Posted on 04/28/2014 8:42:13 AM PDT by drypowder
From the website, “Far from being ‘worthless IOUs,’ the investments held by the trust funds are backed by the full faith and credit of the U. S. Government.”
I feel so much better.
“Most Americans have saved very little for their retirement.”
The math is still the math. If an investment advisor said I will take 15% of your lifetime earnings, and invest it in any sane manner for 45 years,,,”but remember, this is only a cornerstone of your retirement”; you could conclude you were dealing with a fraudulent operation.
That’s should easily provide a strong, personally owned, retirement. Of course, in America you have to do that twice for at least 30%. Only half of which will likely ever see.
You’re right, nobody was told that their SS payments will result in payments at a certain age/
Where do you come up with this nonsense?
SS is not a mutual fund or a pension plan. Your contributions do not belong to you (See Nestor vs Flemming.) There is no agreement to pay the money back to you, either the contributions or any investment income.
Yes, it is a bad deal for many, but nothing has been stolen since your contributions (insurance payments) don't belong to you. If you think it is a pension plan and that there was some agreement between the USG and you to pay the money back, then you are living in a fantasy world.
And for today's recipients, they are getting far more back than they paid into the system. That won't be the case for future generations. SS is a pay as you go system, i.e., today's workers pay for today's retirees. SS has been running a deficit since 2010 and will continue to do so until the SSTF is exhausted and benefits will have to be cut by about 20%.
Source: CBO Combined OASDI Trust Funds; January 2011 Baseline 26 Jan 2011. Note: See Primary Surplus line (which is negative, indicating a deficit)
Matters are even worse than this chart shows. In December, Congress passed a Social Security tax reduction. Workers are temporarily paying 2 percentage points less, from 6.2 percent to 4.2 percent, in Social Security payroll taxes this calendar year. Since the government is making up the shortfall out of general revenues, CBOs deficit projections for the trust funds do not include that. But CBOs figures predict that the payroll tax holiday will cost the governments general fund $85 billion in this fiscal year and $29 billion in fiscal year 2012 (which starts Oct.1, 2011.) Since every dollar of that will have to be borrowed, the combined effect of the tax holiday and the annual deficits will amount to a $130 billion addition to the federal deficit in the current fiscal year, and $59 billion in fiscal 2012.
Social Security has passed a tipping point. For years it generated more revenue than it consumed, holding down the overall federal deficit and allowing Congress to spend more freely for other things. But those days are gone. Rather than lessening the federal deficit, Social Security has at last as long predicted become a drag on the governments overall finances.
And SS DI Trust Fund will be exhausted in 2016 or two years from now. From the annual Trustees Report:
"Social Securitys Disability Insurance (DI) program satisfies neither the Trustees long-range test of close actuarial balance nor their short-range test of financial adequacy and faces the most immediate financing shortfall of any of the separate trust funds. DI Trust Fund reserves expressed as a percent of annual cost (the trust fund ratio) declined to 85 percent at the beginning of 2013, and the Trustees project trust fund depletion in 2016, the same year projected in the last Trustees Report. DI cost has exceeded non-interest income since 2005, and the trust fund ratio has declined since peaking in 2003. While legislation is needed to address all of Social Securitys financial imbalances, the need has become most urgent with respect to the programs DI component. Lawmakers need to act soon to avoid reduced payments to DI beneficiaries three years from now."
I think you’re right that Social Security needs to be eliminated, but certainly you must have some sympathy for those who dependent on it but are now too old to work? In the real world, Social Security existed (exists), people have paid into it for decades, and some of those people are now thoroughly dependent on those payments. No way could I cut them off even if I personally needed to continue paying taxes to support them. It’s the morally right thing to do.
At the same time, I think we should learn from this. I think most of us conservatives are aware that these government programs need to be reformed or eliminated. In the case of Social Security, it must change into a voluntary program as a minimum. Those who are already retired or are near retirement should have the option to stay in. Those who want to opt out, should.
Government could also offer lump sum payouts to current (or near term) recipients for a short time. These payouts could be equal to total contributions paid—maybe even with a few percent interest—so long as the recipient could then be permanently taken off the books.
I consider myself a true moderate, maybe even a traditional liberal. I want to try and roll our big government back without destroying the country in the process. I don’t want chaos. I want smaller government, and I’d be satisfied so long as we’re moving in that direction. Cutting Social Security outright would be a disaster for many millions of people. It’s too far integrated into our society, so it needs to be cut out carefully like a surgeon working on a tumor. I could sleep well at night if the program was reformed so that future generations might be free of it, even if that means I have to currently tolerate some of it.
It was an advertizing flyer individualized for the recipient.
Who said that? Not I.
Exactly. We just dropped 5 billion on Ukraine maidan movements. 6 Billion in Afghanistan. a few billion in Egypt and Libya. We are even giving Egypt a billion to buy two German subs so they can torpedo Israeli forces,, who we ALSO subsidize. This putting us in the historically amazing position of funding BOTH sides of a giant war.
We pay Pakistan billion though they protected Osama and refuse to let us move supplies to Afghanistan. Instead, the biggest overland route is through Russia. We even pay North Korea enormous sums of money including a Nuclear project. We do this so they don’t act belligerent. Of course, they learned that acting belligerent makes Uncle Sugar come running with cash.
All that is chicken feed compared to the hundreds of billions we sent to bail out Euro bankers who bought GS fraudulent paper.
For Gods sake, we even actually spend money to teach Africans how to wash their penises.
But we freak out and suddenly become conservative at the idea of honoring pensions that our citizens paid decades of payments towards.
Of course SS is a fraud. But id rather my taxes go towards closing down that fraud and ensuring retirees aren’t suddenly left destitute than to some dune coon plotting his next jihad. But that’s just me.
“There is no agreement to pay it back at the end. “
Kabar
kabar: “Most Americans have saved very little for their retirement.”
And why should they when they’ve been promised Social Security? Even worse, if they DO have savings, those savings will have to be liquidated first while the person who has nothing will get a free ride from government.
Government is the problem. It’s providing the absolute worse incentives to the population at large. Responsible people are punished. Irresponsibility is rewarded! We must change it, but how to do so?
That’s why I’ve posted I think we need to carefully roll back government, including Social Security.
I am not defending SS or think it is a good deal. What I am trying to do is disabuse those who think that SS is an investment or pension plan and that their contributions belong to them. SS is insurance and it is mandatory.
I prefer personal accounts with a small defined benefit program to cover disability and survivor benefits. There are currently (2013) 625,000 children receiving SS benefits.
That is correct. There is no agreement to pay it back at the end. There are agreed upon ages when you are entitled to get benefits out, but there is no agreement that you will be paid all that you have contributed. You could die a day after you start receiving benefits, and that is it. No more payments to your estate.
SS was supposed to be a safety net and a supplement to one's retirement. It was never intended to be the only source of retirement income.
If I had invested in G bonds in the years that I had worked my SS payment would be around $75k a year, figuring in life expectancy.
Again, SS is not an investment or annuity or pension plan. It is insurance. It is not a good deal. It is a Ponzi scheme.
“SS was supposed to be a safety net and a supplement to one’s retirement. It was never intended to be the only source of retirement income.”
True, but it is. There’s ideology, and then there’s the real world. In the real world, people are dependent on SS. I wish they weren’t, and I certainly want to change things so future generations aren’t in the same boat. However, it is what it is. That’s why I say I want to drawn down the federal government smartly. There are people who cheer ANY cut, but that’s putting ideology ahead of all else.
The truth is, there are different kinds of government entitlements. A military retiree who served 20+ years actually worked for those benefits. A Social Security recipient probably paid into that program for decades. Those are completely different types of payouts in my opinion than EBT, “mad money” disability payments, foreign aid, ethanol subsidies, etc, etc (the list if virtually endless!). If it comes time to cut—AND WE SHOULD CUT—let’s cut smartly!
Who gave the “central government” the right to take her money?
The problem is that you loose your principle when you croak. I don't mind supporting lay a bouts , drunks, junkies, unwed mothers and other trash, provided I CHOOSE to do so.
While you are at it thank that famed Irish Drunk Daniel Patric Monihan for most of the problems .
The entitlement programs are the biggest drivers of our debt. They represent over $100 trillion in unfunded liabilities. They will consume the entire federal budget if not reformed. We either have to cut benefits, increase taxes, or some combination thereof to keep them sustainable. The longer we wait, the more pain will be involved. And evenif we act now there will be painful solutions.
The truth is, there are different kinds of government entitlements. A military retiree who served 20+ years actually worked for those benefits. A Social Security recipient probably paid into that program for decades. Those are completely different types of payouts in my opinion than EBT, mad money disability payments, foreign aid, ethanol subsidies, etc, etc (the list if virtually endless!). If it comes time to cutAND WE SHOULD CUTlets cut smartly!
In 1950 there were 16 workers to every retiree; today there are three; and by 2030 there will be just two workers for every retiree. We will have to tax people to death to keep the promises made to seniors. The reality is that we have seen a huge transfer of wealth from young to old over the past several decades. It is criminal and unsustainable.
SS and Medicare must be reformed regardless of whatever cuts are made.
How so?
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