Retirement Life versus . . .

[digitS']

. . I'm trying to take care of myself but (on average) what can I expect???

About the time I was born, a SSA retiree (age 65) could expect to live about another 13 years.

About the time I retired, a SSA retiree (age 65) could expect to live about another 15 years.

SSA information on life expectancy for Social Security

Steve, male child who has grown old . . . er

 

[Ridgerunner]

what can I expect???

The unexpected!!!

Interesting to note, while the life expectency to someone born in the Middle Ages was not great due to infant mortality, if you got past childhood even then you could expect to see and help raise your grandchildren. Our improvement in life expectancy is due more to reduction in infant mortality than really extending life.

One thing I did not see in that the article is the baby boomers, like me. While the average age you could expect to receive SS after retirement at 65 has not increased that much, the pure numbers and percentage of population makes that extra coupled of years really significant. Maybe it was mentioned, but I did not notice it.

 

[digitS']

Well, Ridgerunner, there were 4,104,000 babies born in 1955. We are back to 4,138,349 babies in 2005.

A generation has usually been thought of as 20 years. (Altho', the fashionistras might have us believe that a generation is only be a matter of months.) With only a 15 year life expectancy, we don't quite have a full generation in retirement. But, if we say that 4 million/year times a 15 year period: 60 million x 70% survival = 42 million.

If the life expectancy in retirement stays where it is or only increases by 1 or 2 years, we should have a constant 42 million in retirement for all the foreseeable future. There were 35 million SSA retirees in 2000 according to Table 2.

The insurance industry's actuaries would have the future numbers down to a gnat's eyebrow. Personally, I've got a headache this morning and this is the best I can do. . .

Steve

A noteworthy number was the small number of births (only 2,377,000) in the US, in 1935. The limited number of Depression Era babies on SSA is what we became accustomed to.

Births in the USA

 

[Rhodie Ranch]

I'm a 1955'r. I noted this morning that Steve Jobs was only a week older than I.

Its thought provoking to realize that Apple has employed many thousands and thousands of people across the US, all contributing to the SS pot. Since 1976. That includes some of us Baby Boomers. And their market capitalization/new products unleashed a new generation of Apple wannabees. From entrepreneurs to mega corporations, fueling jobs, and again, contributions to the social security bank account.

Lets NOT get into economics, UE or other political discord. But instead lets celebrate our generation of forward thinking men and women, who are quickly approaching the time when SS will help to contribute to or help to support us as we age. Steve Jobs didn't get that opportunity to partake in that which he contributed via his paychecks.

 

[digitS']

Murphys', I'm a little disappointed that those efforts purported to make for a healthier population has made so little contribution to extending the lives of older Americans. We can look at all the vast medical technology now at a doctor's disposal and wonder if stretching out a few months at the end of the day has much value.

I was reading recently - and again - about the Mediterranean Diet and the conclusions that the researchers drew that it extended the life of an average 60 year-old by 1 year. This was not a diet "regimen" this was the normal diet of national populations. It should be noted that the life expectancy on Crete (I believe it was) actually declined in recent years as the people strayed further and further from their traditional diet.

How about that?!? A simple diet probably extends the life as much as all the MRI & CT scans, pacemakers, and dental floss combined!

Steve
i think the tylenol has started to kick in . . .

 

[Ridgerunner]

Well, Ridgerunner, there were 4,104,000 babies born in 1955. We are back to 4,138,349 babies in 2005.

I'm not going to try to do math today. And I'm not going to go look up the birth rate for all the years in between. Why mess up a good discussion with facts?

Maybe in another 20 to 25 years when all those new people are paying into the SS system it may not be in real bad shape. Maybe. That kind of depends on what we do in the meantime. A knee jerk panic reaction may not the best longterm solution, but I'm afraid that is what we are likely to get.

You can't take one statistic out of the blue and apply it across the board. There are just too many other factors involved, like the one you mentioned. The many baby boomers were paying into a system that had relatively fewer people receiving benefits, so the benefits could be pretty good.

A couple of other factors come to mind. Our economy was booming. In 1955 the top marginal tax rate on income tax was 91% and the capital gians was 25%, but other taxes were not as high. Our competitors had their manufacturing capacity bombed into ruins. We had out factories operating at peak capacity with a real good work force that was ready to convert to making consumer goods and people that had sacrificed during the war years that were ready to live a better life. The Marshall Plan helped create a market for our goods, let alone save Europe from Communism. Eisenhower started the Interstate system which really helped our transportaion and mobility, plus put a lot of people to work. It also hurt the railroads, but automobiles hurt the buggy whip industry. Life moves on.

To understand something, you have to look at the big picture, not just a few isolated conditions. I don't know what else other than diet is going on in Crete. Maybe the type of work they do has changed and they spend more time in front of the computer than they used to?

 

[digitS']

You may be reading more into what I was saying than I intended, RR. But, I do not see diet as an isolated condition.

Eating is, after all, something we do every day, of every month, of every year - for a lifetime.

As far as making healthy decisions as individuals, much or most of it comes down to the choices at-hand. At least, on a daily basis it does.

Steve

 

[seedcorn]

There is no reason for SS to become broke except the politicians have voted themselves raises, perks, retirements after working 4 years, etc.......... All current politicians should be strung up for treason. We put that money in there for us, NOT for profesional crooks.