Medicare Part D in 2025: A First Look at Prescription Drug Plan Availability, Premiums, and Cost Sharing

[Fisher]

Fisher did not say what you have him quoted as saying up there ^^^

 

[annon123]

Fisher did not say what you have him quoted as saying up there ^^^

Sorry about that.

I quoted what someone else said who had both posts in their post. I'll have to go looking to see who said it and fix that. Thanks for bringing that to my attention.

EDIT - so I deleted that post and hit quote to the original post again and pasted my comment back in. Now it should be attributed correctly. Again I appologize. Not sure how that happened as I just hit reply.

 

[annon123]

That's depressing and I hope things don't go that way. The oldest baby boomers are 78 and have been withdrawing money from retirement savings since they were 70 1/2, but we haven't seen this problem manifest just yet.

It's not like every retiree has investments. Many have little to no savings, and live on social security alone. Some have pensions - while pensions are disappearing, older people are the ones still most likely to have them. Those who have retirement savings, it's not all in stock and stock mutual funds (or shouldn't be, it's too risky to be all in). They have bond funds, bonds, CDs, cash too. And the ones forced to sell investments to meet their Required Minimum Distributions, but who don't actually need the money, will just repurchase the same investments in their non-retirement brokerage accounts.

What you are describing is a kind of financial doomsday, and there are always commentators out there predicting the next crash, just as there are always the over-exuberant.

But I agree that housing is a total mess. There is not enough entry level housing available, and the housing available doesn't match what retirees need - like a flat entry on the ground floor, no interior stairs, wider hallways, walk-in showers... No one has built towards those needs. The shortage of such homes is in the millions. (60 million seniors over 65.) Maybe 10s of millions! I guess some homes can be retrofitted, but not everyone wants to put motorized chairs on their staircases. So then what happens? People close off their upper levels and turn their dining room into a bedroom? That's a depressing thought.

Aging does have some s good points - it's better than the alternative.

We need to hit the point where most boomers are retired (the youngest have some years to go yet) AND the amount going in to retirement accounts annually by the generations under them is less than what is coming out due to required minimum distributions. Those minimum withdrawals start at age 73 now with the younger boomers getting to wait even longer. We are still stacked on the side of more going in than coming out. The younger boomers are still under 65 and contributing to retirement funds. Supply/demand... it will be slow decline.

This is where legal immigration of skilled younger people would help. It would even out the population demographics a bit and so there would be less of a proportional bubble on the over 65 end of things. Then the ratio (it's called the old age dependency ratio) of working adults to seniors wouldn't continue to have fewer and fewer working adults per senior. All you have to do is look at Japan and what has happened there. That country is the canary in the mine.

And yes some things in the economy may change the projection somewhat but we can't stop the fact that the post WW2 birth rate created a population bubble that influences everything it touches due to it's sheer size in proportion to all other age groups.

Housing - there is a shortage of senior HUD already for the poorer folks who mostly are surviving off of social security. Waiting lists already now are often 2-5 years. I think we are going to see a growing number of homeless seniors who don't have kids they can move in with or whose kids won't let them move in with them. Rent plus utilities is only supposed to take 1/3 of your income (that is how HUD figures rent - the senior's income is adjusted by a percent of someone's medical expenses). Then medicare B plus MOOP's for MAP's and/or supps and D can come to a whopping amount if they actually have to use their health insurance. Never mind assisted living which neither medicare nor medicaid cover. And only medicaid covers a nursing home (if you have $2000 or less left to your name and the nursing home gets to take most of your social security) after the medicare limit on temporarily use of one. And if people didn't get them when younger the premiums are too expensive for many. I think as the boomers get older we are going to have a real crisis on our hands with respect to the ones surviving mostly on SS.

 

[annon123]

Sorry about that.

I quoted what someone else said who had both posts in their post. I'll have to go looking to see who said it and fix that. Thanks for bringing that to my attention.

EDIT - so I deleted that post and hit quote to the original post again and pasted my comment back in. Now it should be attributed correctly. Again I appologize. Not sure how that happened as I just hit reply.

PS now it looks like what I originally hit reply to has been changed. At least now it is attributed correctly.