Nice note, thank you for the info and perspective. I agree with all of it. I also greatly appreciate (and admit to ‘misunderestimating’ you) your ability to (1) add the SG to the issue and (2) understand the nuance of early Boomers vs late Boomers. And yeah, we’ve all been robbed on multiple fronts. I began my anti govt rants at age 12 when I got my first paycheck (1.65 per hour) and taxes were withheld. And a big chunk of my legal career was spent arguing with govt lawyers. I’m no fan. Of lawyers or the govt.

I put the ‘your screwed’ years at 55/56. Self serving perhaps as I was born in 55. But at the big company where I labored for 25 years, I watched all the early Boomers retire with full benefits and a pension after 25 years of service. But by the time I got to 25 years, all that had changed. I left with no pension and no benefits. My paralegal was 1.5 years younger than me with a couple years more service. When she left with 25 years and took a lump sum she got 1.1 million plus benefits. That was in 1999. When I bailed 2 years later (and I made a lot more money than her) all the formulas had changed. I got 200k and a clock. Great clock I will admit. A group of us sued, got our class certified, but eventually lost the lawsuit.

Lastly, I think you will appreciate this. We bailed out completely in 2011. I stopped working in 2008. We sold our house (at a loss) and moved onto our 35 ft sailboat. We still live on the boat today. Our expenses are low, we keep our income below the FED tax level, we have FL domicile (even though we don’t live there) so no state tax. No property tax. No electric, gas, or water bill. Up until 2018 we didn’t own a car. And we’ve been stacking metals since 2002. We also have something most people don’t, full mobility. If we don’t like the anchorage, marina, state, or country we are in we just move and our home goes with us. So we likely in better shape than most in that regard. We have no idea what we will do once we are too old to do ‘this’. Hopefully that’s at least a decade away.