But--those of you viewing at home, say it with me--there is no trust fund! That money has all been spent. We are running current ops on it, and have been for the past forty years! How do you cash out an account that's overdrawn?!?!?!
True enough, as far as it goes. Correct me it I'm wrong, but is not the trust fund holding T-Bills? If so, assign the T-bills proportionally. If people want income sooner, they can sell the T-bills for a cash settlement.
That is why we MUST pay them every penny plus interest, not because they are more deserving of it than Gen X, but from a purely pragmatic perspective--we'll never get anything accomplished if we don't.
I could live with this. I would benefit; however for the sake of my children I would prefer the former option.
Agreed, but let those charitable works be done by charities, not government. Government shouldn't have been in the charity business to begin with
I agree. Charity must include accountability, otherwise it simply enables irresponsible behavior. I really liked Marvin Olasky's book - The Tragedy of American Compassion. Too many see government as a free candy store.
Of course, as long as we're fantasizing, I'd also like Stephanie Seymour (in her prime) sitting on my lap.
Guess I'm showing my age; I had to Google to find out who she is; I guess I was always partial to Jane Seymour in her prime....
I assume you've read "Not Yours To Give," a phenomenal speech on the topic reputedly given by Davy Crockett.
As to Jane Seymour, she's aged phenomenally, but is still too skinny and British for my tastes. Perhaps a 70s thing, too, I really hated that Twiggy crap.
Here I think you have hit on why people disagree on exactly when the system will be broke.
The debt instruments in the trust fund are obligations of the US government. In order for these to purchase food, gas, electricity or any other thing of value, they must be converted into cash, by selling them to a willing buyer or by the government redeeming them for cash.
Selling these IOUs will cause them to compete with the other bonds that the government is using to engage in deficit spending. There would be a spike in cost to the government in having these debt instruments in circulation.
Similarly, redeeming the bonds for cash requires that the government consume tax revenue that would otherwise fund scads of liberal fantasies. This would cause much wailing. Alternatively, the government could just print the cash. You can guess what that would do to the value of the US dollar.
My point is that the date when the trust fund runs out of money, because there are no more IOUs to sell, comes much later than the date when the impact of having to sell ANY of the IOUs is felt.
There are challenging days ahead and they are not far enough away for me to believe that I will not be affected. For this reason, I intend to sign up early, at age 62. As an older Baby Boomer, I have come to expect that the rules will change just as I reach the door. It has happened several times in my life, so I anticipate having to commit early.
As for not taking the benefits as an altruistic measure to help "balance" the books? Not me. The bleeding-heart liberal socialist party is also the anti-gun party. I intend to do everything I can to destroy them as a reward for infringing my right to keep and bear arms. I am Atlas. Hear me shrug.