April 22, 2024 • 19 mins
Are we ready to face the silver tsunami? America's aging population is ushering in a crisis that demands our immediate attention, and it's time we take a hard look at the future that lies ahead. Join me, Annheete Oakley, on the Magnificent Ones Podcast, where we're not just sounding the alarm but also exploring the solutions necessary for a society bracing for the impact. As we dissect the economic implications of skyrocketing healthcare costs and inflation, we'll confront the transformation of the middle class and the growing vulnerability of our senior citizens. Prepare to engage in a vital conversation about the role of empathy and strategic planning in this new reality, and discover how we can collectively steer our nation towards a more secure horizon for all generations.
This dialogue isn't just about identifying problems; it's about taking responsibility and demanding action. We scrutinize the apparent disconnection between our government officials and the everyday struggles of Americans, questioning who will bear the financial burdens of an aging generation. It's a discussion that intertwines the practical with the emotional, as we reflect through music on our shared journey towards protecting the freedoms we cherish. By examining the size and effectiveness of our government and our role as active citizens, we aim to spark a fire under our leaders and fellow citizens alike. It's a call to arms, an episode filled with urgency and heart, beckoning you to join us as we search for solutions and solidarity in the face of a national concern that affects both the young and the old.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
5, 4, 3, 2, 1.
Take a breath, let's dive in.
Hello and welcome to theMagnificent Ones Podcast.
I'm your host, anit Oakley.
(00:21):
Thank you for tuning in.
Today's episode is about theaging American population, and
what does the future hold for us?
10 years from now, 20 yearsfrom now, with healthcare costs
on the rise, the cost of livingnever seems to be going down,
but always going up.
(00:42):
Be going down, but always goingup.
How will we meet thesechallenges later on down the
road?
Will the cost of bread be $50?
Or will we have these issuessolved by then?
Regardless, no one's talkingabout these major issues that
will plague us down the road.
I think that politicians tendto be too nearsighted and they
(01:02):
tend to shy away from issuesthat will plague us later on
down the road.
With that being said, I wouldlike you to do as the
introduction says to take abreath and dive in and, once
again, thank you for joining theMagnificent Ones Podcast.
If you had $33,000 40 years ago, that is the equivalent to
(01:28):
making $164,000 as of 2023.
What is the middle class?
All I can say is the middleclass is truly dead.
In the 1950s, the averagehousehold income was around
$3,000 per year.
The average home was around$5,000, which meant you could
(01:56):
easily own a home.
The average house at presentcosts around $450,000 in today's
market the bare minimum ofmiddle class today.
No-transcript.
Let's be real.
Most of us just don't have thatkind of money.
(02:21):
We're not making that.
The average household todaypays between $6,000 to $8,000
per year for health insurance.
That's a huge portion of theirincome going towards healthcare.
Current inflation rate isaround 3.75% and, of course,
(02:46):
these matrices.
You know metrics as they change.
I can't say that I have all theanswers to everything.
What middle class is, how muchmoney it takes to be middle
class all these numbers areever-changing.
However, I can say that thefuture is not bright.
The cost of food is alwayssurging.
(03:09):
An apple was once 99 cents, isnow three dollars in some places
, is now $3 in some places.
A bottle of water isn't cheapanymore.
Your cheapest alternatives theyare no longer the cheapest
alternative.
There was once a thing calledthe dollar store.
Now they're the $1.50 store.
(03:31):
Walmart was your cheapestoption.
Now that is not the case.
Resources are in limitedsupplies.
Regardless, this episode isabout the aging American
population.
In order to look at this topic,we have to also look at what's
(03:53):
going around in the fields ofeconomics and what the
government is doing.
What policies are in place tohelp those who cannot help
themselves?
One of the things that you'velearned throughout history is
that the most vulnerable insocieties tend to be the elderly
(04:14):
and children, those who cannottruly fend for themselves after
a certain point, and that's whyI think that the aging American
population is a crisis, and it'ssomething that no one seems to
be talking about.
These issues will reverberatefor many more years to come.
(04:40):
What will we do when we have alarge amount of people who are
unable to work and they're justliving?
Who will pay for that cost?
Will it be the very limitedpeople who would be considered
the middle class?
Will it be the ultra-wealthy?
(05:02):
Will it be the poor?
Who will pay for those whocannot take care of themselves?
Whose responsibility is that?
Is it the government?
Is it society?
I cannot give you a definiteanswer, but I can say that at
least we need to be talkingabout this, so we have various
(05:25):
options to explore later on downthe line.
They say that empathy is puttingyourself in the place of others
.
Now I'd like you to askyourself where will you be 30
years from now, those ingovernment who would like to
(05:46):
raise the retirement age to 70,.
Meanwhile, they watch us barelyget by.
It's quite telling about ourdemocracy.
It's quite telling about ourdemocracy.
You see, democrats andRepublicans.
They fight about so many thingsin politics, yet they both seem
(06:07):
to always agree on givingthemselves a raise.
They vote on when they get araise.
They vote on how much of araise they get.
Imagine you going to your bossone day and saying hey, this is
what I want for a raise and thisis when I want my raise.
And your performance isinadequate.
The American government isfailing, and when they fail, we
(06:34):
pay the price.
And yet they get rewarded fortheir failure.
They're not in touch with theAmerican people and the daily
issues that we all face and, assuch, I find a great deal of
issue with that, because, onceagain, education does not get
(06:56):
adequate funding, yet you havepoliticians that take private
jets to work every single day onthe taxpayer's dime.
Again, I'm not a politician,I'm just a concerned citizen
that wants to know what are wegoing to do about the aging
(07:18):
American population 30 yearsfrom now?
Where will you be?
Will you be retiring or willyou be attempting to figure out
what to do in order for you toget your life in order so you
can retire.
These are things that I don'thave the answer for either, but
(07:40):
I think we should get the ballrolling on possible options.
The government tends to beextremely short-sighted, and so
are we, the people.
The government merely is just areflection of who we are as it
stands.
(08:01):
We are always finding reasonsto be more and more divided, and
the more divided we are, wetend to not look at the issues
that are truly at hand.
Now as it stands, there arearound 350 million inhabitants
in the United States.
Life expectancy is around 80years, and some people might say
(08:25):
80 years.
That's a long time away, but ifyou really think about it, the
issues are right now.
We are an aging population withfewer and fewer children.
When we retire, who will occupythe jobs that we believe vacant
(08:45):
, those job slots?
I don't know.
17% of our population right nowis around age 65 and older, and
22% of our population is 18years and younger.
65% of our total populationexists between 15 to 64 years of
(09:14):
age and, with with medicaladvances, people are living
longer.
And if more and more people areliving longer and fewer and
fewer people are dying.
Who will take care of thatpopulation that will not be
working?
I mean, think about this 30years from now, more than half
(09:36):
of the American population willbe at retirement age or close to
it, and that's a scary thoughtthat no one is talking about.
And if we don't talk aboutthese issues, then how will we
know possible solutions toremedy them issues and how will
(09:58):
we know possible solutions toremedy them?
I don't have the answer to anyof these things.
I'm not an expert in an agingpopulation or all of the
possible things that will comeabout because of it.
I do know that when there's alarge amount of people that are
not working, it creates astagnant economy, it creates
high rates of inflation, andwhat will we do in that
(10:21):
situation where the cost ofbread is $50, the cost of
clothing is astronomical and theidea of owning a home is
non-existent?
A home is non-existent.
Again, I am not an expert, I amjust a person.
(10:42):
But I am a person that isthinking, and I am thinking that
this is a crisis.
Who will pay for the agingpopulation?
Will it be social security?
Will that even exist?
I surely don't think so.
Not everyone has an IRA, a 401k, a pension, let alone what will
(11:13):
be left for social securitywith so many people depending on
it?
Will the government raise taxeson everyone else?
Will they tax the rich, middleclass and poor in order to pay
for those who cannot take careof themselves?
What are the solutions?
Healthcare costs willinevitably increase.
The cost of living is alreadyon the rise.
(11:34):
Home ownership is next toimpossible, and even if you
manage to own a home paid off,the government can still tax you
out of ownership due to highproperty taxes.
Our population is aging andfewer and fewer people are
having children.
So who will take care of thosewho cannot take care of
(11:56):
themselves 30 years from now, 20years from now?
When recording this podcastepisode, I didn't know what
direction to take.
Should I be a person that's ayou know, sound like a
conspiracy theorist, or a personthat simply posed questions?
(12:17):
And I chose that To posequestions for us to think about.
We're getting older.
How are we expected to enjoylife If we cannot even take care
of those who can't take care ofthemselves?
If we're taxed, to kingdom come, what will quality of life look
(12:41):
like for everyone else?
What are we supposed to do tomeet this challenge head-on?
I wish I had the answer to thisquestion, but I can say that in
the end, only the elderly willtruly feel the cost in the end.
(13:08):
When there are hurricanes andnatural disasters and there are
more old people, when there arehurricanes and natural disasters
and there are more old peoplethan they are young, who will
take care of those people?
When there are not enoughhospital beds, who will take
care of the people?
When there are not enoughdoctors per patient, who will
(13:34):
take care of the people?
When it's time to retire andthe government says let's raise
the retirement age, that meansyou have to spend most of your
life working, and you work tothe point in which you don't
even get to relax the last fewyears of your life working, and
you work to the point in whichyou don't even get to relax the
last few years of your lifebecause you're spending it
(13:56):
working.
That is no quality of life.
That is literally workingyourself to death Again.
Only we, the people, will paythat.
So what can we do?
(14:16):
Do we simply sit idly by whiletime keeps moving forward and we
take no necessary steps toaddress this issue, which I do
feel is a crisis.
It's just a crisis that hasn'thit yet.
I leave you is a crisis.
It's just a crisis that hasn'thit yet.
(14:37):
I leave you with this messagein the form of a song.
I may not know what to trulysay to connect to every
individual on this planet, but Iknow that music can sometimes
draw us closer together, and soI had someone work on a song for
(14:59):
this episode.
I may not be the best speakerthere is or the most well-read,
but I am one that cares aboutgreater humanity.
I care about the future, I careabout the children, I care
about the elderly.
I want a world of endlesspossibilities for everyone, and
(15:29):
so we have to hold those inpower accountable for their
actions.
Maybe the solution is smallergovernment, or maybe it is the
American people finally wakingup one day and holding our
politicians accountable andholding them to a higher level
(15:54):
of conductive servitude.
They're here to serve us.
We're not simply here to betheir piggy bank, for them to
tax and to do as they please.
We make endless sacrifices, andso our government needs to do
more.
Our government needs tofunction and serve.
(16:21):
It is up to us to ensure thatour future is a great one.
Democracy isn't free.
Our freedom isn't free.
Our freedom isn't free.
We have, we can lose it all.
(16:42):
If we simply take everythingfor granted, we will not stay
young forever.
We must live life knowing thatwe are mortal and we're either
going to die old or we're goingto die young, or somewhere in
between.
But regardless, it is up toeach and every one of us to make
(17:08):
this future a good one.
So, once again, thank you forjoining the Magnificent Ones
podcast.
Speaker 2 (17:27):
In the land of dreams , where stars used to shine,
there's a tale of a nation agingwith time.
A melancholic melody whispersin the air as the years go by,
(18:02):
with burdens hard to bear.
Oh America, your golden daysare gone, the Asian population
(18:25):
forgotten and alone, alone,politicians in their castles
with eyes that cannot see.
So what are they doing for youand me?
(18:49):
For you, and me.
Speaker 1 (18:54):
Thank you.
5, 4, 3, 2, 1.
Take a breath, let's dive in.
Hello and welcome to theMagnificent Ones Podcast.
I'm your host, anit Oakley.
(00:21):
Thank you for tuning in.
Today's episode is about theaging American population, and
what does the future hold for us?
10 years from now, 20 yearsfrom now, with healthcare costs
on the rise, the cost of livingnever seems to be going down,
but always going up.
(00:42):
Be going down, but always goingup.
How will we meet thesechallenges later on down the
road?
Will the cost of bread be $50?
Or will we have these issuessolved by then?
Regardless, no one's talkingabout these major issues that
will plague us down the road.
I think that politicians tendto be too nearsighted and they
(01:02):
tend to shy away from issuesthat will plague us later on
down the road.
With that being said, I wouldlike you to do as the
introduction says to take abreath and dive in and, once
again, thank you for joining theMagnificent Ones Podcast.
If you had $33,000 40 years ago, that is the equivalent to
(01:28):
making $164,000 as of 2023.
What is the middle class?
All I can say is the middleclass is truly dead.
In the 1950s, the averagehousehold income was around
$3,000 per year.
The average home was around$5,000, which meant you could
(01:56):
easily own a home.
The average house at presentcosts around $450,000 in today's
market the bare minimum ofmiddle class today.
No-transcript.
Let's be real.
Most of us just don't have thatkind of money.
(02:21):
We're not making that.
The average household todaypays between $6,000 to $8,000
per year for health insurance.
That's a huge portion of theirincome going towards healthcare.
Current inflation rate isaround 3.75% and, of course,
(02:46):
these matrices.
You know metrics as they change.
I can't say that I have all theanswers to everything.
What middle class is, how muchmoney it takes to be middle
class all these numbers areever-changing.
However, I can say that thefuture is not bright.
The cost of food is alwayssurging.
(03:09):
An apple was once 99 cents, isnow three dollars in some places
, is now $3 in some places.
A bottle of water isn't cheapanymore.
Your cheapest alternatives theyare no longer the cheapest
alternative.
There was once a thing calledthe dollar store.
Now they're the $1.50 store.
(03:31):
Walmart was your cheapestoption.
Now that is not the case.
Resources are in limitedsupplies.
Regardless, this episode isabout the aging American
population.
In order to look at this topic,we have to also look at what's
(03:53):
going around in the fields ofeconomics and what the
government is doing.
What policies are in place tohelp those who cannot help
themselves?
One of the things that you'velearned throughout history is
that the most vulnerable insocieties tend to be the elderly
(04:14):
and children, those who cannottruly fend for themselves after
a certain point, and that's whyI think that the aging American
population is a crisis, and it'ssomething that no one seems to
be talking about.
These issues will reverberatefor many more years to come.
(04:40):
What will we do when we have alarge amount of people who are
unable to work and they're justliving?
Who will pay for that cost?
Will it be the very limitedpeople who would be considered
the middle class?
Will it be the ultra-wealthy?
(05:02):
Will it be the poor?
Who will pay for those whocannot take care of themselves?
Whose responsibility is that?
Is it the government?
Is it society?
I cannot give you a definiteanswer, but I can say that at
least we need to be talkingabout this, so we have various
(05:25):
options to explore later on downthe line.
They say that empathy is puttingyourself in the place of others
.
Now I'd like you to askyourself where will you be 30
years from now, those ingovernment who would like to
(05:46):
raise the retirement age to 70,.
Meanwhile, they watch us barelyget by.
It's quite telling about ourdemocracy.
It's quite telling about ourdemocracy.
You see, democrats andRepublicans.
They fight about so many thingsin politics, yet they both seem
(06:07):
to always agree on givingthemselves a raise.
They vote on when they get araise.
They vote on how much of araise they get.
Imagine you going to your bossone day and saying hey, this is
what I want for a raise and thisis when I want my raise.
And your performance isinadequate.
The American government isfailing, and when they fail, we
(06:34):
pay the price.
And yet they get rewarded fortheir failure.
They're not in touch with theAmerican people and the daily
issues that we all face and, assuch, I find a great deal of
issue with that, because, onceagain, education does not get
(06:56):
adequate funding, yet you havepoliticians that take private
jets to work every single day onthe taxpayer's dime.
Again, I'm not a politician,I'm just a concerned citizen
that wants to know what are wegoing to do about the aging
(07:18):
American population 30 yearsfrom now?
Where will you be?
Will you be retiring or willyou be attempting to figure out
what to do in order for you toget your life in order so you
can retire.
These are things that I don'thave the answer for either, but
(07:40):
I think we should get the ballrolling on possible options.
The government tends to beextremely short-sighted, and so
are we, the people.
The government merely is just areflection of who we are as it
stands.
(08:01):
We are always finding reasonsto be more and more divided, and
the more divided we are, wetend to not look at the issues
that are truly at hand.
Now as it stands, there arearound 350 million inhabitants
in the United States.
Life expectancy is around 80years, and some people might say
(08:25):
80 years.
That's a long time away, but ifyou really think about it, the
issues are right now.
We are an aging population withfewer and fewer children.
When we retire, who will occupythe jobs that we believe vacant
(08:45):
, those job slots?
I don't know.
17% of our population right nowis around age 65 and older, and
22% of our population is 18years and younger.
65% of our total populationexists between 15 to 64 years of
(09:14):
age and, with with medicaladvances, people are living
longer.
And if more and more people areliving longer and fewer and
fewer people are dying.
Who will take care of thatpopulation that will not be
working?
I mean, think about this 30years from now, more than half
(09:36):
of the American population willbe at retirement age or close to
it, and that's a scary thoughtthat no one is talking about.
And if we don't talk aboutthese issues, then how will we
know possible solutions toremedy them issues and how will
(09:58):
we know possible solutions toremedy them?
I don't have the answer to anyof these things.
I'm not an expert in an agingpopulation or all of the
possible things that will comeabout because of it.
I do know that when there's alarge amount of people that are
not working, it creates astagnant economy, it creates
high rates of inflation, andwhat will we do in that
(10:21):
situation where the cost ofbread is $50, the cost of
clothing is astronomical and theidea of owning a home is
non-existent?
A home is non-existent.
Again, I am not an expert, I amjust a person.
(10:42):
But I am a person that isthinking, and I am thinking that
this is a crisis.
Who will pay for the agingpopulation?
Will it be social security?
Will that even exist?
I surely don't think so.
Not everyone has an IRA, a 401k, a pension, let alone what will
(11:13):
be left for social securitywith so many people depending on
it?
Will the government raise taxeson everyone else?
Will they tax the rich, middleclass and poor in order to pay
for those who cannot take careof themselves?
What are the solutions?
Healthcare costs willinevitably increase.
The cost of living is alreadyon the rise.
(11:34):
Home ownership is next toimpossible, and even if you
manage to own a home paid off,the government can still tax you
out of ownership due to highproperty taxes.
Our population is aging andfewer and fewer people are
having children.
So who will take care of thosewho cannot take care of
(11:56):
themselves 30 years from now, 20years from now?
When recording this podcastepisode, I didn't know what
direction to take.
Should I be a person that's ayou know, sound like a
conspiracy theorist, or a personthat simply posed questions?
(12:17):
And I chose that To posequestions for us to think about.
We're getting older.
How are we expected to enjoylife If we cannot even take care
of those who can't take care ofthemselves?
If we're taxed, to kingdom come, what will quality of life look
(12:41):
like for everyone else?
What are we supposed to do tomeet this challenge head-on?
I wish I had the answer to thisquestion, but I can say that in
the end, only the elderly willtruly feel the cost in the end.
(13:08):
When there are hurricanes andnatural disasters and there are
more old people, when there arehurricanes and natural disasters
and there are more old peoplethan they are young, who will
take care of those people?
When there are not enoughhospital beds, who will take
care of the people?
When there are not enoughdoctors per patient, who will
(13:34):
take care of the people?
When it's time to retire andthe government says let's raise
the retirement age, that meansyou have to spend most of your
life working, and you work tothe point in which you don't
even get to relax the last fewyears of your life working, and
you work to the point in whichyou don't even get to relax the
last few years of your lifebecause you're spending it
(13:56):
working.
That is no quality of life.
That is literally workingyourself to death Again.
Only we, the people, will paythat.
So what can we do?
(14:16):
Do we simply sit idly by whiletime keeps moving forward and we
take no necessary steps toaddress this issue, which I do
feel is a crisis.
It's just a crisis that hasn'thit yet.
I leave you is a crisis.
It's just a crisis that hasn'thit yet.
(14:37):
I leave you with this messagein the form of a song.
I may not know what to trulysay to connect to every
individual on this planet, but Iknow that music can sometimes
draw us closer together, and soI had someone work on a song for
(14:59):
this episode.
I may not be the best speakerthere is or the most well-read,
but I am one that cares aboutgreater humanity.
I care about the future, I careabout the children, I care
about the elderly.
I want a world of endlesspossibilities for everyone, and
(15:29):
so we have to hold those inpower accountable for their
actions.
Maybe the solution is smallergovernment, or maybe it is the
American people finally wakingup one day and holding our
politicians accountable andholding them to a higher level
(15:54):
of conductive servitude.
They're here to serve us.
We're not simply here to betheir piggy bank, for them to
tax and to do as they please.
We make endless sacrifices, andso our government needs to do
more.
Our government needs tofunction and serve.
(16:21):
It is up to us to ensure thatour future is a great one.
Democracy isn't free.
Our freedom isn't free.
Our freedom isn't free.
We have, we can lose it all.
(16:42):
If we simply take everythingfor granted, we will not stay
young forever.
We must live life knowing thatwe are mortal and we're either
going to die old or we're goingto die young, or somewhere in
between.
But regardless, it is up toeach and every one of us to make
(17:08):
this future a good one.
So, once again, thank you forjoining the Magnificent Ones
podcast.
Speaker 2 (17:27):
In the land of dreams , where stars used to shine,
there's a tale of a nation agingwith time.
A melancholic melody whispersin the air as the years go by,
(18:02):
with burdens hard to bear.
Oh America, your golden daysare gone, the Asian population
(18:25):
forgotten and alone, alone,politicians in their castles
with eyes that cannot see.
So what are they doing for youand me?
(18:49):
For you, and me.
Speaker 1 (18:54):
Thank you.
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