Social Security pays out 98.8% of premiums collected in benefits. I would say that there is your gold standard, at least for an option that does not need to feed million-dollar executives.
And how many billions is Social Security in the red?
Do you think a private company could survive with that kind of loss?
I don't think you can use any government funded program and use that as the "gold standard." It will lose everytime.
Get your facts straight - Social Security is NOT in the red. The trust fund is flush until 2035 using the most pessimistic economic assumptions and flush to 2041 using the most common assumptions. And this is if congress does nothing to shore it up.
Couple this with the fact that all federal employees, including congresscritters, hired after 1984 are subject to the same Social Security retirement plan as the rest of us, so that as we rid the system of the geezers currently running it, our fearless leaders will have a personal, vested interest in fixing it, Social Security is the best run financial service company in history, and your children's best hope for making sure their parents have a roof and something to eat without seriously cramping their style.
Boy Joe, you did sound convincing that you knew what you were talking about....but it was just spin from the left. The only way it will remain solvent is to cut benefits in the future, Joe. If not....they lose a bundle of money.
That the programs will ultimately go bankrupt is clear from the trustees' reports. On pages 201 and 202 of the Medicare report, you will find the conclusive arithmetic: over the next 75 years, Social Security and Medicare will cost an estimated $103.2 trillion, while dedicated taxes and premiums will total only $57.4 trillion. The gap is $45.8 trillion. (All figures are expressed in "present value," a fancy term for "today's dollars.")
http://www.newsweek.com/id/199167
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