That Will be $80 Trillion -- Cash or Charge?
It's impossible to know the government's real liabilities right now, thanks to all of the off-balance sheet items and quasi-governmental insurance groups. But you can make a rough estimate...That is just the government butcher's bill. In the private sector, things are not looking so hot, either, thanks to labour unions and their killer "defined pensions." Time for Americans to come back to reality. No one can guarantee your future, your secure retirement. Particularly now that the Obama / Pelosi reich have taken a wrecking ball to the US economy. The sooner you learn that you are on your own, the better.
Let's say $20 trillion for the on-balance sheet spending. Another roughly $50 trillion is coming for unfunded entitlement programs, and probably another $10 trillion for all of the various guarantees to PBGC, FDIC, and Fannie/Freddie. That gets us to something around $80 trillion by 2019 – and my estimate is likely too conservative by a large percentage because it assumes tax revenues can grow substantially. _Source
I submit that people who think defined-benefit pensions – any other type of “guaranteed” retirement plan -- are the solution to the country's retirement insecurity are not seeing the whole picture. What we have learned from defined-benefit pensions, and Social Security, is that it’s very difficult to keep them solvent, either due to the difficulty in forecasting the future or to the ease of kicking the hard choices down the road. Either way, the result is that such programs have to be shored up later, often at the expense of those who are still working.You may never have to "go John Galt", but if you take the time to be sure that you could do so if you had to, you might rest a bit easier at night.
Perhaps the real lesson is that the retirement of the future will be "guaranteed" (note the quotes) only for people who save and learn like mad. _MotleyFool
The economy is broken, and with Obama, the government is broken. Your future security is up to you now.
Labels: big government, economic depression
posted by al fin at 9:08 am
3 Comments:
I want the airline miles!
Twice in a row the pure-bred chicks at the local feed store have been sold out before I arrived after work to pick up a few, and I was going to pick them up for other people!
Interestingly, the people buying up the chicks, seeds, plants, guns, and ammo probably don't follow financial news very much, but they're preparing.
Unfortunately, people living in the inner city may be reduced to eating rats before Obama is finished wrecking the economy. And most inner city residents voted for B.O. They forgot to be careful what they wished for.
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“During times of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act” _George Orwell
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