Posted on 01/18/2007 11:15:10 AM PST by Froufrou
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke warned Congress Thursday that the economy could be gravely hurt if Social Security and Medicare aren't revamped and urged lawmakers to tackle the nation's thorny fiscal issues sooner rather than later.
"If early and meaningful action is not taken, the U.S. economy could be seriously weakened," Bernanke said in testimony to the Senate Budget Committee.
It marked the Fed chief's most forceful warning to date on the potential problems facing the United States with the looming retirement of 78 million baby boomers, the oldest of whom will start retiring next year.
This huge wave of retirees will hit the U.S. budget as well as the economy, he said.
"The longer we wait, the more severe, the more draconian, the more difficult the objectives are going to be. I think the right time to start was about 10 years ago," he told lawmakers when questioned about the urgency of the situation.
Absent policy changes by Congress and the White House, rising budget deficits are likely in the years ahead to increase the amount of federal debt outstanding to unprecedented levels, Bernanke said.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
A few years ago I worked out (from my SS yearly report) what I would have had from my investment if it went into the S&P 500. I had $40,000 invested and my employer had the same. If I got only, from year to year to year, what the return was from the S&P, it was well over $1,000,000. If it was halved from what my employer paid in it was still 100% more than what I can reasonably expect from the SS account I will recieve if I lived to be 80. So this demonstrates (according to Harry Reid) that a private account can't work. /(sarc).
sw
Well, I didn't have kids, so that helped. We both had good jobs and saved about 36-38% of our gross income every year. In 1988, we built a house in CT, had a small mortgage and I asked my husband if that one year we could actually use the money to decorate the house with his raise money. He said yes! LOL
Good ole Harry Reid. He is set for life, why should he care about the LITTLE PEOPLE out here in the real world???
I went to a symposium in Galveston about their privatized SS system and President Bush was there speaking about it. They had a lady there who recently retired. Not only did she get a LOT more money than she would have with the OLD SS system, it is HER money and she can leave it to her family when she died.
I retired in 1978. My husband plans to retire in the next couple of years. The kids are "grown" with one still in college.
What kind of work do you do in insurance?
It is a ponzi scheme. One would think that FreeRepublic readers wouldn't be taken in by that "SS trust fund" hokum. Guess not.
" One would think that FreeRepublic readers wouldn't be taken in by that "SS trust fund" hokum. "
One would think that Free Republic readers would know sarcasm when they see it. Guess not.
You bet. Maybe they're counting on another terrorist attack to take a bunch of people out. Makes as much sense as anything they've done about it.
LOL. Guilty as charged!
S'okay, I've missed sarcasm sometimes, too. Hard to explain, given I can be so sarcastic! LOL!
--Besides, I'd have to be with my wife ALL DAY!..............--
Send HER to work!
Those working far outvote those retired, otherwise there won't be enough taxes to cover the SSRI payouts.
Either way, baby boomers are screwed.
BUMP
Sell Federal Land, the US Gov owns most of Nevada.
Same here. I started drawing SS as soon as I became eligible. I wanted to draw out as mush as possible. I retired about three months ago. After three weeks I was looking for a part time job.
I suspect all the older people I see at McDonalds and Burger King are not there for the money, but for comraderie and to feel "needed and useful"........
To whom?......Algae Based BioDiesel Growers!..........
Don't bet the farm on it . We own the companies where the rest work .
You really shouldn't try to participate in a discussion you obviously know nothing about. The projections used to declare SS insolvent assume the money has all been repaid...and SS funds are currently invested in interest bearing US bonds.
Sarcasm can be hard to see on a forum like this, which is why the conventions of "/s" or "/sarcasm" have evolved, though there are some who find the need to include the 'tag' to take away from the intended effect. I know that I've posted things that have garnered "WTF?!" responses. :-)
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