Car Magazine December 2005

Posted by: DAVOhorn on 04 November 2005

Dear All,

Jason Barlow,Editor, has written an interesting article on the future poverty of the current young.

This article is based on comments by Company President of GM USA:

"I fear someting like Inter-Generational warfare, as young people incresingly resent having their wages reduced to support social programmes for their GrandParents."

It seems Corporate Industrial America is going belly up due to its increasing Pensions Provision. The Health And Pensions problem is crippling US industry.

So where does that leave our Civilised Society when TOO MANY OLD PEOPLE collect pensions for longer than they received their salaries and paid pension contributions.

Certainly i feel that the Hong Kong Govt loves my dad.

20 years service for them.

So far 25 years index linked pension. My dad is on a sure fired winner. Certainly helps with his bar bill at the Golf Club 4 days a week at 80 years.

So how does modern society fund this growing situation?

regards David
Posted on: 04 November 2005 by u5227470736789439
Working longer. The idea of retirement at 65 was based on the then life expectancy of 65! I think that was in the German Empire of about 1890, but I may well be wrong about that. Soon we shall all be working to over 70 or starve. Simple as that.

Fredrik
Posted on: 04 November 2005 by Joe Petrik
And here I thought it was the shiteness of GM cars that was causing its belly-upness.

As far as I know, the main people who buy GM's behemoths are older people, so I should think that GM would want to keep them in lavish pensions so they can buy those GM boats that young people won't drive.

Joe
Posted on: 04 November 2005 by MichaelC
This is the big problem faced by this country especially with the combination of greater life expectancy and the bloated state sector. Simple maths demonstrates that something needs to be done. Yet the politicians keep on ducking the issue. I have not looked for any official/unofficial research on the financial implicaions of the growing pensions bill but it does not take a rocket scientist to work out that we have a major problem lying ahead of us.
Posted on: 04 November 2005 by u5227470736789439
Dear Friends, I don't think my prediction is actually wrong. Either Pension Funds put into the final Annuity, which will have an increasingly miniscule return, or the system will collapse and then investment will fail capital and all. So the state will have to step in, but can it do it without cutting elsewhere?! I think not. The system of Capitalism will support the 'four' per cent but not thirty per cent, I think! So I guess many will still be working long after sixty five much sooner than we think, if we don't want to join the list of the truly poor countries. It is hard to see how high cost economies can continue to compete withe the Brazilians, Indians and Chinese, even without the burden of supporting folk who work forty years and then retire for twenty more...

Fredrik