isn’t an entitlement something you never paid into? like welfare, section 8, snap
i figured the lump sum amount my mother would have if she invested the money she put into SS.
a LOT more than what she’ll get from it unless she lives to about 93
No, an entitlement is a benefit provided by law. It has no connection to whether you "paid into it".
And once again, I hate bursting this bubble, but here goes:
Social Security has no contractual obligation to you. Congress can change the law to reduce, increase, or even cut off your benefits completely, and the only recourse you have is to vote against them.
This is settled law: back in the 50's, Congress eliminated benefits for a small class of people. A guy that was already collecting benefits found himself cut off. He sued, it went to the Supreme Court, he lost. You can look up the case: Flemming v. Nestor.
i figured the lump sum amount my mother would have if she invested the money she put into SS.
The ratio of the value of SS benefits vs. the value of SS contributions varies based on several factors:
I've gone through the calculations myself, using real numbers (not hypothetical): presuming that I would have bought long-term US Treasury Bonds each year, at the prevailing dividend rate. Then, I would hold them to maturity, and reinvest the dividends each year.
This approximates the return in the Social Security Trust Fund, which is invested in a special type of Treasury Bond, paying the market dividend rate.
My average indexed monthly earnings is above the median, and I calculated that I'd have about $1 million now, and $1.5 million by the time I start taking Social Security benefits.
An ‘entitlement’ is an illegal govt program where they steal property from one, likely requiring property from other Citizens, to ‘pay-back’ what was ‘promised’.
These programs are usually named and sold to the public with D.C. speak, such as including ‘insurance’ in their names or promising to return more than what was taken; as if govt has any track record of ‘making $$’ or ‘investing’...let alone ‘wisely’.
Though unconstitutional, these programs are passed and signed into ‘law’, with the help of the judiciary turning a blind eye, with nary a hint of any authority; though many Amendments can be sighted for their direct abolition (IE: 5th, 9th, 10th).
Most of these programs are used to pit the productive vs. the leeches, as most are sold as being ‘paid for’ by the users or arbitrary constraints removed upon those groups govt deems ‘of need’ (IE: the ‘poor’, ‘retired’, ‘needy’). The latter which, majorly, vote for those that promise to increase these programs outlays by (illegally) enslaving, economically, future generations.
This concludes today’s lesson on our current Banana Republic/Democracy.
“isn’t an entitlement something you never paid into?”
Everyone pays federal taxes, so every one has paid into every program.
Social Security pays out more than a person has “paid into” it.
The idea that you are getting what you paid is a canard. If that’s what you think, then would you sign a document right now saying you will only ever collect exactly what you paid into it?
If everyone signed that, the program would be permanently solvent. Obviously the problem is most people are collecting payouts out of the program that far exceed the amounts they paid into it. It’s a completely unsustainable ponzi scheme that must be phased out one way or another.
And absolutely all of the bogus disability claims from people who haven’t even reached retirement age need to be rejected completely.