What happens when you grow old in America?

Question

What happens to someone who becomes old in America? Not everyone who retires would have a lot of money saved up. Especially if they were working class or lower middle class. I heard that there will no longer be a "Social Security", so now what is going to happen to us when we get old? Who will take care of us? Not all private companies have a pension plan. And sometimes the pension is too low to actually live off of. How can anyone afford to survive once they can no longer work anymore because they are too old?

Is it the same way in places like the U.K.?

Answer 1

This is why it pays to pay for the services of a qualified "financial advisor". Which will save you plenty of grief in the long run.

Answer 2

In all societies the young take care of the old when they are no longer able to take care of themselves. In traditional societies it is done by children, but in modern industrial nations the government acts as a intermediary by taxing all the young to provide money for all the old. The breakdown of pensions and security will only happen if the younger generation decides to break this contract. The advice of saving money for your old age if it comes at the expense of providing for your children, which it will for many working class families, is not really a good strategy. You should save what money you can, but you are unlikely to save enough, so you should make sure your children have a good education so they can afford you.

Answer 3

You have an excellent question. You said: "I heard that there will no longer be a 'Social Security,' so now what is going to happen to us when we get old?"

The answer, my friend, is that either we have money and assets saved up and are prepared to settle into a rocking chair as the economy collapses. OR...we are thrown into a home. OR...we will be euthanised with softened euthanasia restrictions. OR...we will all be fighting each other in a bloody revolution. OR...you will have a big family who will take care of you.

Thanks a lot Baby Boomers. You really invested in the future.

Answer 4

Well, if you are not a total idiot, you will take advantage of the abundant opportunities that Americans, far moreso than any other people in the world, have to become AT LEAST moderately wealthy by the time they are old. These include such tax advantage savings plans as 401ks, 403bs, Roth IRAs, Traditional IRAs, SEP IRA's, and SIMPLE IRA's.

Of course you don't really need one of those plans, you can always just practice the dead simple but massively wealth creating plan of consistently investing in ETFs or index mutual funds, and enjoy the tax benefits of long term capital gains.

That's assuming you're not too lazy to start your own business and enjoy the abundant tax breaks and wealth creating opportunities that business ownership can offer.

Or, you can be a total loser and refuse to take any of these basic steps, and expect society to foot the burden of making up for your stupidity, in which case you'll be living on that social security check and trying to get a greeter job at Wal Mart.

Answer 5

Good question. It's already happening, the homeless population of elderly people is skyrocketing. I'm pretty sure Soc. Sec. will be around when I'm eligible, (I'm 48) but it scares me when I contemplate whats going to become of our children.

Answer 6

aint no one gonna take care of you but you. start a 401k tomorrow! plan for the future...

Answer 7

the go to a nursing home

Answer 8

start saving your money