we are thinking of doing something similar to Mike Rowe. Helping tradesmen set up businesses.

That's pretty cool.

 

[NEO]

Boomers started the Iraq war and decided to stay in Afghanistan for 20 years. Boomers were in charge and responsible for the market crash in '08, many of them played a role in the recession in the 80's under Reagan. Boomers passed NAFTA. Boomers implemted don't ask don't tell, stop and frisk, broken windows policing.

Now answer my question. What good have boomers done for the country?

Every generation has pro and cons.

Viet nam war was not boomer's, it just killed off boomers.

Boomers gave you civil liberties with the rights movement.

 

[SayUWantAreVOLution]

Timely thread. Just got an email from the SSA today. Only took them 6 weeks but my retirement benefit got approved today. Thought about waiting past full retirement eligibility as I am still running my business and paying more income tax (six figures) than most people earn in a year. But I did the math and it makes no sense not to start taking it now. After paying in for 50 years why not start getting some of that back?

If you're in a 6fig tax bracket, do the break even with your Dad (or granddad's death age) for you + 5 (10 if you feel lucky.)

I did. Filed early, retired (on paper, at least) and never looked back. Life's short, hug the grands, and enjoy whatever the heck you want to do. Let the next man step up, ease out of work, and enjoy what you made. Congrats!

 

[AM64]

Boomers started the Iraq war and decided to stay in Afghanistan for 20 years. Boomers were in charge and responsible for the market crash in '08, many of them played a role in the recession in the 80's under Reagan. Boomers passed NAFTA. Boomers implemted don't ask don't tell, stop and frisk, broken windows policing.

Now answer my question. What good have boomers done for the country?

The point I was trying to make and you wouldn't bite was that I don't think you can really attribute the generalities that you are looking for to any specific generation - except to say your music really does suck. I would say that boomers did a lot to advance science and industry, but I can't honestly tell you who subverted it. The Internet was a great step forward - probably boomer inspired, but then it was trashed as a social media platform rather than as a real tool for knowledge and other serious uses. Solid state circuitry that came alive in my lifetime and advanced rapidly was sidetracked for toys - think about the serious uses of the cellphone vs the "entertainment" aspect.

If you get into policy - specifically government policy, I'd tell you look hard at the ages of congressional members. Clinton and Bush II brought in the boomer generation - but not until the 1990s, and congress was still headed up by an older generation (Pelosi and Feinstein, for example, are pre-boomers), and despite all the efforts, we aren't a monarchy just yet. In 1981, the average age of a Representative was 49 and the average of a Senator was 53. In 2017 the average age of a Representative is 57 and the average of a Senator is 61. That would have moved the average ages barely into boomer country by 2017 - the leadership is still several years behind and out of the boomer age group. BTW, a little chart for you to ponder. As I pointed out earlier boomer thinking and policy is not monolithic; you would certainly have to consider who of any generational group makes the change. You are trying for a generalization that you can't make.

 

[NEO]

Boomers started the Iraq war and decided to stay in Afghanistan for 20 years. Boomers were in charge and responsible for the market crash in '08, many of them played a role in the recession in the 80's under Reagan. Boomers passed NAFTA. Boomers implemted don't ask don't tell, stop and frisk, broken windows policing.

Now answer my question. What good have boomers done for the country?

Double post.

 

[AM64]

Timely thread. Just got an email from the SSA today. Only took them 6 weeks but my retirement benefit got approved today. Thought about waiting past full retirement eligibility as I am still running my business and paying more income tax (six figures) than most people earn in a year. But I did the math and it makes no sense not to start taking it now. After paying in for 50 years why not start getting some of that back?

You will have to pay income tax on your SS, too, because of your income. However, you probably have retirement funds that would put you into having to pay tax on your SS anyway, so it's probably a wash of one kind or another - translated: you can't win if you've made something of yourself.

 

[RavinDave]

If you're in a 6fig tax bracket, do the break even with your Dad (or granddad's death age) for you + 5 (10 if you feel lucky.)

I did. Filed early, retired (on paper, at least) and never looked back. Life's short, hug the grands, and enjoy whatever the heck you want to do. Let the next man step up, ease out of work, and enjoy what you made. Congrats!

Nothing I enjoy more than my work. No grands yet, may not be in the cards. But thanks for the thought. My Dad passed at 78 after a slow decline with ALS but my Mom is still living in S Knoxville at age 92. Must be those Sicilian genes...

 

[Rasputin_Vol]

Timely thread. Just got an email from the SSA today. Only took them 6 weeks but my retirement benefit got approved today. Thought about waiting past full retirement eligibility as I am still running my business and paying more income tax (six figures) than most people earn in a year. But I did the math and it makes no sense not to start taking it now. After paying in for 50 years why not start getting some of that back?

Number Of Seniors Tapping Social Security Plummets As "Excess Deaths" Spike During Pandemic | ZeroHedge

The rate of seniors collecting Social Security benefits has plunged to the lowest level in a decade, which Bloomberg suggests may be due to the disproportionate number of COVID-19 deaths among the elderly.

According to the Social Security Administration, the number of people who took retirement benefits rose by just 900,000 to 46.4 million in March, the smallest year-over-year gain since April 2009.

 

[RavinDave]

You will have to pay income tax on your SS, too, because of your income. However, you probably have retirement funds that would put you into having to pay tax on your SS anyway, so it's probably a wash of one kind or another - translated: you can't win if you've made something of yourself.

Indeed. If I waited until I could wait no longer to start taking SS. over those ~ 5 years I'd forgo nearly $150k in payments, for a measly monthly bump that would take more than 10 years to recoup the delayed benefit (not adjusting for any change in tax rates). I may not be a rocket scientist but that seems like a no-brainer.

 

[SayUWantAreVOLution]

You will have to pay income tax on your SS, too, because of your income. However, you probably have retirement funds that would put you into having to pay tax on your SS anyway, so it's probably a wash of one kind or another - translated: you can't win if you've made something of yourself.

He's a big player if he's actually slinging a PERSONAL tax bill of 6fig, not a BUSINESS tax bill at 6fig. No worries if he's a real player, I'm over my head, but if some tax moron has left him paying 6fig personal tax..... somebody needs to get sued.

Past that, pay big % taxes on your SS, that's reasonable. NEVER big pay big % taxes on your personal retirement (if it's substantial) income, always keep the money tax shielded, pay only on what you pull and pull only what you need.

 

[AM64]

Boomers started the Iraq war and decided to stay in Afghanistan for 20 years. Boomers were in charge and responsible for the market crash in '08, many of them played a role in the recession in the 80's under Reagan. Boomers passed NAFTA. Boomers implemted don't ask don't tell, stop and frisk, broken windows policing.

Now answer my question. What good have boomers done for the country?

Did they? You are again equating the actions of politicians to a generation - likely half of that generation didn't support their decisions.

- The market crash largely happened because of unsound policies that forced mortgage lending to people who should never have qualified - a political decision. You are basically saying the 80's financial policy was dictated by people well under 50 years old - not very likely. Perhaps you can name the ringleaders. NAFTA was Clinton's baby - a political choice - not at all a generational choice.

- So what. I have no problem with some of that. It's your woke generation that objects. We're all entitled to opinion, and ours differ. It sure as hell doesn't make people with your particular mindset right.

 

[RavinDave]

He's a big player if he's actually slinging a PERSONAL tax bill of 6fig, not a BUSINESS tax bill at 6fig. No worries if he's a real player, I'm over my head, but if some tax moron has left him paying 6fig personal tax..... somebody needs to get sued.

Past that, pay big % taxes on your SS, that's reasonable. NEVER big pay big % taxes on your personal retirement (if it's substantial) income, always keep the money tax shielded, pay only on what you pull and pull only what you need.

My business is an S Corp, so we are talking personal income taxes. Most folks would probably say I've achieved financial security but who knows what tomorrow will bring.

 

[Tastylicks]

For real.... now we’ve got pussified man boys.... fat ass kids.... idiots that think it’s a good idea to have no border.... 47% that pay no income tax.... a dementia patient is president..... the whole white race are supremacists....and on and on.... stfu

And alot of that is the boomers fault

 

[Weezer]

JMO, but the current generation takes the cake as worst. People who don't understand genders and insist on preferred pronouns then get offended when you don't know their personal pronouns are a certain kind of "special". I'm all for people doing whatever makes them happy, but men shouldn't be in women's bathrooms and you shouldn't get pissed off because a complete stranger has no idea what you want to be called.

 

[Tastylicks]

Sure, but there were divergent thoughts about how to do that. The more conservative type thought one thing, and the antiwar demonstrator/hippie type thought another. The fact is that the politicians who ran the country weren't boomers, so until the left temper tantrums on the street they did pretty much whatever they wanted and ignored boomers. Remember the leftists brought the social change that keeps parents from disciplining kids and teachers from teaching them - that doesn't make it a better place for children - they just become worse snot nosed tyrants with causes. Dr Spock and all the other self help hypists really got up to speed at screwing up tradition values and parenting - and flaming feminazis certainly did their part to destroy traditional values. None of that screwed up flock that included Spock or Gloria Steinem were boomers BTW.

Thats fair. I don't agree with some of that but I respect that you answered my question. You were the only one. Others bitched cause I hurt their feelings and others answered my question with a question

I can understand how some of the last 40 years of leadership wasn't all boomers

 

[Weezer]

And alot of that is the boomers fault

I'm gonna guess you're not a big believer in personal responsibility.

 

[SayUWantAreVOLution]

My business is an S Corp, so we are talking personal income taxes. Most folks would probably say I've achieved financial security but who knows what tomorrow will bring.

Wild guess is that you inherited/family businessed into the S corp, which isn't a slam, just a guess and yeah, you're secure from my view..... hell, grab a little bitcoin, some ETFs, REITs, a smattering of indexes and relax. Don't be a dumbass, but seriously...... wouldn't it be nice to have that second cup of coffee listening to waves and deciding if you're fishing or walking up the beach for brunch with the wife?

I've no doubt you've earned it.

 

[Tastylicks]

Did you ask your parents these questions?

Yes actually. They believe their generation has woefully underachieved at that goal.

My Dad, a Marine tried to explain it to me a little bit. He said that many of the boomer men were anti-war/anti-troops in the 60s & 70s.

He believes they feel guilt about that in their older years so thats why they kiss trumps butt so much with his faux patriotism, ie wrapping himself in the flag, sometimes literally. And Trumps "bravado" / "braggadocio" applies to weak boomer men that want to feel better about themselves. It was interesting

 

[RavinDave]

Wild guess is that you inherited/family businessed into the S corp, which isn't a slam, just a guess and yeah, you're secure from my view..... hell, grab a little bitcoin, some ETFs, REITs, a smattering of indexes and relax. Don't be a dumbass, but seriously...... wouldn't it be nice to have that second cup of coffee listening to waves and deciding if you're fishing or walking up the beach for brunch with the wife?

I've no doubt you've earned it.

No actually I worked in industry until I was 55 and then started my own business from scratch. It was a bit of a risk but it panned out well. Now I need to figure out a plan of succession without giving up control. Had been hoping my son would get involved, tried to steer him into chemical engineering but he opted for computer science. He has 1 year to go at Rice, and then we’ll see where the chips fall.

 

[NEO]

I'm gonna guess you're not a big believer in personal responsibility.

GEN X:

Here is a key to the house to get into after school and a box of lawn darts to play with your friends while we are at work. We trust you to stay out of the liquor cabinet.

911 how can we help you?

Uh, my friend has a lawn dart stuck in his head and my other friend drank all my dads jack and keeps asking where all the teepee is for his bunghole. Can you please send someone over?

 

[Carl Pickens]

And alot of that is the boomers fault

True, but these mamby pamby, gutless poons doing all the complaining don’t have the guts or the common sense required to do any better.