Die old people DIE!!!

You're worse than useless -- you cost MONEY!

 

I thought this was another Coronavirus thread.

 

Saw that first hand at my last company - the number of people let go with 30+ years of service in their early 60s was awful. Just reinforced that I need to be able to retire in my 50s.

 

Who had "Logan's Run" in the pool for "Which dystopian sci-fi future will come true first?"

 

And Team Fatfuck is going to terminate Social Security next year.

 

This whole system is designed to scam every nickel away from you through healthcare and assisted living so you die flat broke with nothing to leave your next of kin.

 

My money's still on Soylent Green.

 

It was amazing how many of the 50-plus age group were in the job placement assistance program the first time I got laid off from Turner in 2012. People who had been regional sales directors, vice presidents, senior adminstrators, etc. (F-ing SUITS!)

None of them had updated a resume in years and most would have been overqualified for any open position available. The job counselors were talking about "reinventing yourself" and I looked around the room at a lot of blank stares. I have no idea how those people were going to bridge the gap between 50 and retirement.

Age discrimination is real, but almost impossible to prove. A company has the right to lop off the highest paying salaries, and oh by the way, those just happen to be the people who are almost to retirement but not quite. "But we didn't fire you because of your age!"

Who needs institutional knowledge when you can save $$$ AND MEDICAL BENEFITS by hiring younger, healthier peons!

I needed Gwen to work to 60 to be eligible for State Teacher's Retirement health benefits to bridge us to Medicare. Otherwise, we'd have been in a world of hurt, too.

 

Both of us fought like hell to keep my wife in her job at UAB. She put up with some horrible immediate managers and lots of bureaucratic bullshit until she retired after 29 years of making less than someone with her skills in the private sector - but her employer didn't go out of business, get bought out and/or have mass layoffs or burn down as her previous jobs had. She wound up with a fully vested retirement in the state teacher's retirement system and that modern day rarity, an honest to god pension. Throw in access to high quality insurance benefits, to the point that there is no point even looking at any other Medicare supplementary insurance program. She also worked until disability forced her to retire, which meant that she draws full Social Security disability as if she had worked until she was at max benefits before retiring.

It has and will continue to make a huge difference in our quality of life.

 

That's awesome. If the GOP succeeds in gutting Medicare, retirement will become a myth.

 

If they gut Social Security and Medicare, we're screwed.