“SS, if you live to be 80 you will probably take out far more than you put in.”
Well, glory be. If what I put in earned interest at the rates interest was being paid for much of my life there would be a whole hell of a lot more there for me to take out. Don’t give us that sh-t. I expect to take out more than I put in, if I have to live to be a hundred to do it! :-)
That was the whole idea sold to us when social security first came into being.
Source: CBO Combined OASDI Trust Funds; January 2011 Baseline 26 Jan 2011.
Social Security has passed a tipping point. For years it generated more revenue than it consumed, holding down the overall federal deficit and allowing Congress to spend more freely for other things. But those days are gone. Rather than lessening the federal deficit, Social Security has at last as long predicted become a drag on the governments overall finances.
As recently as October, CBO was projecting that it would be 2016 before outlays regularly exceed revenues. But Social Securitys fiscal troubles are more severe than was thought, and the latest projections show the permanent deficits started several years ahead of earlier predictions.
Dont be confused by the fact that the trust funds are projected to continue growing for several more years. Thats because Treasury must still credit interest payments to the funds on the borrowings from earlier years. But unless taxes are increased or other spending is cut severely, the government will have to borrow from the public to pay the interest that it owes to the trust funds.
And dont be misled by those who say the system can pay full benefits until about 2033 without making any changes to the law. Thats true, but does not change the fact that Social Security taxes no longer cover those benefits. The government is now borrowing money to pay them, and will do so every year for the foreseeable future. And keep in mind, if nothing is done, when those trust funds are exhausted, benefits would have to be cut by 22 percent in 2033, and more each year after that, according to the most recent report of the systems trustees. By 2084, the system will generate only enough revenue to pay for 75 percent of promised benefit levels.
FYI: The SS DI Trust Fund will be exhausted by 2016--two years from now according to the latest SS Trustee Report.
The bare facts are that the fed gubmint forced you to contribute to a retirement fund. They did not invest the money, they spent it. It did not accrue interest. It's a Ponzi scheme by any definition.
If you live long enough you will take out more than you put in and your check depends on working people paying SS taxes.
Those are the facts. You are then riding in the wagon as opposed to pulling it.
The fact that if you had invested that money in very conservative investments you would have done far better is irrelevant to the premise of the article.