Thanks for your efforts, now go work some more

We are approaching the time where all the baby boomers should be approaching retirement. Unfortunately, their years of dedicated work to try to make the world a better place is about to be met with a "Sorry, old chap, you have to stay at work."



From the Telegraph Journal, "But most Canadians - especially the baby boom generation - will likely not be able to enjoy the comfortable and carefree lifestyle showcased in Freedom 55 Financial advertisements.
A "Freedom 75" scenario is more likely to be the norm in the years ahead - a contrast to the image of energetic 50-somethings globetrotting to exotic locales." By 2011, Statistics Canada estimates that we will have a population of 33.9 million people, of which 2.239 million will be over 75 (6.6% of the total population). 3.8894 million people will be under 19 years of age (the minimum wage group in society). 2.2953 million people will be between 20-24 years of age (the apprentice and student group in society). Another 2.3302 million will be our most effective subsection of the population, aged 25-29, who are the young workers of tomorrow. Between 0-24 years, 6.1847 million people or 18% of our total population will be only partially able to work. If we consider the consider the group above 75, then nearly a quarter of all people in Canada will be at best minimum wagers.



Also from the Telegraph Journal, ""If we're going to live to 90 or beyond, people are not saving enough for 35 years of retirement. The numbers are sobering that we look at," he said.
"You do have certain mechanisms that kick in, Old Age Security and the Canada Pension Plan, but I'm not sure that there'll be enough private savings to maintain the lifestyle that Canadians have been accustomed to."
Another sobering thought is that governments are going to have to raise taxes to deal with the rising health care costs that will come with the demographic shift. "



Simply put, we as a society haven't planned for these people to live as long as they have and neither have they. And the worst part in all this is that the reason our government can't plan for this is the social programs they were responsible for, including medicare, social insurance, and old age pension.

So those who created the programs we have come to depend on will have to work longer because of those programs. The givers have to keep on giving while the younger generations continue to profit from their elders.
We don't express our thanks often enough.