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You do know even the SS trustees say that by ~2040 all SS funds will be exhausted and outgoing funds will far outstrip incoming contributions. I have seen estimates that a payroll tax ranging from 25-40% and probable benefits reductions will be necessary for SS to meet its obligations. I also don't think those figures include Medicare, and as we all know medicals costs are far outpacing inflation. I believe that Medicare expenses may someday eclipse Social Security's.

I wanted to ask about your rant concerning corporate compensation,.... so what? What difference does it make how much they are paid, if you don't like it don't invest.

Finally you are right IMO about one thing SS was suppose to be a safety net, basically so you'll have food to stay alive and a place to sleep. I don't believe it was ever intended to fund your retirement, to pay for your 2200 sq ft. home, to provide money for two cars, Summer vacation, wintering in FL. or AZ., or subsidizing medical care from retirement to the grave like the addition on Medicare in the '60's brought to the dance. SS was a scam from the start, and for too many, way too many is basically all the retirement they have.

...even the SS trustees say that by ~2040 all SS funds will be exhausted...

You haven't read the SS trustees reports carefully enough. They make 3 different projections based upon different assumptions regarding 9 different variables such as interest rates, birth rates, rate of GNP growth, and other factors that are unpredictable for more than a few years in the future. The trustees' projections are termed "low cost", "intermediate cost" and "high cost". In the past only the "low cost" set has been accurate from year-to-year in predicting what actually happened.

The trustees then base their graphs of predictions extending 75 years in the future upon only the "intermediate" set of projections which have been more accurate than the "low cost" set only once in the past 12 years. The "high cost" set of projections has never accurately predicted future events and therefore ought to be discarded.

Don't forget that the SS trustees are, for the most part, political appointees of the Bush Administration. Has the Bush Administration ever told you the truth before?