Thanks for the comment. I have a second article that defends SS, but the point of this one is that 401ks have been over-hyped. You and I and the rest of America need to keep SS.
The reason I am posting this is that I do have a solution to the national debt crisis that I’d like to post. The solution necessarily deals with SS because SS is a big part of our debt ($2.7 trillion out of $14.3 trillion), the number 1 thing we spend federal money on, and just about the biggest contributor to future deficits. But at the same time (I maintain), we need it, so if I can convince people that we need SS, then I hope I can convince people that the hard choices we need to make this year in the “supercongress” involves hard choices to save SS (at obviously lower benefits, but not zero — there is a way to save SS for all time with no chance that it will go broke).
“You and I and the rest of America need to keep SS.”
The problem is that we cannot keep SS and Medicare for everyone. We don’t have the money to do it.
I know you said you prefer to be solution oriented, but there is no solution to this. We cannot pay everything that everyone expects out of these two programs as they stand now.
If they live on, it will be in a drastically reduced version.
I also believe SS is important and I believe it should be preserved. However, I do not pretend to believe that scumbags in congress can be depended on to do the right thing. They’ve been screwing up royally for about 40 years now, and screwing up minorly for 40 years before that. They won’t suddenly change.
If I was king of america with supreme power, I would save SS. The solution would be a combination of pension, IRA, 401k, SS, and other personal savings. People who retire on SS alone should NOT live a comfortable life.