I paid into SS for 50 years. If I had been able to invest the same amount in my own retirement investments, I would have accumulated 10X to 20X what the government is going to return to me in my just-started retirement. The taxes I would have paid on my personal savings alone would probably have exceeded the amount I will get paid out.
AND, I would get to bequeath whatever I didn’t spend to my kids rather than getting no payout when I die. SS is thoroughly corrupt for responsible citizens who plan their futures.
So you are going to begrudge a paltry 1% or 2% COLA?
Supreme Court Rules: Social Security is NOT a Binding Contract:
http://blog.independent.org/2013/01/23/supreme-court-rules-social-security-is-not-a-binding-contract/
Hate to say this, but if you are dependent on social security you are a Government mind numbed robot.
Hate to burst your fresh retirement bubble-—but—
Obama didn’t give one penny to us for COLA for 4 of the 8 years he was in charge, and last year, we got .3 percent. That is $3 on a Thousand dollars. I got a whole $4 a month increase. With all the other vendor increases I got, I am in the hole for 2017 about $150. Lovely. I own my own home—all my vehicles & furniture & appliances, etc. I live rural & do NOT have a cell phone or Pay TV.
RUMOR has it we MIGHT get a 2.2% increase at the end of this year.
Meanwhile—welcome to the seniors!! Look up your local Senior center & find out what activities & meals they have available. Ours locally isn’t too bad, but we lost the best manager we ever had & the replacement is lost in trying to do everything she could do.
Actually, you’d probably have around 3.5x vs what you’d get from SS. SS returns about 2.5% a year vs ~7-8% for the market at the median salary of around $40k/year. Assuming you work for 50 years, you’d have about 3.5x as much at 7.5% vs 2.5% with 12.4% of your come. It’s about 3x if you work for 40 years. If you have a high income, you’d probably get 7x instead of the 3.5x and if you had a low income you’d only barely come out ahead better. But your point is valid. It has drastically lowered the cost of capital for the feds by robbing the piggy bank over the last 50 years.