Here you are, an American guy nearing 50. You have 2 parents, 1 sister, and 2 children. The government insists that you take care of your parents, so they confiscate Social Security and Medicare taxes from you. This is pay as you go, so there is not savings account, no trust fund... its just a transfer payment from you to your parents. Got it?
I am going to go out on a limb here... and assume that every taxpayer has or had 2 parents, most of who lived long enough to collect. I am sure you see where this is going, so I will get there quick. The government removed all incentive for most folks to save for their old age opting instead to seize money from the children to give to their parents. We NEED a government to do this? People would not take their parents in, or parents not take their children in? Parents would not have saved for their old age? Of course not, to the first question. Of course, to the next 2.
You and your sister will have to work for about 8 years of your 40 year work life in order to fund your OWN parents Social Security and Medicare consumption. Is there any wonder you cannot save any money? BTW, your parents are going to have a BALL, traveling the world on cruises, dancing the night away... baby sitting the grandkids? No way. Providing day care to the grandkids so that you and sis can work? Fat chance. Your parents put in their time, and now they are entitled to 30 years of leisure and consumption. Get your own damn day care! See you at Christmas dinner! BTW, can you cook? Grampa and I are leaving on the 26th for a cruise...
But wait! There's more! The government has set up a massive, bloated and overpaid bureaucracy to confiscate your money and transfer it to your parents, so for every $ you paid in these taxes, the government took 25 cents to pay those helpful folks at the IRS and the other agencies involved. And, say... if your parents are well to do, after they confiscate your assets and give it to the folks the government will take 55% off the top when the folks go to the big-transfer-payment-in-the-sky.
Agh... but if you call in the next 5 minutes we'll throw in an added bonus! A genuine accumulated deficit that will need to be paid back one way or another because we wanted to further over benefit in order to secure their votes but knew we had bled you dry with taxes already!
The government dismantled the extended family AND the nuclear family with its asinine transfer payment programs and Welfare programs and then completely f&**ed up the healthcare system with Medicare... but if you ask a "progressive" (a progressive is a person that studied humanities in college, completely skipping economics and mathematics, who then goes on to work on anything other than making a profit, meeting payroll, and employing people), all the problems in the modern world can be traced to Ronald Reagan.
The road to hell is indeed paved with good intentions.