US middle class in collapse. Seniors relegated into extreme poverty.
Posted by GOG on November 11, 2026, 6:13 am
One need only look at the plight of American retirees. While SS is said to have not been meant as a retirement plan, the reality is it’s a lot less remuneration than what is legal. The SS cost of living index has been low balled for years. Inflation at 10% and SS increase 2.8%, as an example. Thusly, year after year the purchasing power of that measly check is driving retirees out of decent housing and food. Were SS to do what the law requires, the massive numbers of homeless senior would plummet. So too would van and camper residency. Let’s not forget we all pay into the SS system for years. It’s a trust fund. Granted it is somewhat subsidized. The amount paid out per month is based on the lousy low wages paid to workers. And further disrespect is slung at the elderly retirees because it’s their fault for not planning ahead. Yet, the entire system is based on the paying low wages so that upper crust rising tides lift 500 foot yachts, and support six houses on six continents. That crust-amalgamated wealth came from small town merchants. America is littered with hollowed out zombie towns. As Ross Perot predicted, that “giant sucking sound” has become a crescendo. As for the middle class seniors slice of the ‘pie’, many thousands are nomads out on the deserts living in vans and dilapidated RV communities cast aside into subsistence survival. The destruction began under the seesaw Clinton and Baby Bush regimes.
who have spent a lifetime working and paying into the system. Once they retire they are looked upon as a burden. We literally, as a society, throw them away and grab as much of their holdings as we can.
In the meantime the wealthy and ultra wealthy have the financial means to manipulate money. They do not pay taxes on the increased value of their stock holdings until they sell the stocks because it is considered unrealized profits. (Wouldn't it be great if our property holdings worked the same way? The value of your house, chances are, increases every year and you pay taxes on that increase even if you don't sell the property.) They borrow against their own stock holdings. The money stream from this kind of self-loan is not legally considered income. And they can continue to hold the stock as it continues to gain value. The middle class doesn't posses this kind of wealth to play this financial game. They become the losers who have to pay taxes on an already limited income. (You can not borrow against stock holdings in such accounts as 401Ks and IRAs.)
There are other manipulations. Youtube has videos that explain how they escape paying their fair share. Also:
• Paying Only the Interest: Borrowers typically make periodic interest-only payments rather than paying down the principal balance. • Covering Interest with Dividends or Cash Flow: The interest cost is often covered by small, regular cash payouts (such as stock dividends), business income, or cash flows from other investments. Because loans are not legally considered "income," the cash used to pay interest does not trigger the massive capital gains taxes that selling stock would. • Refinancing and Rolling the Debt: As their stock portfolio grows in value over time, banks allow them to increase their credit limit or take out a new, larger loan to pay off the old one while keeping extra cash on hand. This cycle of debt is sustainable as long as the portfolio's growth rate outpaces the low interest rate on the loan. • The "Buy, Borrow, Die" Strategy & Step-Up in Basis: In many cases, the principal is never paid back while the borrower is alive. When the individual passes away, their heirs receive the stock portfolio with a stepped-up cost basis (resetting the asset's value to its price at the time of death, which wipes out accumulated capital gains). The estate or heirs can then sell a portion of the tax-free stock to settle the bank loan. • The Risk (Margin Calls): This strategy works as long as the collateral (the stock) maintains its value. If the stock price crashes, it can trigger a margin call, forcing the borrower to post more cash/collateral or face the bank liquidating their shares.
(Google search)
Of course the system is designed to favor the rich. Ronald Reagan's trickle down economics was a joke. The money flows up into the pockets of the wealthy, not down.
"When the individual passes away, their heirs receive the stock portfolio with a stepped-up cost basis (resetting the asset's value to its price at the time of death, which wipes out accumulated capital gains)."
Not necessarily true. In many cases, the recipient takes on the donor's basis.
It's general information grabbed off of Google.
Posted by Maverick on November 11, 2026, 1:26 pm, in reply to "Minor correction."
I should have noted that but I didn't. That's on me.
Property taxes have skyrocketed, and the increases mostly benefit gummint workers.
He was all gaga over rich people, especially Annenberg and the Bloomingdale’s. He was from a small town. He and Miss Nancy forgot their roots and those who gave them all the advantages.
Thank the spendthrift politicians who inflated the currency destroying savings.
