[Vaquero]

I dont know what any of this means....I am fiscally impaired.

AS long as I have no choice whether to put into SS or not, I want what I paid in with a reasonable interest on that.

I oppose SS, but I want whats coming.

My parents got screwed on SS by Jimmah and the notch baby deal, and I will have to be taken out screaming and kicking if any politician tries to pull that one.(I dont assume that, that is what this is.....I have no idea what this is all about)

[Fred]

Ahh, Vaquero, you are in the right place for a solid supply sider education on SS without the SPIN...

Note... THIS IS NOT A CUT... it is a strategy to "index benefits to inflation"

Be prepared to new methods to invest one's social security.

BTW - how did the folks get hammered on their SS

[businessprofessor]

Your parents were not screwed by the social security adjustment in 1977. You are woefully uninformed on this matter. The Social Security Administration made a mistake in the benefit formula in the early 1970s. The mistake was corrected in 1977. However, the increased benefits were still permitted for the beneficiaries of the mistake (1917 to 1921 birth dates). Your parents (as well as my parents and everyone else born after 1921) received the same benefit levels.

Your parents’ claim of injustice is ignorant on an even more basic level. Social Security has been funded as a generational Ponzi scheme. Like any Ponzi scheme, the early investors (often only the founder of the scheme) make tremendous returns. Once investors understand that the scheme is without a foundation, it collapses and most investors lose their money.

In Social Security, several generations of early retirees have collected benefits far in excess of any taxes paid. Your parents (and mine) are probably in that group. Payroll taxes were relatively low and then benefits were increased. Only later were payroll taxes greatly increased. In addition with women working much less in the generations of early retirees, the benefits were even higher because non working spouses receive spousal benefits.

The greatest generation has been a roadblock for Social Security reform. It is a something for nothing attitude of the greatest generation that has been a major factor in failure to privatize Social Security. In addition, it is a stubborn attitude to insist that Social Security benefits were earned when it is easy to see the Ponzi structure of the program. Politicians encouraged this thinking process and reform has been impossible.

You are also uninformed about getting a reasonable return for your social security taxes unless you are a low wage earner with a non working spouse. Most baby boomers and beyond will receive negative returns even without considering the looming crisis. The crisis will bring lower benefits, directly or indirectly. I would prefer the direct approach through privatization or raising the retirement age. The indirect approach through a combination of increased payroll taxes and borrowing may have much more severe side effects.

[uglybiker]

AS long as I have no choice whether to put into SS or not, I want what I paid in with a reasonable interest on that.

I would be willing to cut my losses right now if I were able to opt out of SS.

Just tell me where to sign.