The Social Security clock keeps ticking: It's marching to a steady cadence of financial decline

American Thinker ^ | 02/09/2024 | Brenton Smith

[Vermont Lt]

I think that is an area that we could likely find a decent compromise on.

I understand your point and it is valid.

[Lou L]

If we have untold billions to send to other countries, untold billions to pay to illegal immigrants, untold billions to buy bullets for government agencies, then we have the cash to pay to people that paid into this system.

But we don't.

We don't have "untold billions" to give to other entities. We keep writing checks and those get lumped into the overall debt our country owes its creditors.

Do you not understand that?

[KarlInOhio]

The life span of a man was about 57

What was the life expectancy of someone who hit 18. Reduction of childhood mortality was the primary change since then. And although it is sad, the death of a six year old from mumps has almost no impact of the fiscal viability of Social Security.

[joe fonebone]

And yet, somehow, these entities keep spending what we send and give them.
And these entities are not even American.
Don’t you think we should reprioritize this mockery?
Take care of Americans first!
What don’t you understand about that?

[roadcat]

Deport all illegal aliens.

Also create a special high tax on non-citizen illegal aliens. As long as they are here, keep a ledger showing how much they owe in special non-resident taxes. The money owed stays on them for life and can be passed on to descendants living here. Any money sent out of the country is illegal. Jail them for no-payment of taxes if you're not going to jail them for illegally entering the country.

[cgbg]

One idea to consider is to identify the country of origin of each illegal alien.

Credit one million dollars against that country’s foreign aid.

If there are enough credits to take the foreign aid to zero start crediting it against future year’s foreign aid.

Mexico probably would next get foreign aid in the year 3278.

Lol.

[minnesota_bound]

Put the congressman on social security. It would be fixed the next day!!

Galveston County: A Model for Social Security Reform - 2005
https://www.ncpathinktank.org/pdfs/ba514.pdf
FTA: We’ve averaged an annual rate of return of about 6.5 percent over 24 years.

Workers making $17,000 a year are expected to receive about 50 percent more per month on our alternative plan than on Social Security - $1,036 instead of $683. [See the Figure.]
Workers making $26,000 a year will make almost double Social Security’s return - $1,500 instead of $853.
Workers making $51,000 a year will get $3,103 instead of $1,368.
Workers making $75,000 or more will nearly triple Social Security - $4,540 instead of $1,645.
Galveston County’s survivorship benefits pay four times a worker’s annual salary - a minimum of $75,000 to a maximum $215,000 - versus Social Security, which forces widows to wait until age 60 to qualify for benefits, or provides 75 percent of a worker’s salary for school-age children.

In Galveston, if the worker dies before retirement, the survivors receive not only the full survivorship but get generous accidental death benefits, too. Galveston County’s disability benefit also pays more: 60 percent of an individual’s salary, better than Social Security’s.
_________________________________________

How Three Texas Counties Created Personal Social Security Accounts and Prospered - 2011
https://www.forbes.com/sites/merrillmatthews/2011/05/12/how-three-texas-counties-created-personal-social-security-accounts-and-prospered/?sh=5ac504623283

A lower-middle income worker making about $26,000 at retirement would get about $1,007 a month under Social Security, but $1,826 under the Alternate Plan, according to First Financials calculations.

A middle-income worker making $51,200 would get about $1,540 monthly from Social Security, but $3,600 from the banking model.

And a high-income worker who maxed out on his Social Security contribution every year would receive about $2,500 a month from Social Security vs. $5,000 to $6,000 a month from the Alternate Plan.

[Reily]

Nope!

I Ponzi scheme will collapse on its own. The things you cited just make it collapse faster!

[SamAdams76]

Social Security is but one pillar in the three pillars that constitute "retirement".

Most people do not understand this.

For somebody retiring today, they should have at least one million dollars in IRA/401k savings. Using the 4% rule, they would withdraw $40,000 the first year of their retirement (and increase that each year by the inflation rate).

The third pillar would be income from either a part-time job, monetization on social media, or rental income, just to name three sources.

The average Social Security check for somebody retiring at age 65 will be $33,733 per year.

So right there, you have $73,733 in your first year of retirement plus whatever you make in your part-time job or rental income.

[Lou L]

I completely agree that we should be caring for our citizens, first and foremost. I’m saying that our ability to do that as a country is vanishing. Yes, obviously, those checks we’re sending out keep getting cashed, but eventually, someone will have to pay for them.

[joe fonebone]

I apologize for getting upset with you.
We do need to elect people that recognize these problems.