That is a sure recipe for disaster. For 95% of the population Social Security is the absolute BEST investment that they ever make. By the end of the 3rd year of receiving SS benefits you have already received more than you paid in. Bear in mind, a good part of SS is insurance: disability insurance for you; survivor insurance for your dependents. Go price those two components on the open market. Another part of SS is for retirement benefits. These are benefits that are indexed for inflation and are paid out no matter how long you live. Price out an annuity in the private market and see what it would cost you. Maybe SS is not the best deal for ET'ers, only you can answer that. However, I'm in my 50's and a very large number of my friends, family, and acquiantances are very ill-equip for their coming retirement.
Cancerous corruption - the greedy people grabbing what they can before it is too late... You certainly got enough of them, along with monkeys promising castles-in-the-sky... You should read what Neocon Charles Murray has to say about welfare and any social initiatives... he does his research for the American Enterprise Institute, and the Neocon elitists have nothing but disdain for anything like social programs and international organizations ... in fact they absolutely HATE counter-cultures. And these people were given a blank check, through a traumatized US population, to do whatever the fuck they wanted to... Be prepared, because with the Patriot Act I & II as well as social control measures being put in place, you guys don't have any way of protesting any longer. The "democratic election process" you fantasize about being part of - well, it's a rotten corrupt entrenched two-party system with the elitists at the top in both parties. Good living, not NICE living. Doesn't pay to be nice. --- like Charles Murray so "affectionately" puts it...
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Quote from Vinny1: People pay 7.65% in social security taxes (15.3% if you are self-employed). If government eliminated social security, senior citizens would be rioting in D.C. In my opinion, they should just eliminate SS taxes for current workers, and people could take that money and invest it themselves. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- That is a sure recipe for disaster. For 95% of the population Social Security is the absolute BEST investment that they ever make. By the end of the 3rd year of receiving SS benefits you have already received more than you paid in. Bear in mind, a good part of SS is insurance: disability insurance for you; survivor insurance for your dependents. Go price those two components on the open market. Another part of SS is for retirement benefits. These are benefits that are indexed for inflation and are paid out no matter how long you live. Price out an annuity in the private market and see what it would cost you. Maybe SS is not the best deal for ET'ers, only you can answer that. However, I'm in my 50's and a very large number of my friends, family, and acquiantances are very ill-equip for their coming retirement. wow, there sure is a lot of delusion here. No wonder we are screwed, even people who think they know something are wrongheaded. First of all, you pay about 13% total for SSI. Just because you don't see part of it doesn't mean you don't pay. In my case, I ran a calculation and if I were allowed to shove it into a total market fund over my life, I could pay for 2 people at a higher rate than the SSI payout. Forced institutional investing is far better than the current system, which is NOT an investment. Second, you fail basic math. No way will most people get their money back in 3 years, that is only for a generation way back. In fact I probably will never break even. Dumbass misinformation like that is part of the political problem. Third, SSI was never meant to be a retirement. Insurance by definition is not something that all people will collect on. It has changed into an entitlement because of entitlement attitudes of people encouraged by the left. I can purchase disability, for cheaper than 13% of my income. People not being prepared is their own problem, sorry but it's not my fault that people don't save and retirement is not a right.
If you spend the entire 13% purchasing 'disability' insurance then you will have nothing left for 'survivor insurance' and nothing left for 'retirement savings'. Also, you only pay SS taxes on income UP TO $102,500 and some portions disappear before that level. I didn't fail basic math at all.
dude, can you read? I said 'cheaper than', in fact it is much cheaper than 13% and that was my point. If 13% is basically a disability policy until I turn 62, then no thanks. you failed math and reading comprehension
Dude, I can read just fine. The gov't takes 13% total to cover three components: disability, life insurance and retirement savings. You said; "I can pay less than 13% for disability". Fine, you've spent less than 13% to pay for ONE component. Look up 'disability insurance' rates": I think you'll be very surprised at how expensive it really is. Also, you have to damn near lose a limb before they'll pay off. And they can cut you off whenever they please. In any event, it doesn't matter. Society has decided that we are all in this together and you're going to pay like everybody else. You can fight to change it: good luck with that.
I pay the full rate SSI, about 13K a year, private disability would cost me about $1K a year, life insurance costs me another $800 a year, absolutely no problem funding all with a much better retirement fund. You are the one who obviously hasn't a clue about such things, or you are using geezer numbers. The thing is by the time I'm a geezer, I would have a stash of cash and would not need disability or life, something again overlooked. I know people who have collected private disability - it is easier than SSID. You now need an attorney to typically get SSID (a booming law area) and it takes an average of 2 years. About 2/3 of all initial claims are rejected. They can also cut it off whenever they please, what dream world do you live in? In any event, it doesn't matter. Society has decided that we are all in this together and you're going to pay like everybody else. You can fight to change it: good luck with that. No, it was your fuck-all generation that started this, I wasn't around. Lot's of people want to change it, most of us younger people do, but geezers know you have got the big rip off going and the AARP will not allow any changes even if it doesn't affect older people. It is well known that the older you are, the better deal it becomes. Talk about greed destroying America, this one is by far the most destructive. Far worse than war or bailouts, the unfunded liabilities of SSI and Mediare are in the 40-60 trillion $ range. If only current trends continue, by around 2025 we will have gov't no money for anything else So while you crow to me about what a great deal you are getting, don't piss down my neck and tell me its raining. All the social welfare programs started by you guys are a vast screw job for us later generations.
Social security = biggest scam ever. In Singapore they tax even more, the difference is they actually invest it. The result is that most Singaporeans who live to retirement age become instant millionaires because their fund has compounded at 7-8% and is actually worth something. In the USA and most western countries they spend the SS contribution each year, so when people retire there is *nothing* to pay out of except current taxes. So when demographics create more oldsters than youngsters, watch taxes soar. Eventually youngsters will get sick of paying for greedy, apathetic, geriatric old farts who couldn't work out that 2+2 <5, and pass some kind of euthanasia bill to get rid of the massive tax burden. Imagine if politicians and voters had a brain, and back when the program started, they had invested in a stocks - the SS funds would be enough to make every senior citizen rich, pay off the national debt, and invade the entire Middle East. But no, you can't have something as sensible as that becoming government policy, can you?
The trouble is that you don't *get* any retirement savings. You get a crappy pension that will barely pay your fuel bills in a few years, and it is drawn against current spending, NOT savings because none were built up during the time you paid the tax - it was all spent each year. Work out how much money retired people would have if they saved 13% of their income and invested it each year. Then compare to how much money they will get under the existing SS program. It will quickly become apparent that the system is total larceny.
I was under the impression Georgie Bush was a born again type Christian. How come he as the President of the USA doesnât just get on his knees and ask God to make it all better ? Has he tried it ? What was the outcome ? Isnât that what Christians claim they can do, heal people and nations ?