Fredipedia: The definitive Fred Thompson quick-reference
Posted on 11/09/2007 1:52:58 PM PST by 2ndDivisionVet
Republican presidential candidate Fred Thompson waded into the politically potent issue of Social Security on Friday and proposed overhauling the retirement system by creating 401(k)-style personal accounts.
Tampering with Social Security is fraught with political peril and President George W. Bush's attempts to change it during his second term fizzled as lawmakers balked at his drive to create private investment accounts subject to the whims of the stock market.
Thompson, a former senator from Tennessee, is seeking to show he is willing to take on tough issues if elected in November 2008, telling a news conference in Washington he is the only candidate to offer an extensive Social Security plan.
Like Bush's plan, Thompson's would include investments in the stock market. But he said his proposal is different because it would be strictly voluntary and would be added to the Social Security system rather than carved out of it.
With the post-World War Two "baby-boom generation" beginning to reach retirement age, the Social Security system is expected to come under strain in coming years and could run out of money by 2041 if left as it is.
"The ugly truth is that we're going to lose it as we know it if we don't do something about it," Thompson said.
Thompson is currently running a distant second in national polling, behind Rudy Giuliani, as a candidate for the Republican nomination for the November 2008 presidential election.
But he is far behind the leaders in the early voting states of Iowa and New Hampshire.
Thompson would leave Social Security benefits unchanged for people who are currently retired or are near retirement. No one now over the age of 57 would be affected.
He would provide voluntary personal retirement "add-on" accounts to supplement benefits and index the program's benefit system to prices instead of the current practice of indexes benefits on wages.
Thompson's plan would give current workers the option of making voluntary contributions into personal retirement accounts similar to a 401(k) plan.
Workers would be able to contribute 2 percent of their monthly wages and the federal government would match that contribution.
Thompson said under his plan, a worker earning $40,000 a year who started contributing to the plan at age 22 and worked until age 67 would accumulate more than $280,000 for retirement.
He said he opposed trying to overhaul Social Security by raising taxes on wealthier Americans, as some Democratic candidates have proposed.
He’d make a great VP...that’s it.
He isn’t running for Vice President and has already said he would not accept the position.
It’s a brillant idea.
This is a good and viable idea - take your own money, control your own money. When it comes right down to it, can you ever 100% trust anyone with your own money but yourself?
Fred Thompson’s plan for saving and protecting Social Security will:
Protect benefits for current retirees and guarantee them for future generations;
Balance Social Security so that it is permanently sustainable for future generations;
Save Social Security for all Americans by treating all retirees fairly (No one over 57 will be affected);
Leave untouched the calculation of the annual cost-of-living adjustment;
Provide retirement options for future retirees that allow them to secure their own retirement future; and
Eliminate the estimated $4 trillion unfunded Social Security future liability.
To accomplish these goals, Fred Thompson’s plan will:
Provide voluntary personal retirement “add-on” accounts to supplement current benefits. It is a government-sponsored 401(k)-like supplement to Social Security that helps Americans build personal wealth.
These accounts will allow each worker to contribute 2 percent of his/her wages into a voluntary account;
The federal government will progressively match the worker’s contribution each month;
Both the worker’s contribution and the match would be invested in qualified stock and bond portfolios of their choice.
Index the initial Social Security Benefit Formula for prices, not wages.
Social Security today promises future retirees more benefits than current retirees receive, even though they put the same amount of money into the system. The system should be adjusted so that it is fair to all retirees.
Adjusting the formula will also guarantee that all retirees - current and future - receive benefits from a system currently running out of money.
We do not need to change the retirement age with this approach beyond the currently scheduled increase. We can preserve an annual cost-of-living adjustment as calculated under the current formula with this approach.
Social Security is the single most egregious fraud ever perpetrated on the American People...well...no, maybe the biggest fraud is the fiat money system, oh, maybe it’s the Federal Reserve. Be that as it may......
We should be driving a stake through Social Security’s draconian, socialist-inspired heart....not looking for ways to “save” it. Kill it, once and for all.
IF a private annuity salesman had done what the federal government has done......he’d be guilty of a felony and in jail.
Thompson said under his plan, a worker earning $40,000 a year who started contributing to the plan at age 22 and worked until age 67 would accumulate more than $280,000 for retirement.
That might last 10 yrs if youre frugal. 45 yrs of installments for 10 yrs of retirement barring any medical costs. Of course that is at a rate of 2%
That $280,000 would be in addition to your regular Social Security benefis, if I understand this correctly.
psssssst....DUNCAN HUNTER.....(not so mushy)
Is that 280,000 in actual contributions or is that the estimated gross amount with accrued increase in value? The 280,000 sounds a little light to me for the demographic he described.
If Thats the case thats great, but I wonder as to the details.
If that private account is yours will you be able to dictated the withdrawal amounts or will the Gov decide the rate of withdrawal?
I’m not against Fred. I’m just asking questions.
Where does the 56 year old stand in the plan?
Frugal and there’s no inflation. We’re talking 40 years down the road...it’s hard to imagine there wouldn’t be inflation and $280,000 just wouldn’t cut it.
And in the meantime, who’s going to fund the retiring baby boomers SS. Would this 22 year old be contributing regular SS at the same time as he puts the 2 percent in the 401K...and if he doesn’t...who’s paying the boomer’s SS?
(Let it be known that I’m a “late” boomer and I really don’t count on getting any SS, so I’m not complaining.)
The only way to end SS is to transition out of it so it may still make it’s commitment while we move to a new system or lack there of...
And here Fred Thompson has the audacity to ask me to USE MY OWN MONEY for retirement???
Tony, I agree with you. Fred will need to get more of this kind of stuff out if he wants to be serious.
2% of 40K is 800 bucks.
over 45 years thats 3.6K
Freds saying that could become 280k over 45 years.
Any one care to calculated the average rate of return over 45 years to get those numbers?
Im a late boomer too and I’m not counting on them either, but can anyone count on this?
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