Posted on 06/15/2005 2:03:52 PM PDT by CHARLITE
Meanwhile, the executives get very generous payouts !
The GOP is really in trouble if they are suggesting that the SS Retirement age be 69. So you pay 14% of your income for like 48 years and then get social security. The return on that has got to be negative numbers.
That's something you can really run on.
The defined benefits are crushing companies, one by one and will crush cities..more than states.
"The GOP is really in trouble if they are suggesting that the SS Retirement age be 69. So you pay 14% of your income for like 48 years and then get social security. The return on that has got to be negative numbers."
Good point. When SS was first instituted it was a much smaller percentage, plus if you made more than a certain amount during the year they stopped taking money out.
And there was 14 people per retiree taking money out. Demographics won't allow a ponzi scheme such as SS to work anymore.
Lotteries and ponzi schemes are only legal when the gov't creates them.
The problem with defined benefit plans is that the companies really cannot estimate very well what the costs will be, and they want to make as little contribution now as possible. I think that defined contribution plans like 401Ks are much better for everyone. Guaranteed pensions are a huge problem for municipalities as they are often underfunded. It also places huge influence in these state-run pension plans, which are run by political appointees who really don't care that much about the returns but want to be politically correct. So they also distort the markets somewhat.
"Good point. When SS was first instituted it was a much smaller percentage, plus if you made more than a certain amount during the year they stopped taking money out."
We could start a thread called "When SSI was first instituted...."
Things like
1) There were more contributors than recipients
2) Recipients were actually old and/or disabled
3) Addiction to drugs did not qualify you as disabled
4) The rate of contribution was dramatically lower
5) People lived much shorter lives
6) People had lower expectations about what retirement living would mean... (ie: Nobody expected they should have a 50' motorhome + 4000sq ft house to retire into)
..... the list could go on
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