On Tuesday of this week, Dick Rucker gave a talk on what are “Unfunded Liabilities” and the impact on future generations. The definition of Unfunded Liabilities is any debt obligations that do not have sufficient funds set aside to pay them. These liabilities refer to the U.S. government’s debt or pensions plans, Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security, and their impact on savings and investment securities. Rucker stated, “Unfunded liabilities can have a significant negative impact on the general economic health of a nation or corporation.” Rucker spoke on “Debt to Gross National Product,” which is directly related to and should include Unfunded Liabilities but currently does not. No matter which party one belongs to, having a true picture of total debt and its potential impact on all government programs in the future enables a person to make better decisions for future generations when they go to the voting booth.
According to many experts, unfunded liabilities have been stated to be from $123 trillion to $222 trillion. By using the $123 trillion every taxpayer in the US would have to write a check for $796,000. If for example, you put the average of the two being $123 plus $222 added together then the $345 divided by two equals $172.5 trillion.
If the $172.5 trillion were financed at 3% for 75 years, the annual payment would be $5.16 trillion. Currently the Congressional Budget Office projects a deficit for 2023 at $1.4 trillion. One would need to add $5.16 trillion thus making an annual deficit for 2023 of $6.56 trillion and increasing each year per the Congressional Budget Office projection through 2028. The federal government has $5.95 trillion in assets and $129 trillion in liabilities. If it were a private company, the US government would be bankrupt.
The meeting was held on Tuesday, October 24, at 6:30 p.m. at the Eureka Public Library.
