Generation Y faces unfortunate economy

Let’s face it. We are the generation of entitlements. Our generation is the one that helped Barack Obama reach the White House in 2008.

My intention is not to bash President Obama or the current level of entitlements. Instead, I want to give a realistic outlook on where we, Generation Y, are taking this country.

Do you expect to retire at the age of 60 with full benefits, a pension, Social Security and Medicare? If you do, I really feel sorry for you. Unless you are America’s next billionaire (you could be, you never know), you will most likely not get any of these things.

Despite the great provisions in the new health care law that ended many discriminatory practices of the insurance companies and employers, we are still not going to have a sustainable market for retirement benefits. Just about the only people who retire with full benefits are union workers (and that is going to change real fast).

Like I said, with the baby boomers retiring at a rate of 10,000 per day, this year and beyond, employers who still offer retirement coverage for health benefits are going to be hard pressed.

That’s right. Because your parents and grandparents decided to retire with full benefits, they will affect your chances in the job market. Employers will hire less or just not offer health coverage. Both scenarios are likely.

Now, let’s talk about pensions. Unless you’re in a union – God help you if you are – you will not be seeing any kind of private pension. Even the governments are moving away from pensions.

What you will most likely have is a 401K or 403B. 401Ks are the most popular type of employee retirement accounts, because they are basically an investment portfolio that you put money into, and your employer often matches your contributions. These are becoming more and more popular alternatives to pensions.

In regard to Social Security and Medicare, I really feel sorry for you if you expect to see these. They are unsustainable programs that will be bankrupt in the coming decades: Medicare by 2017, and Social Security sometime in the 2020’s-2030’s.

You all probably hate me for ruining your retirement dreams. But, hey, if you want to retire in comfort and style and be a social parasite, why not head up to Soviet Canuckistan where they have free everything?

This brings me to my last point. Where are our jobs going to be? Well, we’ll be working for the commies. No, I mean it. At the rate of Chinese investment in our economy, you can expect China to be a major employer in this country in the coming future. So get ready to be reading Mao’s little red book and singing Lenin’s favorite tune, the “Internationale.”

I know this sounds depressing, but we can prevent this! My next column will feature what you can do to prevent your retirement dreams from going up in flames.

Don’t worry. I’ll tell you my student economic secrets so you won’t have to work as a greeter at Wal-Mart when you’re 83 years old.