[pepsionice]

So whats your congressman or senator doing? Nothing. They really don't care. They don't want to allow private investment options...they won't raise the social security allowance...they won't kick certain folks off the deal. Nothing. I would start to prepare myself for things around 2015...just 9 years away. Prepare for a really bad period of political instability. No winners...just losers.

[DonaldC]

No matter how you feel about the system, this is not going to be a good thing for anyone.

[upchuck]

I turn 62 this year. And all of this is precisely why I'm applying for benefits just as soon as I can. I'm not gonna give the do-nothings a chance to keep any of what I've got coming.

[Grendel9]

The wife and I have been retired
for 14 years. Since the '60's
it's been obvious to anyone who
cared to look that it takes two
paychecks to live decently in
this country. AND, the wise
couple MUST put aside part of
those two incomes towards their
retired years.
Maybe it's the schools which
have failed the populace. I grew
up knowing Social Security as
devised by the Roosevelt admin.
was NEVER intended to foot all
the bills after a person leaves
the work force. It was a temporary
stop-gap for the elderly. And
most of the seniors today have
long outlived the age of their
grandparents! Wake up, America!
The government will never be able
to take care of you in your old age.
The sooner you realize you're on
your own, the sooner you'll stop
spending all your money and start
thinking about the future.
And for God's Sake, teach that
lesson to your kids!

[ex-Texan]

You might give this message to Congress and the people who control the government. But people in power do not give a hoot. With all the illegal aliens crashing our borders and demonstrating in the streets you would think that they would understand. Mexicans will bankrupt our social institutions and medical care providers. Twenty million in the country right now and the media only admits to about 10 million. In a few years, the total may reach 40 million. Nobody gives a rip. The only hope for American citizens is to get rich and become an expat living overseas.

[Old_Mil]

The way that the will solve the problem is to institute confiscatory taxes on the social security payments of people who have saved a certain amount for retirement in their 401ks and IRAs.

The scale might look something like this: If your 401k or IRA balance is over 500k, your social security is taxed at 95%. If it is between 250k and 500k, it is taxed at 75%. Under 250k, current rates apply. Government beancounters will devise a way to essentially confiscate the social security benefits of a sufficient number of people to solve the problem, but not enough people to start a revolution at the polls.

[GOP_1900AD]

Imagine a system modelled after Euro style "single payer health care" (now there's a euphemism) but instead of being for universal healthcare, it is scoped to deal with any and all aspects of elder care. And like a national healthcare system, only the wealthiest would have any reasonable alternatives other than leaving the country. I cannot discount the possibility that even such exceptions might be made illegal. The voters really are that stupid. Just wait. About 10 years from now, the Left will be calling for what I just laid out, in order to "contain costs and keep Social Security solvent."