Put half of each person’s SS taxes in a personal retirement account, and we’ll have hit her admittedly modest savings goal. Converting SS into a fully funded system based on personal ownership, savings, and investment should still be the goal.
Exactly. The second thing that needs to be done is to eliminate all taxes on interest and dividends. Our tax policies have made us a nation of spenders as there is no near term incentive to save. In fact, saving is penalized.
Let's not be like the liberals and pretend that we can have our cake and eat it too.
I believe we have recently crossed-over to the point that one-hundred percent of SS taxes are distributed as benefits to our present retirees. The only way to put the sum you mention into an individual account would be to raise SS taxes by 50%.
Young people would be well advised not to fall for such a trick. All these programs start out well-meaning enough, but government controls ensure failure.
So-called "safety nets" encourage people to behave in ways that they would never imagine if not for the net. Youngsters need to see irresponsible elderly people suffering for their mistaken ways. Only when there are personal consequences for personal misbehavior will people pay attention.