Your grandparents are bankrupting you

Today's retirees are the wealthiest cohort of Americans. The median household headed by someone over age 65 is far wealthier than the average household headed by someone in their late 30s. Despite that, roughly 22 cents of every dollar the federal government spent last year was funneled to retirees via Social Security. Medicare spending accounted for another 14 percent. Many of those dollars were extracted from younger, poorer Americans. (The rest were borrowed and added to the national debt.) A retired couple today might possess a robust retirement account and own a million-dollar home, but the government still acts as if they live in the poverty-stricken hellscape that O'Neill described. And as the old have gotten wealthier, the taxpayer-funded benefits have only gotten more lavish. Social Security provides inflation-proof monthly payments, keeping retirees ahead of the curve even as working-age Americans struggle to make ends meet. In many places, seniors are gifted special exemptions from taxes on homes and vehicles that aren't available to younger Americans. Medicare, created to address seniors' medical needs, now offers such taxpayer-funded perks as discounted golf course fees, ski resort lift tickets, even pet supplies and pickleball equipment. In short: Today's old-age entitlement system is not a last-resort guardrail against poverty and desolation. It is a sprawling, expensive lifestyle-subsidy program that steals from the poor to give to the rich—while also worsening the housing crisis and pushing the country toward a dangerous fiscal cliff. Producer: Eric Boehm Video editor: Regan McDaniel Graphics: Adani Samat Audio Production: Ian Keyser Color Correction: Cody Huff Photo Credits: Artvee; Library of Congress; Mark Reinstein/ZUMA Press/Newscom; IMAGO/Jochen Tack/Newscom; Everett Collection/Newscom; Anthony Behar/Sipa USA/Newscom; Andrew Leyden/ZUMAPRESS/Newscom; Michael Siluk/UCG/Universal Images Group/Newscom; Jakub Porzycki/ZUMAPRESS/Newscom; Phil Nijhuis/ANP/Newscom Music Credits: ElevenLabs; Albatross, Tomorrow by ANBR, “Thoughts,” by ANBR, “Eminence Landscapes,” by Ian Post, “Endless Fields,” by Ian Post, “Premiere,” by Adrián Berenguer, via Artlist. Epic Stock Media, Projector 1960 Bell And Howell Clicking Whirring, John Silke Vintage Toybox Cash Register Draw Open Ring, Dauzkobza Vintage Elements Vinyl Record Scratch Needle Stop, via Artlist.