Chris Woodward
OneNewsNow
January 3, 2011

Baby boomers nearing age 65 and retirement are facing a financial disaster, but only a few solutions are available.

According to FoxNews.com, more than 10,000 baby boomers a day will turn 65 this year — a pattern that is expected to continue for the next 19 years. One problem resulting from this is the housing crunch will not allow boomers to bank on their homes as their retirement funds. Also, the 401(k) plans that replaced most pension plans have not delivered much of a return in the current economic climate. Another issue involves the fact that many boomers have filed for Social Security when they reached 62, the earliest age possible, meaning they will receive less of a monthly check than they would had they waited until they were 65 or 70.

According to Jim Martin, president of the 60 Plus Association, another issue that often goes unnoticed is the fact that boomers and seniors have not saved like previous generations.

“We just don’t save like we should in this country. When you’re living high on the hog, you pay the price,” he notes. “You make a lot of money, you spend a lot of money — and unfortunately, seniors are faced with that reality.”

So he decides this situation should serve as a lesson to younger generations and the government. Meanwhile, he thinks the latter can help ensure that Social Security remains viable for future retirees.

The 60 Plus Association president also points out that incoming House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) is talking about beginning the new congressional session by cutting $100 billion from the federal budget. But Martin suggests that $50-$60 billion could be cut immediately by taking money away from advocacy groups like ACORN or AARP that he notes have been living on the taxpayer “year in and year out” for more than 40 years.

AARP, a Fortune 500 conglomerate, has received over $1 billion of taxpayers’ dollars through the years, while he suspects that “a dozen or more seniors groups, some of which people might not have heard of…get $60 million or $70 million from the taxpayer.”

But Martin adds that seniors groups are not the only ones getting this kind of income, as ACORN has also received taxpayer dollars through the years. He notes an article published by The Wall Street Journal some 15 years ago — about the same time he testified before Congress — alleging a $39-billion “dirty little secret in Washington” in which tax dollars were going to these liberal groups.

So “if you’re taking tax dollars, shame on you; you should not do that,” he says to conservative allies. He does not think the taxpayer should be supporting ideas with which half the public may agree and half may disagree. Martin further contends that organizations with a political agenda should not have such support.