Economic Woes and No Easy Answer – Why??

Read carefully this article that focuses on the Prime Minister of Britain. He is not exaggerating in the slightest when he says that there are perhaps DECADES of financial woes ahead for his country. And, as we know, as goes Britain, so goes the rest of Western Europe. Here is a quote that gives the flavor:

Mr. Cameron said that at more than 11 percent, Britain’s budget deficit was the largest ever faced by the country in peacetime. But he warned that the structural deficit was more worrisome. Britain currently owes a total of more than $1.12 trillion , he said, and in five years will owe nearly double that if nothing is done now.

Considering their relatively small Gross Domestic Product (compared to the US) this is an almost insurmountable problem for them. What can we take away from that? Namely that most other western nations are next. The conditions that existed for their economic demise are at our doorstep as well. But what has lead to this? Surely not the current recession? Nothing is ever that simple…except perhaps

Why Wait for Retirement?

Last time, I tackled the first of the four assumptions that form the groundwork for the American ideal of retirement. If you didn’t read it, or don’t want to look back, here are the four assumptions:

1. At retirement, we no longer have a full-time job.

2. When we retire, we will receive some kind of fixed income (pension, annuity, Social Security) to support us.

3. We will be able to do all the things we didn’t do before retiring because we were working too hard to make money – for retirement (among other things).

Is Retirement Healthy, Biblical or Smart?

Perhaps you are unaware of this, but one proposal before Congress is to raise the retirement age of Social Security.  The purpose of this is to help “save” Social Security from insolvency, a condition we are quickly heading toward. Other countries have already raised the age at which their retirees can collect a pension from the government, primarily because of two factors: 1. We are living longer; 2. That first factor is making pensions more expensive.

This article in Newsweek even goes as far to suggest that we shouldn’t give out Social Security until age 67. Do you remember the commercials on television a decade ago, where an insurance company promises you can retire at age 55? Do you wonder why you don’t see those any more?