[Drammach]

I "think" I read that congress presently owes Social Security somewhere in the neighborhood of $7 to $10 TRILLION ...
I can't recall if that was present debt or projected..

[Carry_Okie]

Tragically, the Democrats like the system just as it is – they’re hooked on looting the trust funds and they don’t want to get off the gravy train.

Even more tragically, Democrats like the system because it creates an indentured constituency.

[DustyMoment]

Tragically, the Democrats like the system just as it is – they’re hooked on looting the trust funds and they don’t want to get off the gravy train. Keep that in mind the next time you hear one of them lying about those rascally Republicans plotting to kill Social Security.

Unfortunately, the Dems are not alone. Too many Republicans are starting to cave to attacks by leftist groups like AARP who want the existing junk scheme left alone.

SS is what happens when too many people and "legislators" don't ask enough questions. The younger folk deserve something better than this screw job and, if any of them are reading this, they need to start assaulting their elected "dear leaders" with mail and protests to force movement on SS reform - before they lose the opportunity.

If the youngsters don't start fighting granny and grandpa now over the future of SS - THEIR future - they will end up with nothing better than the rest of us who have put up with this dreck legislation for so long.

[trebb]

Just a little more perspective. I'm 52 and have been in the DOD Civilian Thrift Saving Plan for 5 years. By the time I'm 62, my average input (along with the 5% being matched by the plan) will be about 18% if I don't change anything.

I looked at my plans projections for payout this morning and discovered that at the low end I am expected to receive about $1600/month and at the high end I could get as much as $2700/month at age 62. That would be after only 15 years of putting in amounts comparable to what Social Security receives from me. My projected Social Security payments are about $1000/month at age 62.

It's easy to see that if I had been putting all my Social Security money into a private account over the years, I would be getting a LOT more money per month (most likely over $20,000 as a low-end) compared to what Social Security pays. Anyone opposed to reforming Social Security is opposed to having the future retirees being anywhere from comfortably well-off to half-way wealthy.

[liberallarry]

In 1940, the life expectancy was 63.6 years and the age at which benefits were paid was and is 65. And if you did live that long, you probably wouldn’t have been around much longer to draw money from the system. In other words, they found a new way to collect money from you based on the fiction that that it was yours and you could start collecting it when you reach 65, which they figured most of you would not.

The AVERAGE or MEDIAN life expectancy was 63.6 years. In orther words HALF the population lived longer...many quite a bit longer. If the author is wrong about something so basic is this article worth anything at all?