Tired Of Bending Over (Social Security)

Komo1000news ^ | 2/28/04 | Ken Schram

[qam1]

SEATTLE - Get ready to bend over, baby-boomers.

In essence, that was Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan's message to everyone born between 1946 and 1964.

At 78 years of age, Greenspan's too old to bend over himself, so he figures it should be my generation that grabs its ankles.

Seems Alan G. is wringing his wrinkled hands over the 77 million baby boomers that'll begin retirement in four short years.

'Yikes!' said the man who surely collects his Social Security check every month, 'We've gotta do something 'cause there's not enough Social Security money to give us any security.'

And Alan G's proposal?

Well rather than raise taxes, why not just CUT the benefits all us boomers would be getting when we retire?

The other Greenspan brain burp?

Keep pushing the age of retirement HIGHER.

That means while we could still retire at age 65, we wouldn't get those DECREASED Social Security benefits until we're, oh let's say 104!

Hey, here's an idea Alan.

Why not suggest the president spend less and get the deficit lower.

Maybe advising him to quit giving tax cuts to his rich friends.

'Cause I'll tell ya Alan, my generation is tired of bending over for yours.

Want to share your thoughts with Ken Schram? You can e-mail him at kenschram@komo4news.com

[Atlas Sneezed]

When these retirees reach 65 and beyond, it will take federal taxes at the rate of upwards of 50% for EVERYBODY who still holds a job, if Social Security benefits stay both at the current levels and kick in at the same ages. Couple that with the fact that all of us are living longer and longer, and SS as we currently know it will fail grossly and totally.

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Plan on massive inflation to deflate benefits and to inflate contributions. The gold bugs will be proven right in 10-20 years.

[Waco]

When the fedguv says you must pay the S.S. tax but you may NOT collect any pension from it,,,,,,will it be called a felony then?

[Atlas Sneezed]

I don't think it works that way...ex: lets say a person works 30 years with an average salary of 40K @ today's 6+% SS tax...

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Whoops! You're off by a factor of 2. The tax is 13%. Whether or not your employer hides from your stub is economically irrelevant.

[Atlas Sneezed]

that only comes out to approx $72,000. It only takes about 6-7.5 years to collect that money thru SS.

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Unless you assume that money has value over time. Lend me $100k that I will repay in 10 years. If you are reluctant, you understand the time value of money.

[Choose Ye This Day]

Logan's Run?

[Atlas Sneezed]

I can't do my job up into the 60's and in fact, I won't.....

if the govt insists that people with stressful jobs are on the same level with people with comfortable, non-challenging jobs, then the only alternative is to seek early retirment thru disability....

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You never heard of SAVING?

[Choose Ye This Day]

"If the Government would allow me to opt out of social security I would do it in a heart beat and they could keep all the money I have currently paid into it."

You and me both. They can have it. I'll do much better with that 6% than the gov't will. And if my employer doesn't have to chip in his 6% either, maybe I can get a 6% raise!

[utahagen]

Since Social Security will never be gutted (unfortunately), the age for receiving benefits MUST be raised. With life expectancy what it is as of 2004, 65 is laughably low. Raising the age even three years would have relieve a nice chucnk of the tax burden we who wer born after 1964 are going to have to bear.

Raise the damn age! Get the word out.

[Choose Ye This Day]

My part of FICA is 7.65% of my salary (of which, I believe, 1.65% goes for Medicare and the other for Social Security).

My employer has to pony up and match another 7.65%.

[lightman]

Thanks for saying what needs to be said about the Aborted Generation. Many of our problems, not just SS, can be traced to the fact that we now have at least 2 million fewer citizens born each year. The Aborted of 1973 would have been 31 this year, and hopefully many of them would have been wage earning-tax paying citizens.
Do the math! There are at least twenty six million of the Aborted Generation (2 million per year, times 13 years from1973 to 1986) who would now be eighteen or older. Even if only half worked, that would be thirteen million.

All I can say is that their selfish elders who started this massacre deserve the turnabout that is sure to come.

Sow the wind, reap the whirlwind

[Siamese Princess]

Yep, the baby boomer generation has already taught the younger generations that you shouldn't even be alive if nobody wants you, they know they're missing a lot of their peer group because of free and easy abortion.

Honey, you don't know how right you are! It's been said that every good reason for abortion is an equally good reason for infanticide and euthanasia. On top of that, many Boomers have set a bad example of selfishness (even in family relationships) to their children and other people's children. The bill is already coming due -- many Boomers have little or no relationship with their children -- and the problem will only worsen with time as the Boomers age. The inability or unwillingness of huge numbers of the Boomers' children to help their parents will throw the burden on the shoulders of the government or other third parties. In the end, there will be too much need and too little money available

[CurlyDave]

Whether I can successfully contribute to a solution of the SS problem, I do not know.

Well, what would your solution be?

If you don't have details, you should have some outline at least.

The problem is coming up fast. I am on the leading edge of the baby boomers and I will be 62 (eligible for benefits, even though at a reduced rate) in 4 years.

Some of us would like to be able to plan ahead for retirement and uncertainty in SS is a morally bankrupt policy. Even though there may be no legal right to SS, after 40 years of paying into the system there is a moral and ehtical responsibility for the Federal government to uphold its end of the implicit promise.

The real problem is that once more, those of us who worked hard, saved, and planned ahead are going to be shafted, and those who did no planning, no saving and have no resources will be rewarded.

As much as I would like to see it, privatization is not really a good answer for the very same reason that the crisis will hit us long before SS goes "bankrupt". SS taxes go into the general fund and are spent just like any other taxes. We keep up a pious fiction that there is a "trust fund" but there is no real money in it, just IOUs from the treasury.

As soon as the excess tax collections start to decline, the government will be forced to either:

A. reduce spending,

B. increase taxes, or

C. increase the deficit.

Having watched government in action, my money is on (C). In a lot of ways though, this is a self-defeating course of action. It brings inflation, and the COLA built into SS just means that the obligation will increase right along with the inflation. However, the inflation will essentially transfer money from those foolish enough to have purchased bonds with their savings back to the government.

Anyway best of luck with your campaign, and I am hoping to hear your position on SS reform.

P.S. There is a fourth solution. Sale of government assets, especially land in the western states. This will be hard to get past the enviro-nazis, but it does represent a legitimate solution which would get the country past the obligation to those who have paid into the system for so long and allow payments to be kept up, even in the face of reduced income from privatization.

[wolicy_ponk]

Our generation (I was born the late sixties, and didn't realize I was part of X) and the following one have gotten the shaft from the outset, qam1.
One quarter of us have already been killed by abortion.
That's somewhere around 43 Million people.
Now, we are all gonna be the marks in the great big govt. ponzi scheme.
Most of us should have retirement plans already, since nobody believes SS will be there,anyway.
Even if some form of it were, bread could cost $10.00 a loaf, and gas $8.00 a gallon, so we will practically HAVE to be millionares just to make it.

I would grab my wallet whenever DemocRATs talk about lockboxes, because they're the ones who opened the kitty to begin with...

[CurlyDave]

It only takes about 6-7.5 years to collect that money thru SS.

Edison, you are completely ignoring the fact that the money should have been collecting interest. Being paid back 30 years later in inflated dollars instead of having a pot of money which would have increased substantially due to interest really is getting the shaft.

[hunter112]

Logan's Run?

You remember in the late sixties, how Arlo Guthrie wanted to have us all deal with the draft, by walking in to the draft board, singin' a bar of "Alice's Restaurant", and walkin' out? Maybe we should all stop in the local Social Security office, and scream, "Renew, renew!"

There's a lot of wisdom in the movies!

[MissAmericanPie]

Here's an idea, take the 34 billion Bush plans to give to corrupt Mexicans and put it into the SS general fund, sue the estates of dead and alive senators and congressmen that voted to raid it time after time to recoup some of the losses.

Stop sending SS to Porta Rico, and to every foreigner that ships his parents in for a six month stay so they can sign up for SS and ISI. Stop sending checks overseas at all until and unless the recepient can prove he is a US citizen that has been gainfully employeed in this country.

That would be a start.

[Orange1998]

So what do you tell the 85 year old lady who lost the (income earner) late husband. Her savings would have been totally exhausted if it was not for SS. She did not expect to live that long so I don't fault her planning.

BTW She is from a generation that appreciates SS a great deal more than today generation. And I would not call her an "old bag". Have more respect.

[Texasforever]

Stop sending SS to Porta Rico,

Yes and then stop sending it to Hawaii.

[Orange1998]

Why don't you add Galveston while he's at it. sarcasm

signed: Fellow Houstonian.

[Texasforever]

Yeah I forgot about Galveston. LOL