Posted on 04/14/2015 10:23:49 AM PDT by reaganaut1
Yes, it is. But, the theft has prevented multiple generations from planning for their own financial security.
Other countries have eschewed redistribution in favor of privately-owned accounts. It's the only way to avoid the demographic trend that ultimately dooms inter-generational transfers.
The problem: how do you transition from one to the other? There are many people currently collecting benefits, or are about to collect benefits. It's not fair, or practical, to leave them high and dry.
I think when that nugget hits the blade, people will kill and die as a consequence.
No, I didn't. Because it is. Social Security would be illegal if it was run by a private company.
And just like pyramid/Ponzi schemes, it will collapse when it runs out of people to "join at the bottom".
Even though wage earners are forced to join, demographic trends (fertility rate and life expectancy) are shrinking the ratio of contributors to beneficiaries. At some point, it could shrink to 1 contributor for every beneficiary.
So tell me, what manly, aggressive, methods did you use to stop them from stealing your money? Or are you also a hypocrite and a commie thief - in addition to being a holier-than-thou internet commando?
PS - If a thief steals money from me, and I know who the thief is, and I have a way to recover from the thief the amount stolen from me, it does not make me a "commie" if I am unable to bring myself to care whether the actual money I recover is the exact same currency originally stolen from me, or whether it is the proceeds from another of the thief's crimes.
Did you not read the last sentence in my paragraph that you quoted, or the first sentence of the following paragraph?
No, Social Security is not an insurance policy, at least once you get to "old age" benefits. It does have provisions for survivor and disability, but while they do subtract from the actuarial balance, they are not the root cause of the problem.
What about the 60 year old illegals or invitees from Yemen that came here a year or 10 years ago ago at the invitation of Obama and Bush and the US Chamber of Commerce and the DNC and RNC for cheap labor and votes that will soon be sucking on our Social Security trust?
Social Security benefits are based the average of your highest 35 years of indexed wages. If you don't have 35 years of wages, the missing years are substituted with zero, thus lowering your average wage, and your monthly benefit. And, you must have contributed sufficient wages in 40 3-month periods to get any Social Security benefits at all. Any other benefits received will be coming out of the general fund.
What about the SS trust money that was used from everything from war in Africa to tax cuts to food stamps, but not to defend our borders?
If you had taken the time to read my posting, you would have seen that I already addressed this point, specifically to preempt it. It's not true, so please stop repeating this meme:
I agree that it would not be fair, especially to those currently receiving, or who are about to receive in the next decade or so. But, a line will eventually have to be drawn: the government will have to say, "if you're currently below age x, you'll need to start saving for your retirement with little help from the government."
Otherwise, the only way to keep benefits for everyone has been previously summarized nicely on this thread. A combination of increased taxes, decreased benefits, or a gradual raise in the retirement age.
I think this is the only way to fix the problem, permanently. The problem is that those younger taxpayers will have to make some contribution, with no hope of getting any benefits. Perhaps one way would be to divert the employee payroll tax into a 401(k), and continue the employer payroll tax for Social Security.
But, that's just a "broad stroke" proposal. There are other components of Social Security that must be addressed: survivor and disability benefits.
I feel your pain. That said, we pay many taxes under the force of government and once we do, it's no longer our money. If a means test is eventually applied, it's very possible that people like you and me will have paid one of the largest taxes ever implemented, and we'll never see a penny of it.
Believe me, I'm conservative, and I don't like it one bit. Christie has raised this issue and it's political suicide...neither side will vote for him, but it's a topic that HAS to be raised. We can do it now and start the debate, or we can continue to put it off.
The debate should be framed in the context of overall reduced government size, but either way, Christie is just the messenger here. He doesn't deserve to be lambasted.
Coincidentally, the SSA did evaluate a proposal like this back in 2005:
Estimated Long-Range OASDI Financial Effects of a Proposal for Individual Social Security Investment
And another one, with a gradual shift of taxes to contributions:
I haven't yet waded through all of them, as there's a lot of info.
“So tell me, what manly, aggressive, methods did you use to stop them from stealing your money? “
What I did was not whine about it. You clearly have not learned that lesson. So if you are going to whine about “your” money, why didn’t you do anything about it when you were paying?
” it does not make me a “commie””
If you are too stupid to realize that “your” money was a tax that you paid and nothing more - and THEN you want to enslave others to pay you - because according to you, other peoples labor belongs to you - you certainly ARE a commie.
This is a learning moment for you. Right now you are - like many on this forum - a “conservative communist”
It’s sort of like a big-government Republican in the Bush mold - except you don’t pretend not to be a commie - you embrace it fully - except for the title, which you deserve.
“Well I’m done”
Been there, done that, and it encourages you and many other businesses to hire fewer employees, or just not have any - and make do.
When you have those out of government willing to rent seek, and those in government (also rent seekers) willing to accommodate with myriad forms of “benefits” it’s a wonder we have anyone left in the productive class.
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