In 10 to 15 years all of the 401k retirees won't have any wealth at all

However it does play well for letting the younguns' take control of the only financial security they may ever have: Mom & Pop's home & pensions. LOL. Fortunately, my son has always known that he is our pension plan & my personal legacy to him is my huge collection of salt & pepper shakers.

Yes, many cognitive functions decline as we get older, but IMHO this is a huge load of crap. The Boomers have been betrayed by the society that adored us when we were working, paying lotsa taxes, & consuming like bass turds.

Now that we're old, wrinkled & our health is failing, we ain't good for much. It always helps (when someone is picking your pockets) to note that "they're" doing it for our own good.

Destroy Medicare and in its place give seniors vouchers so they can be courted by dozens of competing insurance plans, each with different rates, rates of rate increases, coverage levels, and exclusions. What could possibly go wrong?

That's rich. If anything, you only betrayed yourselves. Who could've known that the generation responsible for massive anti-war protests against the Vietnam War would steer America into waging multiple simultaneous wars across the globe and creating an oppressive security state at home? Or that the generation which rebelled against consumerism and conformity would lead the country into avaricious deregulated capitalism and ever-widening income inequality? That so many from the generation which championed civil rights would come to hold such bigoted views against gay rights? That the generation that brought us the concept of free love would wind up challenging womens' right to choose? That the generation notorious for psychedelic drug use would continue to wage the hopelessly Sisyphean War on Drugs?

The real baby boomer financial apocalypse is how indebted that generation is leaving the U.S. (and several E.U. nations as well). Few American generations have managed to leave the nation more indebted and less economically competitive than when they themselves entered the labor force, but the Boomers are accomplishing this neat feat. It's only going to get worse as they go into retirement and place a greater burden on the healthcare system.

My advice to most peers (boomers) is to get the hell out of the stock market, including mutuals. The fact is this current market has been built on quicksand since the financial collapse of 2008. There are still 13 plus million unemployed, half long term (over 6 months) and another 5-6 million dropped totally off the unemployment rolls since they're deemed no longer looking for work. Hence, no longer unemployed but 'discouraged'.

The point is that none of those 20 -odd million can spend and prop up the consumer economy. Hence, any company that provides services or products that show growth in excess of 3% or so, e.g. reflected in more than 3% returns, can't be on the up and up and must be playing the numbers (e.g. buying back their own shares to jack up their value). One way this has been done is via the Federal Reserve's 'quantitative easing 2' (or QE2) which has enormously helped to prop up stocks that otherwise would've collapsed by now. QE2 like QE1 has at the same time made loads of cheap money available for parasites to latch onto, while it has driven rates on bonds and fixed income investments so low (including by keeping interest rates near zero) that it's literally driven desperate people (chasing yield) into the maw of Maul Street.

Of course, the usual codswallop is often trotted out by hacks: i.e. "over the past 50 years inflation has averaged 4.1% and during that time large cap stocks returned an annualized 9.8%" This statistic is deceptive, since it isn't useful at all to anyone with a short time horizon or living in an aberrant financial environment (as we are now) is seen by these stock peddlers as some kind of balm.

What honest writers need to do is direct people to one of the most enlightening articles that ever appeared in The Wall Street Journal, on Nov. 27, 2003, page D1, 'A Harsh Truth: Most of Your Investments Won't Make Money- Even in the Long Term' The piece basically blows to kingdom come the standard nonsense peddled by paid stock and shows more realistically that most folks (certainly small fry) get returns only barely near high end CDs (2-3%) after paying taxes, fees, etc.

Thus, all a person(aging boomer) needs is 3-4 good immediate fixed annuities to ensure money won't run out. Say a guy has $400,000 saved in a 401k, then he can likely purchase three annuities if he wants, pulling in respectively: $800/mo., $1200/mo. and $600/ mo. Add on Social Security (say $1200/mo.) and that translates into $3800/ month or $45,600 a year. If his wife follows the same practice, and even assuming her 401k and S.S. is 40% less (because females earn less than males) that's another $2280/month or $27360/year for a total income for the couple of: $72,960. That's more than enough to live comfortably, including traveling. Even better if the couple has paid off its home, as most do.

There are also a gazillion ways to beat inflation, including with prescription drugs, and utilities etc. Those interested should consult Vicki Robbins and Joe Domniguez excellent book on simplicity, Your Money or Your Life.

Remember that the siren calls of the financial hacks and flacks are mainly because they want your money: easy money! That's the only mistake boomers need to avoid!