United States military veterans at the historic Armed Forces Retirement
Home in Washington recently filed a class-action lawsuit against
Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld over on-site healthcare cuts at
the home, according to News Target.
The suit was filed in federal court on behalf of 1,000 residents, and
stated that Rumsfeld had a remedy for the budget and medical cutbacks,
but had chosen not to use it.

http://www.economist.com/agenda/displayStory.cfm?story_id=4028271

The economist carried in its May 30th issue a typically lengthy article
regarding the growing troubles governments and private individuals may
face in regards to the aging population. Some staggering statistics are
cited in regards to the ratio of people receiving benefits to those
paying taxes in various countries. European nations seem to be the
hardest hit (the ratio in Italy is expected to be 0.7 by 2030), due to
their highly socialized economic systems, but even in the US and
Britain, things are beginning to look troubling.

The article re-enforces the most important notion of all, that relying
entirely upon social security benefits and government payouts for your
retirement may be a risk option if you plan to retire
comfortably.  More in-depth discussion is found in the article
than we are able to go into here, but the Economist suggests (as does
most everyone) relying on many different sources of support including
job pensions, private savings, social security, and investments. Those
who ignore such advice may find unpleasant surprises ahead for them, as
some of the governmental solutions being considered involve raising the
retirement age to 70, or drastically slashing benefits programs. Once
again it seems a multi-based approach is the way to go.