Posted on 11/25/2011 11:26:34 AM PST by SeekAndFind
Merry Christmas..... Much?
This guy I know who works for SSA says they are not “IOUs”. That they are government Treasury bonds, or securities, or something like that (it’s been a few weeks since I talked to him). He says that whatever is backing SSA is payable upon demand to the SSA by the US Treasury. I knew when he said it, it was a crock and that what he was saying was just the opposite of the figures put out by conservatives, but he’s the “expert”, so I kept my opinion to myself.
At least you’re going gourmet. LOL!
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True, the 99% of us eat Calo...and like it!
It was based on the assumption of youth, but the money was supposed to be kept separate. It was never invested very well (this is a government program, after all) but very early on, it became a fund that other programs could dip into and then it was not invested at all.
Other countries - such as Chile - have actually started funds that have been able to make generous one-time payouts followed by comfortable annuity payments simply by taking this huge wad of cash and investing it. We didn’t do, and now we no longer even have any cash to invest.
Democrats can be gruff but honest about the problems facing Social Security and Medicare. America's future rests on finding the right solution.
Former Senate Majority Leader Democrat Tom Daschle has praised Europeans for being more willing to accept "hopeless diagnoses" and "forgo experimental treatments," and he chastises Americans for expecting too much from the health-care system.
Former Governor of Colorado Democrat Richard Lamm: Seriously ill old people have a duty to die and get out of the way.
President Obama and PELOSI appear to have the only solution: a pill might be better than expensive cures.
Palliative End of Life Optimum Serenity Initiative (PELOSI).
SS was never meant to give one a great retirement, but simply to be a basic floor. So that means that anything better than that is up to you...you’re not going to starve to death on SS, but you’re sure not going to be doing Caribbean cruises or playing golf on it, either, unless you have other income!
So SS may give you a tolerable old age, but it’s not good luck that gives you a comfortable retirement: it’s hard work and planning, as you say.
Will that 18 year old still have to pay FICA taxes even though he’ll never receive any benefits? If not, where will the money come from to pay the people who do get benefits?
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SS is a tax, nothing else, not a promise, not a retirement fund. I am debating whether to sign up for ss or to forgoe it and medicate. I am wondering whether I will be able to do it. I am not wealthy by any means, but would like to disengage from government intrusion into my healthcare or life span..
Most of them didn’t, at that time, but life expectancy was growing. However, I think nobody could have foreseen the birth collapse.
The Baby Boom generation was a huge generation, but had fewer children than to be expected and their children and grandchildren have had even fewer. If it weren’t for immigrants, we’d have a less-than-replacement birth rate now. The native population dropped under replacement a few years ago and deaths began to outnumber births in some states for the first time ever.
The problem was that the nest egg SS had gotten had already been squandered. It wasn’t a Ponzi scheme in the sense that it wasn’t a scheme meant to defraud; theoretically, it could have been paid for, all things being equal (death rate, birth rate), but the problem is that there was no realistic investment component to it because it was set up in FDR’s mini-socialism period.
How do you think insurance companies have ended up as one of the wealthiest sectors of US business? They take that money and invest it.
“You all”? Who is “you all”, and do you think you won’t somehow have to pay also?
The Phillipines
What the OWS pukes want is for the taxpayers to pay for their useless degrees in womens studies and art apreciation and for the government to hire them for no-work jobs paying six figures with generous health and retirement benefits.
Many of the things you say are true. However, if you think people retiring at 65 are retiring “two decades too early,” I beg to differ. Have you ever worked with an 80 yr old boss? I have. No computer skills, no knowledge of how things work and even less interest...in short, the kiss of death for any company unfortunate enough to have him or her.
That doesn’t mean that all 80 yr olds are like that, but the great majority would be, and purely from a business point of view, you need to make space for younger people and new ideas. If they’re hale and hearty and full of ideas at the age of 67 or 70, let them retire and start a second career. And free up the jobs for the next group down.
Wife washing the car.......
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sNzANHqSaVI
Catatonic.
Hence, “Fancy Feast”.
No! All politicians prefer reelection over truth. Have you seen the benefits they get?
The answer should be 'because that is not what they are there for'. The new gov't designed fix will be that the new retirement age will be 70 and people over 65 are not worth medical resources so the problem will solve itself soon enough.
You nailed it.
It would have been nice if all of the Baby Boomers had been busy saving money for retirement all these years, but that just did not happen. In fact, the Baby Boomers as a group are trillions of dollars short of what they need for retirement.
If I could have retained all of the money that I lost in my 401(k) due to the various and IMHO manipulated crashes in the stock market but alas I don’t. On the other hand we have our farm to help us get through the years ahead and we don’t expect to ‘retire’ either.
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