I have very little sympathy for the people who have not prepared for this and want to participate in a "million senior march." They like everyone else kept on putting off the bill repeatedly(whether through government, or their own bank accounts) until we ended up where we are today. The lack of personal responsibility started with the boomers, so it seems only fitting that they get screwed by the lackluster stock market which we will see for years to come. History shows that about once every 100 years we need to restore people back to sanity, this is what we are witnessing, I strongly doubt that these people will have to worry about inflation, as we have wiped out more phony dollars in the credit market then what will inevitably be printed by the feds. If boomers didnt save, then tough shit for them, they should have done something about it years ago. Economically it will end up being a huge problem, as spending drastically declines, but the people who are going to get screwed by the government/fixed income market deserve it for allowing these policies to continue, i hope my generation makes a change, but so far the Obama admin and all the bleeding heart liberals have proven it most likely wont happen. I feel sorry for a few of the people who have saved 400k or something along those lines and are only going to get 1000 a month to live based on that, but these people allowed liberals to take control to the point where we are at where we are today, 0% interest rates, and no promise of market growth in the forseeable future. It is time to pay the piper.
That's nice to be beating the ol' self responsibility drum, but what I think you might be missing is (afaik) these people represent the relatively wealthy among retirees not the 40yr min wage earning family. My supposition is that the chief obstacle to retiree economic unpreparedness is big brother gubbermint through theft , lying and policy design. and yes it's going to affect you.
Yes i know it will affect me, i make a real good living trading for the time being, so i hope it doesnt affect me to much but if this ends up not working for me i will need to take a normal job and these people will inevitably end up being a huge drain on the economy, so i realise the consequences. However the boomer generation allowed the government to get bigger and bigger into levels which are unsustainable. They also kept buying more and more on credit till it became unsutainable. I already have zero faith in the government, i already have it planned, if need be i could retire comfortably (today) in another country. All i have ever seen by the government throughout my limited experience(29 years) is complete and utter failure, so i dont count on them for anything, if i needed to, i could sell my house tomorrow, and live comfortably somewhere besides North America, for the rest of my life. The point is that government has never come through in the clutch, and i will give you an example, albeit a canadian one. My sister who still lives in Toronto still, recently snapped her ankle while on the job, and it required screws, and a titanium plate be put in her leg, she ended up having to be off work for 6 months before she could walk and function normally at work, well she has paid into Canadian unemployment insurance her whole life, and when she legitamately needed it, it took 4 months, JUST TO SORT THROUGH PAPER WORK and by the time she got a cheque it was 2 months before she was going to start work again. So i was stuck supporting her. This is the kind of shit i see time and time again when government is involved, you pay into this and they are not there when you need it. Thus the generation who voted to expand government continuously somewhat deserves what they are about to witness. The only argument which can be made is for the people who tried to vote against this bullshit their whole life, and couldnt change anything cause enough assholes voted themselves "free" benefits. So yeah when it comes down to it, these people should have realised the government would never be there, and there are very few who i feel sorry for. And yes more than anything i blame the corrupt spend thrift government, who seemingly has no control whatsoever over what they do, but it doesnt change the fact that a bunch of naieve voters voted for entitlement programs and actually got duped into believing the government would be there in their time of need.
Really, I'd be pleased as punch to have a viable escape plan, care to enlighten me as to what would be suitable for a true libertarian ex-pat?
LOL, it is not places you would probably want to go to to raise a family, though there are some places my thai girlfriend wants to go to, it is very far removed from the westernised society we currently have, perhaps i should have clarified this in my post. Alot of these places i have chosen also make the assumption i am able to continue to make greater than 5-10k a month, which i could probably make fairly easily off my nest egg, given the fact that i am a self made trader, with roughly an 800k net worth. Here are my choices, just based on what i have seen. Certain areas of Mexico are good, i looked at a few places where 2500 USD a month could do you well, and you are basically in resort towns. I looked at a couple condos in Ixtapa, but mexico has to much instability at the present time, so they are not number 1. Panama, went down there and for 3 weeks, and loved it, there are areas you can live in a beach house for about 1200 a month/2-300k for a house. Problem is the electricity and internet constantly cuts out, i was not there long enough to figure out if i could fix it. Thailand/Phillipines/vietnam, this is where my girlfriend wants to go,(shes asian) not experienced enough to tell you off hand, but i have a buddy i traded with who said he could stay at 5 star resorts for less than 50$ a day in vietnam, where you would be well protected, and it is touresty(if that makes sense?) Been to areas of Brazil/Aregentina which were nice but alot more expensive, you can do basically whatever you want in aregentina provided you have money, we did some crazy shit down there right after carnival in brazil, cops have somewhat of a "look the other way" policy down there, as they do in most of these countries, but argentina was the best for that...... None of these are viable options if you want to live the way we presently do, but it is definately an out, if you want to live for next to nothing in a beach town for the rest of your life, that is my version of paradise anyways, so id be almost as happy if i had to resort to this if the shit hit the fan. Those are my plans.....
Sounds like a nice little fantasy for myself but little more. I currently pay 1200/month on my home now and that will be free and clear in 3yrs. I wouldn't find a beach very enticing unless it were about 65-70*F, anyway. And as far as your "shit hits the fan" stuff I'd be more than shocked if all of those places were unaffected or remained similarly attractive as you think now, should events go awry in the US. but hey just my opinion
Those places will definately be affected, and it is the part i am most scared of right now. Roughly 400k of my net worth(a little more) is tied up in my house, so i guess i should plan for the worst in terms of that money as i will never see it if the shit hits the fan and the U.S. defaults. Im just hoping I have enough in cash, and that i can see it coming a couple months in advance and transfer it into foreign dollars before it happens, if it happens we are looking at a deflationary scenario so as long as i choose the right currencies to invest in ill be fine. I Should clarify, not deflationary in terms of the USD, deflationary in terms of purchasing power vs hard assets.