Will America Grow up Before it Grows Old: How the Coming Social Security Crisis Threatens You, Your Family, and Your Country [Hardcover]

Peter G. Peterson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 8, 1996

The facts are plain: Social Security is headed for massive, unsustainable deficits in the next century. Politicians talk of a Social security "trust fund" but there are no hard assets in it--only government bonds. The reality is that Social Security is really a "pay as you go" system, with benefits to current retirees paid not out any saved trust funds but out of taxes on the payroll of today;s workforce.  But what will happen when these employees retire; when, in less than fifteen years, the 76 million members of the baby boom generation -- the largest in our history -- stop paying in and start taking money out? And what can we as individuals and as citizens do now to prevent these catastrophic deficits.

The crises towards which we are careening (by 2025, 1 American in 5 will be 65 or older and it will take an already overloaded 1.6 working Americans to support each retired person) will not only be felt personally by the many millions stranded with no savings and without benefits, but will shiver the country's economy as a whole as well as the world financial system.

With courage, clarity and incontrovertible evidence, Peterson spells out this huge -- if politically unmentionable -- problem more clearly than ever before and tells us what we must do now for our personal survival and that of our children.

According to recent polls, more young Americans believe in UFOs than think they will ever receive a Social Security check. Yet most Baby Boomers, as they approach retirement age, believe they will continue to live their present lifestyle in retirement -- without a fraction of the personal savings or pensions necessary to pay for the future they expect.

This aging population -- double today's load -- will depend on as few as 1.6 working Americans to support each retired person. Who will support this nation of Floridas?

In this short, powerful book, Peter G. Peterson, one of American's top investment bankers and a leading critic of our entitlement policy, spells out in the clearest possible language, with unmistakable numbers and easy-to-read charts, the disaster that lies ahead if we continue to ignore our low saving rate, our ballooning federal deficits, and our enormous unfunded and unsustainable commitments to retirees. Peterson reveals what politicians are afraid to admit: trillions of dollars of promised benefits for which no funds have been provided.

Shattering the myths surrounding this subject with hard facts and eye-opening views of the future, Peterson gives the most comprehensive and candid plan for a gradual, humane, fair, and realistic answer to the greatest challenge of the next century: transforming our political, economic, cultural, and social assumptions to adapt to the realities of the graying of America.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

"Demographics is destiny" writes Pete Peterson. The destiny in question is the looming fiscal crisis that he believes faces the United States early next century when the baby-boom generation retires, leaving only the much smaller baby-bust generation at work to keep the country's Social Security coffers full. Peterson, who is chairman of the Blackstone Group, a private investment bank, offers up some truly frightening numbers to support his dire prediction. He cites, among other statistics, the government's official projection that in 2040 the average worker will hand over 35 to 55 percent of each paycheck for Social Security and Medicare, compared with 17 percent in 1995. His solutions include raising the retirement age, hiking taxes, and limiting costly terminal care.

From Publishers Weekly

The conflict between the baby-boomer generation's expectations and the nation's fiscal realities (Medicare, Social Security funding, etc.) is treated with straightforward pragmatism by Peterson (Facing Up: How to Rescue the Economy from Crushing Debt). Addressing the question of how America will "prepare and pay for the growing dependency of our rapidly aging population," including boomers whose retirement is 15 years away, he counsels a return to personal savings and investment and increased productivity in the workplace. He acknowledges that reductions in benefits and entitlements will be required if thrift on a national scale is to be achieved. Whether one accepts Peterson's apodictic pronouncement that "Social Security is a vast Ponzi scheme in which only the first people in are big winners," his proposals for a graying America to return to an earlier generation's collective restraint are worthy advisories to which attention should be paid. Peterson is director of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Major ad/promo; author tour.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 237 pages
• Publisher: Random House; 1 edition (October 8, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0679452567
• ISBN-13: 978-0679452560
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.9 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,847,508 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A few thoughts, April 20, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Will America Grow up Before it Grows Old: How the Coming Social Security Crisis Threatens You, Your Family, and Your Country (Hardcover)

This book addresses the problem of growing government entitlement programs for Americans in light of limited resources for providing them. Yes, everyone should be aware of the funding problems. Mr. Peterson should be thanked for bringing out a book on the subject. The color graphs are quite attractive. The writing is quick and easy to read, but even though he says he is not an alarmist, that's the impression he gives. There are many assumptions which readers usually swallow whole and that's what is wrong with the presentation. The book states that Americans do not "save" enough and that the Japanese save more. It infers that the Japanese are better off. In comparison to the amount Americans have in terms of goods and services, the Japanese have much less to consume. First, Americans as a whole save as much as any people in other industrialized countries. Our saving is not just at the bank, but involves mortgage payments, insurance premiums and employer pensions. Very few people in Japan own or are buying their homes. If we counted ALL savings of Amnericans, it would equal savings of people in other countries. If in fact, greater "saving" is responsible for a growing economy and a higher standard of living, why has Japan with its high saving rate been in a recession for the past seven years? (During the same time period the U.S. economy has been growing more prosperous.) The graph on page 24 shows how many American workers are needed to support each U.S. social security beneficiary for selected years between 1955 and 2040. In 1955 it took 8.6 workers, in 1995 it was 3.3 workers per retiree and by the year 2040 there will be only two workers per beneficiary. (In 1995 workers AND retirees all had more of material goods than in 1955.) This is the same kind of projection that was used years ago when at the turn of the century it took 50 percent of the working population to provide enough food for everyone else in the country. Everyone thought it was an ominous sign that so many young people were leaving the farms and that there was sure to be shortages of food unless the trend was stopped. Well, by the 1930's we had food surpluses which continued right through the 1980's even though only two percent of the working population is in farming. Even now, if we did not sell our surplus farm products overseas, we would have surpluses. In the U.S. today it takes one average farmer to produce enough food to feed 90 people. Only a few decades ago it would have seemed impossible. Its not obvious what method was used to get the numbers on the federal government's "red ink" chart on page 18, but just recently a review of the federal government's report for 1995 indicated that the accumulated federal debt of approximately $20,000 (liability) per U.S. population is compared to $205,000 of public assets per U.S. population. There are very few organizations of any kind that have such a favorable balance. Yes, there should be more reliance on private funds for medical care for the elderly and also some level of means test. But also keep in mind that spending on medical care causes people to live longer and people living longer results in more spending on health care. If old people had to pay for life-lengthening medications, they might not spend as much and health care companies would not have the profits to fund more advanced products to keep more people living longer. Think of the implications--investments, employment, life spans, etc Out of the complications we see that with or without government involvement, the industries that grow and prosper are the ones that get funded, either privately or by government. Each area of decision-making is made up of lots of individual choices which together move mountains. We agree that no one should have the idea that people should rely on social security benefits to fund their retirements. As far as the past is concerned, people with ONLY social security have NOT lived real high. Mr. Peterson is right when he says that young people do NOT expect to live on social security benefits when they retire. And, so, THAT finding may be the solution yet.

1 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Peterson is a prophet, December 23, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Will America Grow up Before it Grows Old: How the Coming Social Security Crisis Threatens You, Your Family, and Your Country (Hardcover)

I have read this book and it scares me to death. People my age must realize that doing nothing is tantamount to giving our futures away. We must come to terms with the fact that there are 76 million Baby Boomers approaching retirement age, and there is no national plan to accomodate their pension and health needs. And to complicate matters, the problem is already occurring elsewhere around the world. Just read Peter Peterson's newest book, Gray Dawn.