An Aging America Losing Its Appetite for Risk: Viewpoint

By | January 4, 2016

  • January 4, 2016 at 1:34 pm
    johan says:
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    rubbish

  • January 4, 2016 at 2:56 pm
    Agent says:
    Poorly-rated. Like or Dislike:
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    Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.

    • January 4, 2016 at 5:05 pm
      Original Bob says:
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      The older generation has seen the market take too many nose dives (dot com and housing collapse to name just two examples) to have faith that we can recover what we lose to risk before we pass on. I find that the greatest fear of my retired friends, not on defined government pension plans, is that they will outlive their savings.
      I agree with Agent that policies and or regulations are not encouraging for new ventures or expansion of existing ones.

      • January 4, 2016 at 5:13 pm
        Agent says:
        Hot debate. What do you think?
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        Good one OBob. We aren’t even talking about what carriers are doing to the older generation on Predictive Modeling, Price Optimization leading to higher premiums on their Personal Insurance. Many of these people are on fixed incomes and they don’t understand the rate increases they get when they don’t have claims and pay their bills in a timely fashion.

    • January 5, 2016 at 12:16 pm
      Ron says:
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      Agent,

      You may have your thoughts, but they are rarely based in fact. The article stated, “…the decline in business dynamism and entrepreneurship that has beset the country since about 2000?” I was not aware that President Obama has been in office since 2000.

      How do you explain the 9 years of decline prior to his inauguration? Let me guess, Democrats in Congress. Wait, the Republicans were in control of Congress for 1/2 of President Bush’s term. In addition, they have had control of Congress for a year now. What have they fixed?

  • January 4, 2016 at 3:11 pm
    Larry says:
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    “…so maybe this explains the extreme fearfulness and suspicion of foreigners that has permeated the presidential campaign so far.”

    Americans suffer not from “extreme fearfulness…of foreigners”, but from a realistic fear that the nation’s immigration system is being manipulated for political purposes!

    • January 6, 2016 at 1:39 pm
      Captain Planet says:
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      Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.

      • January 10, 2016 at 1:57 pm
        Captain Planet says:
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        I am shocked, 11 people who looked at my comment also do not like Ronald Reagan. I thought most of you out here liked the old Actor in Chief.

  • January 4, 2016 at 3:18 pm
    PJC says:
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    The demographics need to change to support the aging populations. For too long many families decided to have fewer children in developed countries. China just realized this by reversing their policy of only one child. Problem is a generation has gotten accustomed to one child and it is a challenge to change. We need a better balance of risk takers and those risk adverse.

  • January 4, 2016 at 3:48 pm
    ExciteBiker says:
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    I personally would point a finger at the 24-hour news media and growth of internet news & echo chambers on social media. Bad news sells, and fear is a powerful motivator.

    The public perception of risk is skewed by intense coverage of isolated low-risk events. Our communities are safer than ever before, yet we tend to fear unlikely events like strangers abducting children. At the same time we discount the actual severe risks we face in our daily lives such as driving. The result is a strange place where parents are too afraid to let their kids play outside in the neighborhood park yet they’ll drive recklessly and commit road rage with their kids in the backseat.

    • January 4, 2016 at 4:00 pm
      Agent says:
      Hot debate. What do you think?
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      Excite, I believe you are right about the 24/7 news cycle and every single story across the nation is front and center and they milk it for everything they can. Social Media is completely out of control and cell addicts are driving while texting or talking on it constantly and they expect instant gratification in all their dealings.

    • January 6, 2016 at 1:58 pm
      Wally says:
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      I think there is a lot to be said for this point of view. When I was growing up I went door to door after snow storms looking to make a few bucks by shoveling my neighbors out. I went door to door selling Christmas cards (learned that selling Christmas cards in July in a Jewish neighborhood is not easy). We played our own games without adults, and learned to settle our own differences. A lot of what I have done as an adult had its roots during my confident-pain-in-the-ass childhood, where I was given the freedom to try things on my own, without my parents hovering over my shoulder. The endless emphasis on bad news has caused us to coddle our kids, and not surprisingly left them unprepared as future entrepreneurs.

      • January 6, 2016 at 2:40 pm
        Rosenblatt says:
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        “learned that selling Christmas cards in July in a Jewish neighborhood is not easy.” Hahahaha, that’s hilarious (I’m Jewish so hopefully that didn’t come across as anti-semetic :) Sorry I’m not adding to the conversation, but that comment made me literally laugh out loud.

      • January 6, 2016 at 4:26 pm
        Agent says:
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        Wally, there is a terrific organization in this country right that helps kids grow up and be responsible. It is called The First Tee.org. This fine endeavor is sponsored by the PGA Tour and many corporations and has chapters all over the country. Following are their core principles:
        Honesty
        Integrity
        Sportsmanship
        Respect
        Confidence
        Responsibility
        Perserverance
        Courtesy
        Judgment

        Life Skills are also taught like – How to manage emotions, how to set goals, how to resolve conflicts, how to communicate with others. They are also taught golf as well, but the big winner is the life skills. Participants unanimously identified school as a setting in which they transferred life skills. 73% reported high confidence in their ability to do well academically. 82% felt confident in their social skills with peers. 57% credited The First Tee for their meeting and greeting skills. 52% credited the program for their ability to appreciate diversity.

        These kids often come from disadvantaged homes where these skills are not taught by parents and they certainly don’t get it in school. I support the local chapter with clubs and money and will continue to do so. If we can influence hundreds of thousands of kids to know right from wrong, they will grow up to be successful citizens. They could be the difference makers in the near future.

        • January 8, 2016 at 10:10 am
          Agent says:
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          Leave it to the Progressive trolls on this site to downthumb a positive message like this. They were obviously not taught right from wrong.

          • January 8, 2016 at 10:14 am
            Confused says:
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            you were obviously not taught that if you have nothing nice to say, you shouldn’t say anything

          • January 8, 2016 at 11:41 am
            Ron says:
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            Agent,

            For all you KNOW, not suspect, it was the Conservatives who thumbed this down.

        • January 8, 2016 at 1:32 pm
          Captain Planet says:
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          Yeah, Agent, I actually thumbed you up and I don’t usually ever thumb up or down. The First Tee is a great organization and I donate to them often. We agree – holy cow!



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