Quote Originally Posted by Entropy View Post
I have not seen any evidence that a substantial portion of the boomer generation is planning for, much less willing or able to forgoe social security and medicare in retirement.
I didn't say they'd be forgoing the entitlements, I said they wouldn't be depending on them. There's a difference.

We're looking at two different questions: I'm trying to assess the impact of retirement on the private sector economy, you're looking at government finances.

The Government's financial status stands or falls on the health (or lack thereof) of the private sector economy. Given the current fiscal realities, ultimately government will have to spend less, tax more, print more money, or some combination of the above. Government's ability to do these things depends on the private sector economy, which is what we need to be primarily concerned with.

It is true that the US will probably have to spend less on defense, and I do not see that as a bad thing, or as a trend that must necessarily compromise national security.