The is not the fault of Social Security. The money was paid in by workers. Blame politicians who decided, starting with LBJ, to use the ‘surplus’ funds in SS to fund other government largess. Had the money been left there, and invested at the going rates, we would not be at this precipice.
I wonder just how much money has been siphoned off by greedy pols over the years. I suspect it would stagger the mind!
Just like all the revenue from the taxes from the healthcare bill will not be there to pay the benefits kicking in around 2014.
But before that happens, we need to repeal it.
All of it.
Yes, it is the fault of SS. A Ponzi scheme has a life span. On the average, people collect more in benefits than they ever paid in. There are fewer and fewer workers paying the benefits for everyone collecting. I think it's around 2.3 workers per beneficiary right now. When boomers start retiring, it will be even less.
Yes, Congress borrowed from the trust fund, but they didn't raid it. Whatever they took out will be returned with interest. They borrowed from it to disguise the fact that they were running up the debt. That's the sham.
It's a Ponzi scheme. Younger people are screwed - they won't see a dime of what they're paying in, even after paying about 14% of their income into the fund for all their working years (and don't tell me it's only 7% because the employer pays the other 7%-the worker pays it ALL because what the employee pays is salary the worker doesn't get, but is part of the cost of the employment).
You are correct. Dem LBJ pushed through the legislation that removed the SS contributions from the “lock box” and put the funds into the General Funds account, where Congress could then spend those funds on other things.
I’ve been drawing SS since age 62. Was laid off at age 59, but still carried as Leave of Absence Without Pay so it would allow me to collect my pension at age 60, after over 35 years at the company (so I wouldn’t sue for ageism). Had to go 9 months with no income. Just figured I would get more of my money back by starting at age 62, rather than waiting until age 67 to get a little more per month. ....I’ll not live long enough to get back what I paid into FICA over my many years of contributions, but the monthly checks do help.