[muawiyah]

hmm ~ no, your definition is wrong. it's a forced loan made to the government ~ it pays no interest. if you die before you are eligible for payments, you lose it all.

Most of the analyses that argue that recipients receive much more than they paid usually ignore the employer's payments AND the fact that payments only go to those who live. They also fail to account for potential earnings should that money be invested in private equities!

I personally don't agree with the concept, but that's the way it was designed and that's what it does.

it's not an entitlement. You have to pay to qualify.

Many other government programs are deferred compensation ~ e.g. VA loans. I see them regularly identified as 'entitlements' ~ which is just total BS.

[dinodino]

You aren’t paying attention. Social Security is not a loan. Recipients receive far more than they paid in:

http://www.humanevents.com/2012/02/18/raiding-social-security/

SS is an entitlement program, and it’s bankrupt. Not sure why you are having difficulty understanding this.

[dinodino]

You aren’t paying attention. Social Security is not a loan. Recipients receive far more than they paid in:

http://www.humanevents.com/2012/02/18/raiding-social-security/

Whose potential earnings are you referring to with your stock comment? Certainly not the government’s—the courts have ruled that there is no lockbox, and you are not entitled to the money you paid in.

SS is an entitlement program, and it’s bankrupt. Not sure why you are having difficulty understanding this.

[Graybeard58]

Many other government programs are deferred compensation ~ e.g. VA loans. I see them regularly identified as 'entitlements' ~ which is just total BS.

As a vet, I put my life on the line for my country. My V.A. loan in 1972 was earned and cost the tax payers nothing as I repaid the loan ahead of schedule.

Furthermore anybody who thinks S.S. should fold immediately and not issue any more checks, should absolutely refuse to accept theirs when they become eligible, including the $255 Social Security pays for "burial expenses".

[Graybeard58]

My father paid in from when social security started until he died in 1974, never receiving a cent from s.s., my mother was ineligible to receive any survivors benefits because she earned too much money - she worked part time in a school lunchroom.

Oh yes, she did receive the $255 to bury my dad.