為什么越來越多的嬰兒潮一代面臨破產(chǎn)

為什么越來越多的嬰兒潮一代面臨破產(chǎn)

According to a disturbing article in the paywalled Financial Times, more and more older people are showing up in American bankruptcy courts than ever before.

根據(jù)英國(guó)《金融時(shí)報(bào)》一篇令人不安的文章，越來越多的老年人出現(xiàn)在美國(guó)破產(chǎn)法庭上。

The culprits are vanishing pensions, soaring healthcare costs and tens of thousands of dollars in unpaid student loans for themselves, their children and even their grandchildren.

罪魁禍?zhǔn)资丘B(yǎng)老金的消失、醫(yī)療成本的飆升，以及他們自己、子女甚至孫輩數(shù)萬(wàn)美元的未償還助學(xué)貸款。

Patti Waldmeir of the Financial Times points to a 2018 study, Graying of U.S. Bankruptcy: Fallout from Life in a Risk Society, which crunched the numbers.

英國(guó)《金融時(shí)報(bào)》的帕蒂•瓦爾德梅爾指出，2018年的一項(xiàng)研究——《美國(guó)破產(chǎn)的灰色:風(fēng)險(xiǎn)社會(huì)生活的后果》——對(duì)數(shù)據(jù)進(jìn)行了分析。

Not all boomers are living the high life. Some are having a tough time making ends meet — and turning to social services and bankruptcy to make ends meet. (Photo: Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

In our data, older Americans report they are struggling with increased financial risks, namely inadequate income and unmanageable costs of healthcare, as they try to deal with reductions to their social safety net ... For an increasing number of older Americans, their golden years are fraught with economic risks, the result of which is often bankruptcy.

在我們的數(shù)據(jù)中，年長(zhǎng)的美國(guó)人報(bào)告說，他們正在努力應(yīng)對(duì)不斷增加的金融風(fēng)險(xiǎn)，即收入不足和醫(yī)療成本無(wú)法控制，因?yàn)樗麄冊(cè)噲D應(yīng)對(duì)社會(huì)保障體系的縮減。對(duì)于越來越多的美國(guó)老年人來說，他們的黃金歲月充滿了經(jīng)濟(jì)風(fēng)險(xiǎn)，其結(jié)果往往是破產(chǎn)。

The study follows a shift from defined pensions and a relatively strong social safety net to the concept of "personal responsibility." The report goes on to explain that starting in the Reagan years,

這項(xiàng)研究從養(yǎng)老金和相對(duì)強(qiáng)大的社會(huì)保障體系向“個(gè)人責(zé)任”的概念轉(zhuǎn)變。報(bào)告繼續(xù)解釋說，從里根時(shí)代開始，

Conservatives, free market advocates, and media promoted the image of older Americans as "a threat to economic viability" as thieves of our children's futures, and as "responsible for the nation's economic problems." In just a few decades, norms of privatized citizenship and individual responsibility upstaged the ideal of America's social welfare system. Financial risks were shunted off onto individuals, regardless of age. Many older Americans suffered greatly because of this movement toward "private responsibility," with their Social Security, retirement, and healthcare, among other protections, coming under attack.

保守派、自由市場(chǎng)倡導(dǎo)者和媒體將美國(guó)老年人的形象宣傳為“對(duì)經(jīng)濟(jì)生存能力的威脅”，是孩子未來的竊賊，是“對(duì)國(guó)家經(jīng)濟(jì)問題負(fù)有責(zé)任”。在短短幾十年里，私有化的公民身份和個(gè)人責(zé)任規(guī)范搶了美國(guó)社會(huì)福利制度理想的風(fēng)頭。金融風(fēng)險(xiǎn)被分散到個(gè)人身上，不分年齡。許多上了年紀(jì)的美國(guó)人深受“個(gè)人責(zé)任”運(yùn)動(dòng)的影響，他們的社會(huì)保障、退休、醫(yī)療保健以及其他保護(hù)措施都受到了攻擊。

The system works for a lot of people, especially those with fat 401K plans, inheritances from their silent generation parents, and the right kind of real estate. They get to pay lower taxes now and will be just fine later.

這個(gè)體系適用于很多人，尤其是那些擁有401K養(yǎng)老金計(jì)劃的人，他們從沉默的一代父母那里繼承了遺產(chǎn)，擁有合適的房地產(chǎn)。他們現(xiàn)在可以交更低的稅，以后也會(huì)沒事的。

The number of older people going bankrupt is skyrocketing. (Photo: Deborah Thorne et al/Graying of U.S. Bankruptcy report)

But not everyone is so lucky. Waldmeir describes the large portion of the population who don't. "Seniors are living longer and paying ever higher medical costs for the privilege of staying alive; many have little or no company pension and scant personal savings to fall back on."

但并不是每個(gè)人都這么幸運(yùn)。Waldmeir描述了大部分不這樣做的人。“老年人的壽命越來越長(zhǎng)，為了活下去的權(quán)利，他們要支付越來越高的醫(yī)療費(fèi)用;許多人沒有或只有很少的公司養(yǎng)老金，也沒有多少個(gè)人儲(chǔ)蓄可以依靠。”

Many are also helping their kids, and even buying diapers for grandchildren, and have been unable to build up a nest egg.

許多人也在幫助他們的孩子，甚至給孫子孫女買尿布，但卻無(wú)法存下足夠的錢。

We haven't even addressed demographics here. The fact remains that the social safety net is not getting any stronger, and the population is getting older, with 10,000 more baby boomers surpassing 65 years old every day. Since 1991, the number of people over 65 declaring bankruptcy is up almost 500%, and the number over 75 years old is up almost 1,000% percent. In a few years they'll need to add an 85+ line on the table. By 2029, when all 70 million baby boomers are over 65, those bankruptcy courts are going to be very busy, and a lot of people are going to be wondering how they missed that "private responsibility" thing.

我們甚至還沒有解決人口統(tǒng)計(jì)問題。事實(shí)仍然是，社會(huì)保障體系沒有變得更強(qiáng)，人口也在變老，嬰兒潮時(shí)期出生的人每天都有1萬(wàn)多人超過65歲。自1991年以來，65歲以上宣布破產(chǎn)的人數(shù)增加了近500%，75歲以上宣布破產(chǎn)的人數(shù)增加了近1000%。幾年后，他們將需要在談判桌上加上一條85+的底線。到2029年，當(dāng)所有7000萬(wàn)嬰兒潮時(shí)期出生的人都超過65歲時(shí)，那些破產(chǎn)法庭將會(huì)非常忙碌，許多人將會(huì)想，他們是如何錯(cuò)過了“個(gè)人責(zé)任”的事情。