It's probably all gonna hit the fan soon!

onintwo

Just think about it! There must be hundreds of thousands of current JW's who haven't planned for retirement. I know that I was "in" the troof til my mid-forties and always believed what's the point? Didn't they tell us that advanced degrees were useless? Wasn't there a steady drumbeat explaining the urgency to pioneer, put the K first, forgo material pleasures and objects? Hell, material stuff will all be up for grabs after Armageddon, man! You want a nice house....just wait, and one will be provided. Armageddon is right around the corner! The main thing, we were told, was to insure your place in the New System by working for your salvation. Not corporate America.

Now we come to the subject of the Baby Boomers, you know, that group of people who are now about 54 to 68 years of age. And, if you are a part of that great big bunch of people, (hey, let's call them the "great crowd",...isn't that funny?) you know by now, maybe even firsthand, that there is a large amount of people that have virtually no investments, no savings among JW's. It's a sad irony that they'll be relying on the very government they have so much disdain for.

Anyway, back to the point. Does anyone think that there may be massive fallout for the Society about this? Lawsuits? Big time publicity, shining a very uncomfortable light on them. Brothers just getting angry about their situation, etc? Do you think that this problem, which promises to be a big one in my view, will spell their undoing? Will it all just hit the fan soon?

Onintwo

Euphemism

They seem to have avoided much flack about it so far... I guess because it's technically a "personal decision."

Also, if someone has reached retirement age without adequate savings, the one thing they don't want to do is alienate the local congregation, which is their only support network.

It would certainly be interesting if this issue were to come to the forefront, however.

Gopher

I often heard the words from the platform, "this world is like a business with a 'going out of business' sign hanging in the window". Who would ever want to seek employment at a place of business like that? Of course the world has continued for decades since that "out of business" nonsense was spewed from the platforms, but what the hey -- it made for a good illustration.

There will be some from the baby boomer generation, brought up as JW's, who felt no need to plan for a future in "the old system". So they will be broke, relying on systems like USA's Social Security to barely get by in their golden years. But the Watchtower is keeping them so focused on their "end is near" dogma, that many of them (Iike my retired parents) really won't revolt.

The next generation is being allowed to get college education. Perhaps this is in view of the fact that, in the future, the WT Society will need donations from somewhere! If too many JW's are barely getting by on low-paying jobs, how will the Society fund their future projects?

I think that as long as people can get bamboozled into thinking that a miraculous solution to all earth's problems can be easily obtained (just join us & do our work), then the Watchtower Society will continue to be viewed as saviors by some, perhaps enough to keep it going for many decades to come.

My $.02

dustyb

thats one of the first things i want to do when i get out of law school is sue the society for taking the futures away from people that had lots of potential to change the world. instead they was forced to listen to commie bastards (I.E. the USSR) about how great they are and what they promise and whatnot. Sounds like a good idea to me.

Elsewhere

Your comments reminded me of this old Awake...

Awak 5/22/69,pg15, If you are a young person, you also need to face the fact that you will never grow old in this present system of things. .....all evidence in fulfillment of Bible prophecy indicates that this corrupt system is due to end in a few years. ....as a young person you will never fulfill any career that this system offers. If you are in high school and thinking about a college education, it means at least four, perhaps even six or eight more years to graduate into a specialized career. But where will this system of things be by that time? It will be well on the way toward its finish, if not actually gone!

Nosferatu

What I think is interesting is the "baby boomers" probably make up a good chunk of the JWs today. Once the baby boomers start to cack, the Society's going to find themselves on a downward spiral for members.

kgfreeperson

I think the baby boom is usually defined as those born between 1946 and 1968. So the "leading edge" cohort are now 57-58. I don't know what the peak year of births was, but we all, not just Jehovah's Witnesses have some interesting times ahead as more and more of us hit the low-productivity, high-need stage of life. I have no idea how social security works for the self-employed, but I suspect many of those cleaning companies didn't think they needed to be concerned about retirement and didn't contribute to SS and therefore won't even have that. I was also under the impression that congregations tend to turn their back on their old people once they get needy. I hope that's not true, but it certainly the impression I've gotten.

onintwo

Thanks kgfree for those actual years. I wasn't sure. But I myself am in that age group. When I was in, it was very common to see husband and wife teams in the janitorial thing. I spoke with many of the brothers who were self-employed, as was I, and was angered by the way they so casually treated their tax obligations, etc. I'll bet that many of them ran what amounted to an underground economy.

One bro actually told me that he was supporting his mom ( a good and noble thing ) but for some reason or another he was unable to claim her as a dependent. (and therefor get a tax credit) So he simply laundered that same amount of money from his business that the IRS rules wouldn't allow him to lawfully deduct. He served as an MS at the time. Very well liked, etc.

I wonder if others have met such individuals?

Onintwo

drawcad_1

I am also in the group of boomers that will hit the fan soon, maybe a little longer than most. If I can get enough stashed away, without my Dub wife realizing it, then we should be able to make it. Of course, her pioneering full time really helps out the whole picture, and does not add anything to the Social Security safety net. Along with her donating a few thousand dollars a year in vehicle expenses (rant).

I have met more than a few people in their 50s and older, who should be retired, but do not have the investments to do it. They have lived a life of ignorance and being controlled that has led them to where they are. One man that I talked to was in his 60?s had all of his messed up kids in the ?truth? and was still working at a home business and trying to build up a nest egg for ?when they get older?. He told me one time that the Awake had compared the amount of studies and material that the average Dub will go through in a 4 year period as comparable to a college degree. I asked him if it would do him any good to put down on an employment application that he probably has a doctorate, with all of the time that he has spent. He will never get out of the Organization though, all of his kids and their children are in and the only friends that they have are in. What a shame, but someone should be held accountable.

badboy

With the coming pension crisis, it doesn't bode well.

It's probably all gonna hit the fan soon!

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