Aging in Place
Aging in Place
Today the United States faces many challenges, challenges that mirror the changing world we live in as well as the changing dynamics of our country as a whole. There is more than a few issues on the horizon for America, and many of these issues can be tied directly to government expenditures. Not the least of which is our current position on social security spending; arguably becoming the largest Ponzi scheme the world has ever seen. However, it is the details that really accentuate the complexity and scale of this ever growing budgetary concern. In 2012 social security spending totaled 819.7 billion dollars. Making it the number two largest expense in the in our government spending structure, second only to defense by a margin of just two percent. This however is only part of the picture when it comes to Aging in America and recognizing the true value of the problem we are facing over the next twenty to thirty years. The reason is that social security is tied directly to demographics in America. Age to be precise, and there is one other very important and very large contributing factor to spending that is directly related to seniors living in America. This portion of the debt can be labeled Medicare pertaining to seniors. 484.5 billion was the total in the 2012 budget . These two figures combined sum to 1304.2 billion dollars, representing 35 percent of the budget spending in our country for 2012. Combined they are the largest expense we currently incur in government spending. Eleven percent larger than the runner up which is defense spending at 24 percent in 2012. What’s even scarier? By 2017 these two will make up 38.2 percent of total government spending. Totaling 1733.3 billion dollar shelled out to seniors in America . That means that at the current pace by 2017 this portion of our budget will grow by 75 percent in terms of dollars spent, and that’s just when the first baby boomers are really going to start and age into retirement. So then
Today the United States faces many challenges, challenges that mirror the changing world we live in as well as the changing dynamics of our country as a whole. There is more than a few issues on the horizon for America, and many of these issues can be tied directly to government expenditures. Not the least of which is our current position on social security spending; arguably becoming the largest Ponzi scheme the world has ever seen. However, it is the details that really accentuate the complexity and scale of this ever growing budgetary concern. In 2012 social security spending totaled 819.7 billion dollars. Making it the number two largest expense in the in our government spending structure, second only to defense by a margin of just two percent. This however is only part of the picture when it comes to Aging in America and recognizing the true value of the problem we are facing over the next twenty to thirty years. The reason is that social security is tied directly to demographics in America. Age to be precise, and there is one other very important and very large contributing factor to spending that is directly related to seniors living in America. This portion of the debt can be labeled Medicare pertaining to seniors. 484.5 billion was the total in the 2012 budget . These two figures combined sum to 1304.2 billion dollars, representing 35 percent of the budget spending in our country for 2012. Combined they are the largest expense we currently incur in government spending. Eleven percent larger than the runner up which is defense spending at 24 percent in 2012. What’s even scarier? By 2017 these two will make up 38.2 percent of total government spending. Totaling 1733.3 billion dollar shelled out to seniors in America . That means that at the current pace by 2017 this portion of our budget will grow by 75 percent in terms of dollars spent, and that’s just when the first baby boomers are really going to start and age into retirement. So then
Cited: Brandon, Emily. Huffingtonpost.com. 18 February 2013. 06 March 2013. Chantrill, Christopher. usgovernmentspending.com. 06 March 2013. 06 March 2013. LLP, Pepper Hamilton. JD Supra Law News. 7 January 2013. 6 March 2013. US Immigration. usimmigration.com. 06 March 2013. 06 March 2013. US Social Security Administration. ssa.gov. 20 September 2012. 6 March 2013.