The ‘silver tsunami’ about to hit America

People born in the US after World War II have started drawing their state pensions. Could these baby-boomers bankrupt the system? And will the UK face a similar drain? Eoin Gleeson reports.

Who is Kathleen Casey-Kirschling?

Public Enemy Number One or that's the impression you'd get if you listened to parts of the US media over the past week or so. Retired teacher Casey-Kirschling is the first of America's baby-boomers to have applied for her old age pension, heralding the start of what demographers are calling the "silver tsunami" as the first wave of the 78 million Americans born between 1946 and 1964 reach the age of 62, entitling them to monthly retirement benefits from the country's rapidly dwindling social security funds. With the US facing an estimated $50trn in future benefit obligations, some fear we may look back on this as the point when America started to go bankrupt.

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Eoin came to MoneyWeek in 2006 having graduated with a MLitt in economics from Trinity College, Dublin. He taught economic history for two years at Trinity, while researching a thesis on how herd behaviour destroys financial markets.