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If there were red down arrows on Facebook I would have received so many in the last week, their system would have crashed. I have taken on the seniors who failed to plan for their retirement and now blame the system for their situation along with those who think they should not pay property taxes for schools or any taxes at all once they reach age 65 – because they paid their dues plus those
Many say without a mortgage you should not pay property taxes, that with a mortgage you don’t own your home – not true of course. You own your house, but with a lien on it for the loan amount. If you didn’t own your house, how could you sell? You own your car too, even if you have a loan.
It’s not so much the warped views on paying taxes that drives me nuts, but that so many of these people seem to think no planning or saving was required during the 40 years between starting work and retirement. Don’t believe me?
“I have done the math and I will lose my house when I retire in 5 years.”
Needless to say, this person needs to adjust his spreadsheet assumptions. 😁
I suggested he not retire in 5 years. I can’t repeat the reply, but I think he meant mind your own business. Is there such a thing on Facebook? I should have suggested a remedial math class. Yeah, ok, it’s true, I have little patience for people like this.
One reply to my comments called me an idiot, another said I don’t understand and asked how old I was. I told them I understood very well and was 82. “ You should know better,” was the reply. That’s the problem I do know better.
I point out to these complaining folks they had those 40 years to prepare. That comment does not go well. I don’t understand why, it’s a fact, right?
“ Lost mine (house) when my husband passed. For SS you have to choose one income to collect on. Now tell me that’s not robbery!!!!”
Robbery? Choose? I asked if her husband had life insurance? Was that an unfair question? Hey, the way I see it if you are going to put your ignorance on display for the world to see, a question is justified.
There is nothing to suggest among the thousands of post that these are poor people or even very low income. There is much to suggest they have been clueless for a long time. Since many comments are from women, it also seems they were not involved in family finances or had irresponsible husbands leaving them in a poor financial position.
Some of these supposed seniors now complain “they” changed the retirement age to 67. I point out there is not a fixed retirement age, retire whenever you like. The comments add up on that one.
What bothers me more than anything else is that these seniors are so willing to shift the tax burden (and perhaps the income burden) to younger people and to think getting old is a free pass on responsibility. 😢
Maybe we should expand The Villages into a state of its own where all seniors live and think about their lifelong mistakes and are required to read HumbleDollar each morning before heading off on their (pretty expensive) golf cart.
🛺🛺🛺🛺🛺🛺🛺🛺🛺🛺🛺🛺🛺
This is a symptom of what I suspect is a larger problem. Some feel disenfranchised while others see no immediate benefit from the taxes paid. Some hate the tax man, period. Some have the position that if it isn’t of immediate, personal benefit it shouldn’t exist.
Here’s an example of the latter. I live in a walled, gated community with a human at a controlled entry. A while back there was a political conversation about the wall on our southern border which is about 50 miles distant. There were those pro and con. I suggested that in fairness and for consistency our community should not have a wall or security. That was not received well, by anyone!
Here’s another example. I lived in the southeast for a time. There were large, unincorporated areas and “fire protection districts”. Each business or home owner was supposed to pay a fee to the district to support the fire department. But enforcement was difficult and owners figured it out, so some rolled the dice and didn’t pay.
One day, I was driving down the road and I was amazed to see firefighters pouring water on a building, while the one next door, which was ablaze was ignored. I enquired about this. The owner of the building that was being attended to and protected had paid the fee. The other did not. A few days later as I passed by, I noticed that one building was burned to the ground, the other next door was pristine.
There was, of course, a discussion about this and a few declared how unfair it was. However, I was also told that after that policy was instituted the collections increased dramatically, and such fires were an effective advertisement.
I currently live in a similar area. Pay the annual fee and ambulance and fire is included. If you don’t, ambulance service and fire abatement is carte blanch and expensive. For those who aren’t enrolled, each vehicle and fireman or ambulance attendant is billed. Fires aren’t ignored, but are costly for scofflaw owners. This is considered to be “unfair” by some.
I think you are correct. Studies have shown that Europeans generally accept high taxes because they perceive the value they receive from those taxes, many of which are very visible like health and child care and education, even leave time off with pay.
In the US people don’t make the connection because they can’t feel the benefits and just take many services and programs for granted.
For example, ask people if teachers are underpaid and deserve higher pay and benefits and typically the answer is yes. They earn less than jobs in the private sector.
At the same time these people complain about their property taxes.
Dick, you’re free to do as you please. But of all things that a human being can do, is getting frustrated by people on the internet the very best use of our time?
God gave us a brain; I think He expects us to use it!
Social media is a cesspool. I administer two groups, each with a specific focus. I periodically boot people who break the rules. “No politics” is one, and that includes championing the march in vogue (there is always a protest). My policy is “zero tolerance”. All posts are pre-approved. Make a mistake and your post is rejected and you are gone.
The groups are small (about 1800 members) and angry individuals attempt to Messenger me (I don’t use it). 1) I never respond and 2) I don’t care what people think.
As we used to say, it is important to consider the source. Allegedly about 26% of Americans have mental disorders (John Hopkins). That’s 57 million U.S. adults, and 9.5% are depressive. I’ve seen statistics that 3-5% are certifiably insane and some are clearly dangerous.
I am of the opinion that attempting to carry on a dialogue with certain individuals is a pointless waste of time.
That may be true, but everyone can vote, everyone can accept or oppose good or bad policies.
There are many memes that are garbage with lies and misinformation, but the people I referenced here are not among those. They are scared, misinformed and in a place where many realize the mistakes they have made – but often decide to blame the system.
However, I know many individual posts are just not true. Sometimes I can tell that because of my knowledge of the subject and what is claimed not being possible.
Dick, a few prayer quotes come to mind.
God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference”.
Because you’re never going to change or convince these people.
AND
“As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be”. Because, well,
You’re never going to change or convince these people.
Probably not, but if one person can learn what not to do before they do it, it will be a good day.
Sometimes when I read a comment the words of Queen Gertrude in Hamlet come to mind, me thinks.😁
You’re talking to the wrong audience if you think talking to seniors will change their lifetime habits and mistakes.
If you actually want to change someone’s financial trajectory in later life you’re better off evangelising other people into the ideas and resources that exist around FI. But that would require you not to view it as a con and maybe to actually engage in the power of numbers and spreadsheets.
I don’t expect you’ll do that because you prefer to do your own form of complaining about what other people do rather than actually helping.
The problem goes far beyond retirement planning tools, spreadsheets, budgets, etc.
It’s all about human nature, about being aware, involved, prudent , exercising common sense if you will. Just looking and listening and learning from other people.
Why people don’t or can’t do all that is the real issue and showing them how to use a spreadsheet isn’t going to change them.
Human behavior is too complex for me, but I see it as the root cause the issues we discuss.
As an aside, yesterday I was in two different supermarket parking lots. In both lots someone had left an empty cart in the middle of a handicapped parking space. I ask myself, what kind of irresponsible person would do that.
I ask a similar question of people who apparently are unaware you can’t live well in retirement on SS alone.
Of course it goes beyond but you need something more than an old dude lecturing on ” be more prudent, change your ways!!”.
It’s about the attention grabber and sometimes that is about ideas like ” if you do this from now you can retire at 55/60 rather than 65″. For that I think you need to prove it.
Also the SWR principle can be used to demonstrate the folly of spending now. Say you spend $200 a month on takeout coffee. Rule of 300 says that is $60,000 capital now to finance that the next 30 years.
It’s sad when you see a real-world example of long-term poor money management up close. A guy I know is 65 and now works a retail job with no prospect of stopping. A simple case of no savings and continually remortgaging his property to release equity—he still has a mortgage on it. He cuts a sorry figure when I talk to him. But what can I say? I listen and make sympathetic sounds. I realize there’s nobody to blame but himself, yet I just find it very sad. The best I can offer is a non-judgmental ear. I actually felt embarrassed telling him about retiring at 58. It’s a sobering reminder of how decades of financial decisions compound, and how unforgiving the consequences can be.
Very sad indeed. There seems limited ability to think beyond the next desired purchase.
people in general are frustrating when it comes to finances. They have certain beliefs that are not based on facts and not well thought out.
Nick,
Only Finances?
I hear you! I tried to be on topic.
Nope😱
As people get older and their world narrows they can tend toward grumpiness. It’s a discussion I’ve been having with my mother recently about the litany of 4th division moans she can incorporate into any conversation (and she isn’t really by nature a moaner just since my dad’s death she doesn’t really have anyone else to release the negativity with).
It’s not surprising that trawling the world of seniors on facebook on personal financial matters nets a lot of complaints. The people still living full rich lives aren’t hanging out there or are probably avoiding “boasting” how they are just fine.
But it down to general financial education over a lifetime and the great Western Consumption engine which exists to tell people every day to buy stuff to improve their lives with nowhere near the same counter momentum on “save instead”. People who wake up before the age of 50 still have a decent chance of making it. Even later if they are really focused. The rest either put too much trust in the national safety net or misinterpret it.
& taxes – yeah there is always a reason they shouldn’t apply to me. Even though US taxes by virtue of size of the population are actually pretty low per capita especially for seniors.
And on the basics like not having a plan for paying off or continuing to fund the mortgage – then really those people are outing themselves as never having become adults despite their senior status. They are still better off than the millions globally who’ve never been able to afford their own property.
“It’s not surprising that trawling the world of seniors on facebook on personal financial matters nets a lot of complaints. The people still living full rich lives aren’t hanging out there or are probably avoiding “boasting” how they are just fine.”
Amen to that!
The seniors who post their financial woes on social media are probably a relatively small percent of retirees. I suspect they’re past any understanding of what they should have done. BUT what is much more concerning to me are the growing numbers of people being terminated in their mid careers because of AI or the numbers of recent college graduates who are currently unable to find entry level work. How can they expect to save for or even hope to retire? The world of saving and investment may be changing—and not for the better.
Change, lost jobs, new jobs, new industries is ongoing and always has been. Look at how many new jobs have been created by technology and new opportunities by the Internet.
I’d suggest you give up the old cranks on social media, and pay closer attention to reporting in the mainstream media. Tens of thousands of mid career people are currently be given pink slips— with no end in sight. Today’s WSJ mentioned HR managers among the endangered species. This is not something that will be fixed by retraining. I taught marketing for 30 years; the last 15, I was part of a program Google sponsored to teach undergrads to use its products. The internet changed the way we work , but we still worked. AI has the potential to eliminate a lot of work.
Then there are the recent college grads who are finding AI has eliminated entry level jobs. Sure, applications to law school will go through the roof, but that’s no panacea—AI is making serious inroads there too. I think you should be worried about your grandkids; I am worried about mine.
The save and plan mantra may not work any longer. This is serious business.
A friend of my husband asked Gemini, Googles AI to write a sonnet in the style if Gerard Manley Hopkins that considered his old Toyota truck and the problems of aging. The result probably wouldn’t win a poetry prize, but it was scary good
You hit on the real problem facing the world. AI will leverage a lot of the white collar entry level jobs out of existence, things like creating draft documents, collating data, researching, creative arts etc but without going through the experience of doing it themselves how will the first level of human intervention have the skills to review and challenge/correct things and develop the skills to truly create new ideas.
Agility will no doubt become the superpower in the employment market of tomorrow. No one should get too fixated on a career path. Hands on trade or mechanical skills and the high intensity/cost educational routes to medicine or law etc plus of course the traditional military may be the most secure.
Amazon’s announcement that it is laying off ~14,000 white collar jobs indicates that it isn’t just entry level jobs that are succumbing to AI.
The BLS’s list of the 20 jobs with the fast projected growth rate in the next 10 years only includes two trade/mechanical jobs–wind turbine service technicians and solar photovoltaic installers, although demand for electricians and HVAC installers is currently much faster than average. Many of the top 20 jobs demand post-secondary education such as nurse practicioners, actuaries, operations research specialists, computer scientists, financial analysts, medical and health service managers. Lower level jobs among the top 20 are dominated by health care support positions.
https://www.bls.gov/ooh/fastest-growing.htm
Here’s an article that talks about the Amazon job cuts.
https://fortune.com/2025/10/29/amazon-layoffs-ai-middle-managers-robots-factory-workers/?utm_source=thecurrent&utm_medium=nl&utm_campaign=hackers-are-now-leaking-your-secrets-online
Think of all the jobs and equipment/machines that have gone by the wayside. It’s a transition.
I remember decades ago getting an EKG. There was a technician and it took ten/fifteen minutes and cost $75 or more.
Now it’s on our watches or a small digital card.
A 12-lead EKG still needs to be done by a technician. While some watches are good at identifying a-fib, their ability to identify other abnormal conditions is low. A quick search in my area pulled up 50+ openings for EKG technicians. The BLS lists job growth rate as average.
The fact that previous technologically driven transitions fostered job growth is no guarantee that the same will be true for AI.
Sure change is constant but to date it has happened at a pace which has enabled humans to adapt*. Lamplighters could probably retrain as new electrical contractors etc.
The present risk is that change is so fast and broad and deep that it presents a huge shift in work and reward which societies are ill-positioned to handle. The Norways and dare I say it Saudi Arabias of the world will be likely OK but the HR clerks forced to return to the agrarian piecework of past generations might struggle.
That plus of course the more existential threats of the AI singularity and its lesser cousin, the global reboot to pen and paper when the plug has to pulled on rampant AI.
Sci fi paranoia maybe, and not something I’d be losing much sleep about because there is absolutely nothing I can do to influence it. But kids today would be well advised to pursue paths that put them inside the bunker (metaphorically or actually) rather than the subsistence world.
*sometimes adapting is not a slam dunk – look at coal mining communities as an example.
Maybe it’s time to get a good vocational education in a trade. At least for the moment, battery power density is holding the robots at bay.
Maybe— the carpenter who worked in our house last week was billed at $135 an hour plus materials.
You touch on an interesting point. One of our sons is a contractor for home improvement projects. His customers sometimes complain about his hourly rate perhaps comparing it with their pay.
They don’t realize he doesn’t actually get near that rate as pay. nor does a contractor get any employer paid benefits many people enjoy. Just to cover typical benefits you need to add 35% to 40% to an hourly rate- higher for most public employees.
All expenses, insurances, paying helpers, double SS tax, etc come out that. All before income taxes like everyone else.
Plus there is no guarantee of any pay every day like a salaried person.
“Yeah, ok, it’s true, I have little patience for people like this.”
Can I suggest you take a break from social media? I don’t really think you are doing anything good for yourself or for those you think you are ‘educating’.
Some of us tried suggesting that the last time he inflicted social media slop on us, but it didn’t do any good.
Why has the source of what people think and do have anything to do with their actions? If I didn’t reference FB as the source, but instead conversations at a party would that make a difference?
“Slop?” I like that word
RDQ must get some form of satisfaction from trolling these online groups. Unfortunately, he continues to post his rants of this nature on HD even though Jonathan asked him more than once not to.
You find no educational value, no insights, no lessons, no “I didn’t think about that”, perhaps ideas at times? No different perspectives?
You find more comfort just reading about people with similar ideas and mindsets, financial sophistication and situations?
The more I learn about people the better, the more I understand why things happen. Every one of those people making poor decisions, accepting erroneous information and passing it along eventually will negatively affect other people one way or another.
For the record, a rant is to “speak, write or shout in a loud, uncontrolled or angry way, often saying confused or silly things.”
If you think what I write is that, I protest.
Protest all you want, Dick, but that’s the way it comes over. Yes, of course your writings contribute excellent ideas and quality information based on your experience, but they also sometimes give off more than a tinge of smugness and even condescension.
If you don’t want them to come off that way, then you need to work on your presentation as hard as you work on your content.
I think you just like to feel superior to those you’re trying to educate.
Here is the latest comment from an outraged senior.
Richard Quinn, you don’t like the old or you love government and If you make it to old u might get it.
I told him I really do get it and that we are 82 and 86 and asked it that means we are old.
Sadly it does.
What I really get is that from the day we graduate high school until we complete retirement is one integrated hopefully long journey and needs to be lived and planned for that way.
How we live in our 30s, 40s and 50s affects how we live in retirement.
“The satiated person and the hungry one do not see the same thing when they look upon a loaf of bread.” -Rumi
We don’t see things as they are, but as we are.
Interesting – I’ve seen the statistics about how unprepared folks are, you seem to have found them. I do have one question for you: you seem compelled to poke the bear again and again – why? What do you get out of that?
The closest I’ve come to this is my wife’s sister gave us a couple of plaques to hang saying “Hope” and “Pray” – my wife put them on the deck for a while and then donated them – she said she would consider putting up a “Plan” plaque but they apparently don’t make them.
“Plan”, what a concept Keith.
I only get the vague hope that stimulating discussion, questioning assumptions, etc. may trigger a change in a few people. It’s not the regular HD audience, but more those who may see a link on X or FB, Threads, etc. I link all posts on those sites and my blog as well.
You sure do stimulate discussion! Keep it up!
I agree!