Wednesday, January 9, 2019

Sid Salter on Turning 60

Longevity runs in my family on both sides. My father lived to a few weeks shy of 76 years. My mom made it 82 years. My grandmothers lived to be 93 and 101 respectively. One grandfather died at 76 and the other at 81.  Those numbers tend to be encouraging as I celebrate my 60th birthday this week – or at least with no scientific fact to support my belief, I choose to be encouraged by them. But those numbers represent the up side of my realities.

The down side? Demographics researchers report that for the third consecutive year Americans aren’t living as long. Life expectancy in the U.S., reports Johns Hopkins University Professor David Bishai, has declined from a high of 78.9 years in 2014 to 78.6 years in 2016.

Do those few months matter? As I learned battling cancer in 2017, the answer is a resounding “yes” if the months in question are yours. The remarkable thing is that American life expectancy in 1950 was about 68 years. Advances in medical science, the eradication of several diseases, and increased public awareness about healthy lifestyles combined over the last 70 years to give the average American another full decade of life.

But Dr. Bishai, who studies health economics, observed in a 2018 essay: “The latest data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show that the death count for Americans under 65 rose by 20,566 between 2015 and 2016. Based on population growth alone, one would have expected only 6,131 additional deaths. The other 14,435 Americans died prematurely of causes that could have prevented.

“The U.S. is not bumping up against natural limits to life expectancy. The extra American funerals were for American sisters, brothers, sons, daughters, neighbors and co-workers dying in their 20s, 30s, 40s and 50s. Their death certificates list mostly overdoses from opioids and other substances, cirrhosis, suicide and homicide.”
Despite that stark news, Americans are somewhat sheltered heading to their golden years, aren’t they? There’s Social Security and Medicare, right?

The National Bureau of Economic Research reports that “between 1960 and 1995, the official poverty rate of those Americans aged 65 and above fell from 35 percent to 10 percent (and) Social Security is often mentioned as a likely contributor to the decline in elderly poverty.”

Medicare is also an undeniable factor in that equation. And after 45 years of letting the federal government take about 15 percent of my earnings to cover entitlement benefits promised to my parents and grandparents, I am now in the huge Baby Boomer generation careening toward eligibility for those same benefits. The inevitable question among my age group is one of how long the Social Security and Medicare programs as we know them can continue to exist. The answer is just as inevitable.

Reality is a national debt that is hurtling toward $22 trillion – and that number ignores anticipated future entitlement outlays for Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid benefits, so the national budget hole is actually more like $200 trillion.

But let’s use the $22 trillion number. Today, U.S. federal tax revenue is $10,141 per citizen while the national debt equals $66,747 per citizen.

Then there is the “graying” of our country. As Baby Boomers age and the nation’s birth rate has declined, the U.S. has dramatically aged. In 1970, the U.S. median age was 28.1. In 2016, it was 37.9. Let’s see now - an older population with fewer workers paying into the entitlement system and a growing number of retirees drawing benefits or entitled to do so.

Our nation faces some extraordinarily hard choices over the next 15-20 years, a period which for me likely coincides with the previously-cited life expectancy numbers. That is, unless my genes follow those of my 101-year-old grandmother and I have another 41 years to go with no time off for good behavior.

Sid Salter is a syndicated columnist. Contact him at sidsalter@sidsalter.com.

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

No one is guaranteed the next 5 minutes.............family longevity or not

Anonymous said...

I mostly agree with Senate republicans, we should end Medicare and social security payments and give further tax breaks to those who work and corporations. The money will trickle down to those in need who didn’t plan and if not, that is Darwinism at work.

Anonymous said...

"No one is guaranteed the next 5 minutes.............family longevity or not."

So by that logic, don't plan to stop at the next stop sign because you're not guaranteed to live that long anyway.

Anonymous said...

Another completely nonsensical comment from the troll @9:41.

Anonymous said...

11:27, I'm sure you'll grow up one day and realize that not everything is free. Someone is paying for it. At some point we have to quit spending money we don't have and I'm sick of paying for your sorry ass! Grow up and get a job!!!

Anonymous said...

11:02 - Plan on the other driver not stopping if ya want longevity. I mostly agree with 8:47. I'm 60, my dad and made it to 96 years of age. His dad made it to 78 years of age.

If you want longevity you have to look out for yourself!

Anonymous said...

Meanwhile...the 13th check starts compounding at age 55.

Anonymous said...

I could have sworn that Salter was not a day over 70. Maybe it's the gut and hair-do. Such a stellar radio face.

Anonymous said...

Next week Sid Will write about the Shutdown. It was too much of a lift this week and he was hoping it would go away.

Anonymous said...

9:41. I agree ....but I would like the $$$$ My employer and I contributed from age 21 when I began paying and 70 when I retired plus the amount I have paid since I retired. I have paid the maximum since I began full time employment. I will even agree to the interest on the contributions be at a meager 2.5%.

Anonymous said...

I haven’t seen Salter in years, but he used to look like Humpty Dumpty. He was extremely obese. If he still is, I doubt he has the longetivity he thinks he has.

Anonymous said...

Oh, now, y’all be nice...although some of your mean comments were, admittedly, funny, and it is a fact that Sid is fat as a ham. I just hate it when people who post truthy zingers are called “trolls.”



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If you get tired come relax at the Fox News Tent. To gain admittance to the VIP section, bring either your Republican Party ID card or a Rebel Flag. Bringing both will entitle you to free drinks.Get your tickets now. Since this is an event for trolls, no ID is required, just bring the hate. Bring the family, Trollfest '07 is for EVERYONE!!!

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