Fredipedia: The definitive Fred Thompson quick-reference
Posted on 11/09/2007 1:52:58 PM PST by 2ndDivisionVet
Republican presidential candidate Fred Thompson waded into the politically potent issue of Social Security on Friday and proposed overhauling the retirement system by creating 401(k)-style personal accounts.
Tampering with Social Security is fraught with political peril and President George W. Bush's attempts to change it during his second term fizzled as lawmakers balked at his drive to create private investment accounts subject to the whims of the stock market.
Thompson, a former senator from Tennessee, is seeking to show he is willing to take on tough issues if elected in November 2008, telling a news conference in Washington he is the only candidate to offer an extensive Social Security plan.
Like Bush's plan, Thompson's would include investments in the stock market. But he said his proposal is different because it would be strictly voluntary and would be added to the Social Security system rather than carved out of it.
With the post-World War Two "baby-boom generation" beginning to reach retirement age, the Social Security system is expected to come under strain in coming years and could run out of money by 2041 if left as it is.
"The ugly truth is that we're going to lose it as we know it if we don't do something about it," Thompson said.
Thompson is currently running a distant second in national polling, behind Rudy Giuliani, as a candidate for the Republican nomination for the November 2008 presidential election.
But he is far behind the leaders in the early voting states of Iowa and New Hampshire.
Thompson would leave Social Security benefits unchanged for people who are currently retired or are near retirement. No one now over the age of 57 would be affected.
He would provide voluntary personal retirement "add-on" accounts to supplement benefits and index the program's benefit system to prices instead of the current practice of indexes benefits on wages.
Thompson's plan would give current workers the option of making voluntary contributions into personal retirement accounts similar to a 401(k) plan.
Workers would be able to contribute 2 percent of their monthly wages and the federal government would match that contribution.
Thompson said under his plan, a worker earning $40,000 a year who started contributing to the plan at age 22 and worked until age 67 would accumulate more than $280,000 for retirement.
He said he opposed trying to overhaul Social Security by raising taxes on wealthier Americans, as some Democratic candidates have proposed.
He’d make a great VP...that’s it.
He isn’t running for Vice President and has already said he would not accept the position.
This is the kinda thing I'd like to see alot more of, from FRED!
It’s a brillant idea.
This is a good and viable idea - take your own money, control your own money. When it comes right down to it, can you ever 100% trust anyone with your own money but yourself?
Fred Thompson’s plan for saving and protecting Social Security will:
Protect benefits for current retirees and guarantee them for future generations;
Balance Social Security so that it is permanently sustainable for future generations;
Save Social Security for all Americans by treating all retirees fairly (No one over 57 will be affected);
Leave untouched the calculation of the annual cost-of-living adjustment;
Provide retirement options for future retirees that allow them to secure their own retirement future; and
Eliminate the estimated $4 trillion unfunded Social Security future liability.
To accomplish these goals, Fred Thompson’s plan will:
Provide voluntary personal retirement “add-on” accounts to supplement current benefits. It is a government-sponsored 401(k)-like supplement to Social Security that helps Americans build personal wealth.
These accounts will allow each worker to contribute 2 percent of his/her wages into a voluntary account;
The federal government will progressively match the worker’s contribution each month;
Both the worker’s contribution and the match would be invested in qualified stock and bond portfolios of their choice.
Index the initial Social Security Benefit Formula for prices, not wages.
Social Security today promises future retirees more benefits than current retirees receive, even though they put the same amount of money into the system. The system should be adjusted so that it is fair to all retirees.
Adjusting the formula will also guarantee that all retirees - current and future - receive benefits from a system currently running out of money.
We do not need to change the retirement age with this approach beyond the currently scheduled increase. We can preserve an annual cost-of-living adjustment as calculated under the current formula with this approach.
Social Security is the single most egregious fraud ever perpetrated on the American People...well...no, maybe the biggest fraud is the fiat money system, oh, maybe it’s the Federal Reserve. Be that as it may......
We should be driving a stake through Social Security’s draconian, socialist-inspired heart....not looking for ways to “save” it. Kill it, once and for all.
IF a private annuity salesman had done what the federal government has done......he’d be guilty of a felony and in jail.
Thompson said under his plan, a worker earning $40,000 a year who started contributing to the plan at age 22 and worked until age 67 would accumulate more than $280,000 for retirement.
That might last 10 yrs if youre frugal. 45 yrs of installments for 10 yrs of retirement barring any medical costs. Of course that is at a rate of 2%
That $280,000 would be in addition to your regular Social Security benefis, if I understand this correctly.
psssssst....DUNCAN HUNTER.....(not so mushy)
Is that 280,000 in actual contributions or is that the estimated gross amount with accrued increase in value? The 280,000 sounds a little light to me for the demographic he described.
If Thats the case thats great, but I wonder as to the details.
If that private account is yours will you be able to dictated the withdrawal amounts or will the Gov decide the rate of withdrawal?
I’m not against Fred. I’m just asking questions.
Where does the 56 year old stand in the plan?
Frugal and there’s no inflation. We’re talking 40 years down the road...it’s hard to imagine there wouldn’t be inflation and $280,000 just wouldn’t cut it.
And in the meantime, who’s going to fund the retiring baby boomers SS. Would this 22 year old be contributing regular SS at the same time as he puts the 2 percent in the 401K...and if he doesn’t...who’s paying the boomer’s SS?
(Let it be known that I’m a “late” boomer and I really don’t count on getting any SS, so I’m not complaining.)
The only way to end SS is to transition out of it so it may still make it’s commitment while we move to a new system or lack there of...
And here Fred Thompson has the audacity to ask me to USE MY OWN MONEY for retirement???
Tony, I agree with you. Fred will need to get more of this kind of stuff out if he wants to be serious.
2% of 40K is 800 bucks.
over 45 years thats 3.6K
Freds saying that could become 280k over 45 years.
Any one care to calculated the average rate of return over 45 years to get those numbers?
Im a late boomer too and I’m not counting on them either, but can anyone count on this?
I am so glad you hate FRed.
Just more evidence that confirms that he is the best choice for POTUS.
I might check that math, mylife. It sounds reasonable $36K over 45 years to reach $280K.
Fredipedia: The Definitive Fred Thompson Reference
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No. Its 3.6K invested yearly.
Looks like Fred is estimating 77% growth over 45 years.
I’ll buy that figure. It just seemed a little low to me, but I’m not a math wiz by any means.
I wonder though if it actually would be low. Think about how his plan would create more investment and saving; would it not drive up the value of assets held?
Well, that's more than we can say about your pro-abortion, gun-grabbing, pro-homosexual marriage and Pro-illegal immigrant amnesty candidate...
The system is set to fail from alot of what I’ve read...This sounds like a great start on the road to recovery for SS.
Don’t take this the wrong way: What is Duncan Hunter, Rudy Giuliani, Mitt Romney or Mike Huckabee’s plans for saving Social Security? Does anyone know? I imagine that Ron Paul would just do away with it and go back to gold-backed specie or somesuch...
scratch that
Agreed......but let's be honest about it. The Social Security system is flat broke. Any payments to current or future retirees will directly reduce the ability of the next generation to provide for themselves. We will have to balance this budget on someone's back....and that someone is us. There ain't no trust fund.
And I'm frankly more than a little tired of my government LYING to me. Anyone who wishes to continue to perpetrate and perpetuate this fraud, or "save" social security, is the enemy within.
36k total invested with a growth rate of 7.7%
Yeah thats the ticket.
Thats a reasonable rate of return to expect for joe any guy
The feds match your contribution, so it's 7.2K actually invested.
When did the feds match it? L0L
We have to honor it in some form or the political backlash may have the opposite effect of trying to get rid of SS...
Nor was the 401K ever intended to be a sole means of funding retirement. It was devised as a supplement.
Witness energy costs and food costs. Not to mention medical costs.
My retirement plan is to wander of into the woods and find the wolves
Is that like matching yourself? The money has to come from somewhere.
Fred would make a good President. However, I would nominate Rooty for the next DC Madam.
He has a penchant for french perfume and designer dresses!
He also shows a great tendency to set his buddies up in great cribs.
But did anyone consider the impact this would have on asset inflation? We're talking a bubble to end all bubbles.
Who pays for the boomers?
Who determines what the athorized slate of investments are?
And what happens WHEN the stupid, millions of 'em, lose it all or fail to invest? Does anyone really believe congress won't be there handing out green checks? Sheesh, we can't even suffer a housing bust without serious talk of a bailout. What happens when poor 'ol grandma is on the evening news because some dirty investment counselor mis-led her to invest in turkey futures?
More taxes. More government deficit spending, that's what.
We should just accept the basic format of "pay as you go" and adjust for income. If you don't need it, you don't get it. 7.5% tax on all income.
It sucks, but I don't see a politically viable alternative.
The only way to fix this is to gradually move the function back to where it really belongs- into the realm of a being a totally private matter.
Just like health care, or food or any other issue of sustaining life, the only public debate should be about what level defines “poverty”, below which we willingly use public money to help a person so they don’t starve, and above which people are expected to not leach off society and must provide for their own needs.
True compassion must include the ability to fail and living with the consequences of failure. When people cannot fail, a lot of them do not try hard enough.
Real investments instead of a ponzi scheme, not going to fly with the nany state party. Look what happens to the federal treasury and all the money that can’t be spent wastefully.
I like the idea, it’s the only sound way to fix the problem.
That won't happen while there are still people alive who were kids or young adults during the Depression. The memories of the Stock Market crash and bank failures are just WAY too ingrained. Working incrementally to phase it out is the better way to go, educating folks along the way of the necessity of diversifying their holdings.
I would hope that the 56 yr. old started paying attention in the mid 80's and started saving for him or herself.
Just more evidence that confirms that he is the best choice for POTUS.
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LOL! You got that right.
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