[USS Alaska]

"I will have enough money saved/invested not to have to rely on the government."

I DO have enough money saved/invested not to have to rely on the government, but I have children and grandchildren and they deserve some return on the money that is being taken from them. However, while not required, my SS is a nice offset for my golfing habit.

[Recon Dad]

My feeling and intentions exactly.

[Dundee]

I had a look at the American Social Security system a while back and I've got to admit I was shocked at the scale of the problem/debt you guys are looking at.

[MarkL]

I DO have enough money saved/invested not to have to rely on the government, but I have children and grandchildren and they deserve some return on the money that is being taken from them. However, while not required, my SS is a nice offset for my golfing habit.

There are a lot of people who are going to be shocked that their plans (which include social security) will be woefully inadaquet for their retirement...

For example, "The American Dream" (TM) has been to buy a house and pay it off while working, and then retire to it. The problem is that between property taxes and insurance, you will NEVER be able to stop making payments on the house! In just 15 years, the escrow portion of my mortgage payments has trippled! Even though I've refinanced a lower balance at a lower interest rate, my monthly payments have steadily increased over the life of the loan! If the increases continue at that rate, I'll still be making $500 a month payments, just for taxes and insurance, once the house is paid off!

That's going to catch a lot of people by surprise

Mark