Quote Originally Posted by gugi View Post
But the money has to come from somewhere. It either comes from the contributions being set aside while working, or you put it on the card and have the debt-collectors get it from your grandchildren.

Yes, the cost of living has increased but the money that's being put aside has been growing during all those years with the economy rather than being buried in the back yard.

Alternatively you can think of say 10% of the current GDP should go to pensions - it's getting collected as taxes and that's it. You pay your 10% while you work and when you retire you get paid from the 10% that the current workers pay. That's perfectly sustainable, when the economy grows and the prices grow people get more money, when it contracts they get less.

What is not sustainable however is to pay 10% while you work and after you retire to make the current workers pay 12% just to get what you want. When they retire they make the then workers pay 15% and it snowballs until it's no longer possible, the young working people revolt and start voting and the last generation of retirees in that process get ends up holding the bag and end up living in misery, everybody after them who's paid into the system doesn't get anything back and there's a new social contract drawn up. Could involve some blood too, not just voting - the longer it is kept on the unsustainable path the worse.

It really is not rocket science, just elementary school math at its core.
Yes, I think everyone understands that or at least should by now. If you remember one thing about these pension plans or schemes, if you will, is that they were put together and managed by people with letters after their name. By that I mean well educated professionals who where trusted with a fiduciary duty to ensure the safety and viability of these pensions going forward for the less educated and aware masses. Being one of the masses, it sure do look like that trust was misplaced at the very least. Can't change that now, just have to be more competitive dontcha know. Hard not to be a bit jaded, a bit bitter and just a little pregnant after all that.

Bob