‘No one in the US should be retiring at 65’: Ben Shapiro said Social Security was not designed to provide retirement benefits for 20+ years

[odanny]

I'm pretty sure the retirement doesn't kick in after one term.

But if we look at their net worth before being elected and after, they seem to have plenty of money (even if it is of questionable origin).

They make their real money as lobbyists, before then they make their connections in Congress and then work as front men for government contractors, the amount of graft is likely beyond comprehension, and I seriously doubt anyone could even guess correctly as to the level of it taking place, because no one has probably ever done a deep dive into measuring it. It's just a black hole.

 

[Greenbeard]

You haven't provided any data, you made a statement and posted a paywalled NYT article.

The only data that counts is the reports from the CBO and the CMS actuaries.

Which is exactly the data that shows real per beneficiary Medicare cost growth stopped in 2010 when the ACA passed.

The medicare "savings" is the projected difference from a baseline projection. Medicare spending continues to increase every year. That money (~$500 Billion) was spent on Obamacare.

Savings relative to the pre-ACA baseline was supposed to be ~$500 billion (over the 2010-19 period). In reality it was closer to $900 billion.

Health care providers will shift the burden to private insurance companies by raising rates to cover the reduction in federal payment for whatever the service was.

Obamacare doesn't do anything about health care inflation, which is the underlying driver.

Commercial health spending has also grown significantly more slowly in the ACA era. The cost slowdown in Medicare is just one manifestation of a larger system-wide drop in health care cost growth that's benefited everyone. On average the cost curve over the last 15 years has been flat.

 

[WorldWatcher]

Listen Einstein, you painted with the broad brush stating that the entire post was fake news. If you're going to take issue with a post, be clear as to what portion you are taking issue with. Run along.

You call me Einstein?

That’s funny given you claimed there was a change in the military retirement system that never happened.



Go ahead and have the last word laced with insults if that makes you feel better.

LOL

WW

 

[Couchpotato]

Now, can you inform us for your transition plan?

You take that 12% now and it's placed in a private retirement account.

However the funds collected now are paying current benefits. If the 12% revenue isn't occurring, but benefits still have to be paid, where will the funding come from.

Also please enunciate in this plan how the transition occurs as a function of time in terms of:

• New workers that have never paid into SS,
• Existing workers, say those 30-50 years old that have paid into SS for 2-3 decades and will have to make up the difference by contributing significantly more than 12% to be able to retire.
• 50-65 year old's that have paid into SS and really don't have the time to build retirement accounts that would replace SS.
• Current SS recipients.

Thank you.

WW

[DISCLAIMER: I fully support transitioning to lockbox private retirement accounts. To be true retirement accounts they would have mandatory contributions that cannot be accessed prior to retirement. The question is how to fund the 30-50 years of transition.]

We
Can’t have an honest discussion about if/how we move on from SS without first having an honest discussion about what it is. And as has been shown in this thread there are many people disillusioned about that. Do you agree?

 

[Couchpotato]

The payout is based on a points system, and how many quarters a person pays in during their working years.

Doing a gradual increase in retirement age, coupled with some additional revenues from higher earners would put the program back in actuarial balance- the same thing that Reagan did in 1983.

So yeah, no increase in benefits- just make the program solvent again with those two changes.

In 2017 Biden made ~$11 Million. He and Jill paid FICA taxes on ~$243K combined. The rest was taken as dividends and no FICA taxes. Upping the cap to $200K ea., they would have paid FICA taxes on $400K of their income...

why are you so hell bent on the government doing this? When has that ever worked out?

 

[para bellum]

The cost slowdown in Medicare is just one manifestation of a larger system-wide drop in health care cost growth that's benefited everyone.

I don't know where you're getting your info but it's not the CMS report I linked. Certainly nothing regarding per beneficiary costs attributed to the ACA.

KFF has a tracker with a number of different metrics and they aren't showing any drops like you describe.

How has U.S. spending on healthcare changed over time? - Peterson-KFF Health System Tracker

This chart collection explores National Health Expenditure (NHE) data from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).

www.healthsystemtracker.org

 

[para bellum]

why are you so hell bent on the government doing this? When has that ever worked out?

Take a breath dude.

 

[Couchpotato]

Take a breath dude.

Answer the question. Dude.

 

[para bellum]

Answer the question. Dude.

What question were you asking?

The subject I was discussing was what it would take to return SS/Medicare to actuarial solvency.

If you want to talk about ending the programs, that's not a realistic scenario. I'm sure there are members here that will entertain you on that discussion, but I'm not one of them.

 

[RoshawnMarkwees]

Problem is that by the time the age is raised, life expectancy will dramatically decrease because most people are obese, lazy and diabetic.

 

[Moonglow]

Like it or not, he's right.
It obviously is a huge political football, but going forward this country will be forced to make adjustments to the age for full benefits.
Right now, I would change it from 67 to 69, and every three years going forward, I would increase it by one year until the age of 75. Then, reevaluate every two years and make adjustments if necessary.

‘No one in the US should be retiring at 65’: Ben Shapiro said Social Security was not designed to provide retirement benefits for 20+ years — and those who expect that are ‘crazy’​

MSN

Fuck Ben Shapiro.

 

[ThisIsMe]

I doubt Rogan would've been so disrespectful. You don't get it, but then again you're probably just another weaselly little bully like Ben.

and that is not Jenner, that is Zoey Tur. You can't even follow a simple video. You're an imbecile - proven.

Tur is tough as nails and allowed Ben to go for a few, then finally had to put him in his place.

Zoey Tur - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Ok I see it, looks a LOT like Jenner. Uncanny.

Anyway, the point was not what Rogan would or wouldn’t do, it was about Zoey not doing what he did to someone the same size or bigger. Zoey was the bully here because he couldn’t handle someone else’s point of view.

 

[WorldWatcher]

We
Can’t have an honest discussion about if/how we move on from SS without first having an honest discussion about what it is. And as has been shown in this thread there are many people disillusioned about that. Do you agree?

Any honest discussion, HAS to include a transition plan and how that plan is going to be funded.

So to quote someone...

Answer the question. Dude.

If you want to change Social Security, which I'm not against, how do we fund the transition?

What does it look like for new workers? What does it look like for middle age workers? What does it look like for older workers? What does it look like for the already retired?

Since current revenues pay current benefits, if money is diverted, how will transition benefits be funded?

WW

 

[Harpy Eagle]

why are you so hell bent on the government doing this? When has that ever worked out?

seems it has been working since the 1930s

 

[iamwhatiseem]

Where do the benefits come from to pay the people who are on SS?

Who are the $Billionairs?

 

[WorldWatcher]

seems it has been working since the 1930s

If you go back to the fireside chats from FDR and how SS was sold to the public, there were supposed to be 3 pillars of support for old people in retirement:

• Employer mandatory pensions
• Personal Savings
• Social Security

It was never intended to be the sole source of support.

But in the video above, which is from quite a while ago but still does a good job, the decline of employer pensions with the shift to most companies relying exclusively on 401K's (personal saving) for the employee retirement is explained. Employer pensions (a) are expensive, and (b) the financial market saw 401K's as a pay to make money. Lots of money.

On top of the rise of 401K's as - supposedly - the main source of retirement income, you also have the impact of the loss of the concept of the "Company Man". Someone that works for the same company for decades, now we are a much more mobile society and workforce. If you can keep someone in the same job for 3-5 years you (as an employer) are doing well.

WW

 

[rightwinger]

If you want to change Social Security, which I'm not against, how do we fund the transition?

How do you pay those who are already retired during and after the transition?

We are stuck with SS

 

[Harpy Eagle]

On top of the rise of 401K's as - supposedly - the main source of retirement income, you also have the impact of the loss of the concept of the "Company Man". Someone that works for the same company for decades, now we are a much more mobile society and workforce. If you can keep someone in the same job for 3-5 years you (as an employer) are doing well.

Yep, people stayed with the same company for the pension and the health insurance. Now the former is almost non-existent and the latter one can get from other sources.

My daughter is 29 and is with her 5th employer since graduating college. 3 she left for better opportunities and the last one they downsized and offered her a demotion or 3 months severance.

Companies also do not do themselves any favors as they take the workers they have for granted and are not doing much to keep them. Those who switch jobs more frequently make more money, getting as much as 5 times as much in raises than those that stay put.

Want A Pay Raise? Switching Jobs Has Much More Upside Amid Soaring Inflation, Report Finds

The difference was stark: During the second year of the pandemic, a new analysis of government data from the Pew Research Center found, half of workers who changed jobs saw their pay increase 9.7%, while the median worker who stayed in the same job experienced a loss of 1.7%.

www.forbes.com

Companies need to do a better job of rewarding those they have now.

 

[JohnDB]

People who have railroad retirement instead of social security do so much better. They, or their beneficiaries, literally get a raise in pay when they retire.

Those who have paid in the most get the least back from social security. If I had put the same money into an index fund (AMEX, NASDAC or NYSE) I would be filthy rich at retirement instead of poor and having stupid talking heads try to take what is mine.

And that's what is the dumbest thing of all....talking heads who have no clue what they are talking about. Yes, social welfare is our government's biggest expense. But it also is one of the biggest taxes workers pay into.
The current politicians don't want to keep past promises made by past politicians who actually had the citizens interests in mind.

Get over it. Keep the promises. Failure to do so will be the death of millions of people. Stop with the giving to illegal immigrants.

Sure, there is the baby boomers big hit to the system...but that's no excuse for being moral failures. Baby boomers are dying off anyway and Gen X is coming into the mix.

 

[Cellblock2429]

If you want to retire at 65, that is your business and your right. The promise of Social Security and retiring has been there long before Ben Shapiro's father was a little wiggly sperm swimming around looking for a home.
If you've paid into it your whole life (let's say 40 working years), then it is your right to be able to pull that money back out for the remainder of your existence on this planet.

1) Remove the wage base limit.
2) Reinstate the tax on earners above $400K (has that been done yet?)

You'd solve 75% of your financing problems right there.

/-----/ "long before Ben Shapiro's father was a little wiggly sperm swimming around looking for a home"
I can't stop laughing.