[Mathews]

I wish I didn’t have to pay into SS because I’d rather invest it myself. I’d be way better off.

[IncPen]

I’d take a fair lump sum distribution to be rid of it… whatever I put in + compounded returns of 14% ought to do it

[arthurus]

SS should be ended. And Medicare. And Medicaid. SS could be ended suddenly or it could be ended with a better alternative, namely the Chilean model. It can be done smoothly by keeping all over age 50 who choose, to stay with SS and Medicare. All others would be transferred to the new system that is private and invests the money. Chile did that under the sainted and excoriated Pinochet.

Result is that recipients receive about twice the lifetime benefits in relation to contributions as those under the old system which was quite like ours.

They also own their accounts which they can bequeathe to their children who thus have much larger stakes than just their own contributions and at retirement receive commensurately larger benefit. It cannot be replaced with government IOUs as our system does. There is NO money in the Social Security system, only IOUs. Contribution money is spent as fast as it is received.

[yefragetuwrabrumuy]

It’s not so much that we need to end the con game that is SS. The issue is how to do it while minimizing harm. The people who have been paying into it for years should get their money back, plus interest and COLA.

However there should be no new enrollees. For them there should be a private, interest bearing version outside of government.

Thus, the big loser would be the federal government, denied what amounts to a doubling of the income tax they have skimmed off of SS for decades.