Privatize % of SS ?

[Flopper]

So how do we continue paying benefits to the 53 million+ that depend on those benefits. Once the fund is gone, benefits would have to be paid out FICA payroll taxes which would be reduce by funds going into private investment.

Sell all the land that the feds have glommed onto and use those funds to pay off those who've been scammed with the SS Ponzi scheme.

Problem solved.

This could eliminate a great deal of the debt, as well as encourage economic growth.

i.e., If the Feds stopped killing off the Central Valley via their insane water (mis)management policies, we'd actually be able to start growing food and employing people again.

I don't see how privatization will effect debt. FICA payroll taxes go into the trust fund which stands at about 2.5 trillion. Benefits are paid out the fund. The fund will be depleted in about 2041. There will be no effect on the debt until the fund is depleted and only then if Congress fails to act.

 

[DaGoose]

And once again its social SECURITY. It is there to help senior citizens live past their retirement. To have money once their private companies throws them out for being too old that they can have a chance to collect what they paid into. And Minimum wage workers put barely anything into it and they can't live like that so they have to always work. They should have the chance to retire. Seriously its not that much each year. Lots of short sighted people that wouldn't be like that to their own grandparents.

Exactly.

And guess what? It's working as planned.

Social Security benefits play a vital role in reducing poverty. Without Social Security, according to the latest available Census data (for 2008), 19.8 million more Americans would be poor

Social Security Keeps 20 Million Americans Out of Poverty: — Center on Budget and Policy Priorities

There are some on this board that feel they will NEVER need a "government handout" (so I guess they're clairvoyant or something?). But these same people must not have any grandparents either. Well my grandparents worked their asses off all their lives and depend on SS and Medicare. And now these self righteous morons want to take it from them. Well they can KMA.

So I have a GRAND idea. Let's see if they are willing to swear not to collect SS or if they're gonna be totally hypocritical about the whole thing.

Which will it be?

 

[Dont Taz Me Bro]

Absolutely not.

SSI is the ultimate safety net, designed to make sure that if you screw up..you still can salvage your life in your "Golden" years.

It should never ever be messed with.

As bad as it may be, it's still better than being left with nothing.

Who says we still won't be left with nothing?

 

[DaGoose]

Sell all the land that the feds have glommed onto and use those funds to pay off those who've been scammed with the SS Ponzi scheme.

Problem solved.

This could eliminate a great deal of the debt, as well as encourage economic growth.

i.e., If the Feds stopped killing off the Central Valley via their insane water (mis)management policies, we'd actually be able to start growing food and employing people again.

I don't see how privatization will effect debt. FICA payroll taxes go into the trust fund which stands at about 2.5 trillion. Benefits are paid out the fund. The fund will be depleted in about 2041. There will be no effect on the debt until the fund is depleted and only then if Congress fails to act.

The 2041 prediction takes current and future contributions into consideration.

 

[uscitizen]

Absolutely not.

SSI is the ultimate safety net, designed to make sure that if you screw up..you still can salvage your life in your "Golden" years.

It should never ever be messed with.

As bad as it may be, it's still better than being left with nothing.

Who says we still won't be left with nothing?

who says there will be a tomorrow?

 

[Dont Taz Me Bro]

That's exactly right. A good question would be "How many who have the ability actually invest their money? Or do they go out and spend it on things?"

How are they going to go out and spend it on other things when the government would still control the withholding of the money? If the Bush plan had ever gotten off the ground, the 4% of SSI taxes you would have been allowed to invest wouldn't have just appeared in your net paycheck. The money still would have been withheld by the feds, but put into an account that you had investing control over. You wouldn't have been able to withdraw it until retirement age.

 

[wihosa]

Oh sure, privatize it, what could go wrong? The Repubs have never been wrong about anything else have they? Well, other than that WMD thing, oh and the bank dereulation thing, oh and the tax cuts paying for themselves thing and .....

 

[uscitizen]

That's exactly right. A good question would be "How many who have the ability actually invest their money? Or do they go out and spend it on things?"

How are they going to go out and spend it on other things when the government would still control the withholding of the money? If the Bush plan had ever gotten off the ground, the 4% of SSI taxes you would have been allowed to invest wouldn't have just appeared in your net paycheck. The money still would have been withheld by the feds, but put into an account that you had investing control over. You wouldn't have been able to withdraw it until retirement age.

What bush plan?
Was anything ever written down or submitted?

Govt enforced investment in the stock market?
Same as private entities taxing us?

 

[Flopper]

SS was never meant to be a pension. Current workers are supporting current retirees. Here's my suggestion to fix it. We need to admit to ourselves that all SS is, is welfare for people that didn't squirrel away enough nuts for the winter of their life. So only poor people need collect. And by poor, I mean people who won't survive without it. If you make SS good enough to be comfortable, people will lose the incentive to save for their retirement, so it needs to only be good enough for survival, not comfort.

Then, with the benefits so drastically cut (because most people won't qualify to collect a red cent from it), we should reduce our FICA taxes to a really low level to support it, since it shouldn't take much taxes at that point to keep it going. Yes, that means most of us don't get to see any benefits, but at least our taxes can be cut now and our take-home pay increased.

This will also shrink the size of government, which I like.

Social Security was sold to the public like an annuity. You pay into the fund and when you reach retirement age, you are guaranteed benefits for life. For the government to renege on their promise would be a huge breach of faith. Keep in mind the entire financial underpinnings of the government is faith and trust. Without it the financial system of this country would collapse faster than you can turn off your computer.

 

[WillowTree]

Privatize it.

 

[uscitizen]

Privatize it.

the government is already privatized.

 

[rightwinger]

You can already invest your 401K or IRA in private investments. What do you gain by investing your Social Security funds?

 

[Dont Taz Me Bro]

Govt enforced investment in the stock market?

Where did you get that from? The Bush plan was voluntary.

 

[Dont Taz Me Bro]

You can already invest your 401K or IRA in private investments. What do you gain by investing your Social Security funds?

I gain actually receiving my Social Security funds, because currently I'm on course of not getting a dime of it back because of you and your generation.

Furthermore, the average return on the stock market over the long haul is 11% per year. The average return on Social Security is around 3% per year.

 

[Flopper]

This could eliminate a great deal of the debt, as well as encourage economic growth.

i.e., If the Feds stopped killing off the Central Valley via their insane water (mis)management policies, we'd actually be able to start growing food and employing people again.

I don't see how privatization will effect debt. FICA payroll taxes go into the trust fund which stands at about 2.5 trillion. Benefits are paid out the fund. The fund will be depleted in about 2041. There will be no effect on the debt until the fund is depleted and only then if Congress fails to act.

The 2041 prediction takes current and future contributions into consideration.

True. Under a worst case example, Congress does nothing and benefits are reduced to the amount being collected. I saw it estimated at a reduction of 25%. I think it would be a larger reduction.

 

[WillowTree]

You can already invest your 401K or IRA in private investments. What do you gain by investing your Social Security funds?

I gain actually receiving my Social Security funds, because currently I'm on course of not getting a dime of it back because of you and your generation.

Furthermore, the average return on the stock market over the long haul is 11% per year. The average return on Social Security is around 3% per year.

I wouldn't blame it on a generation. His generation paid for your grandma. Blame it on the mismanagement of the politicians who stole the treasury and left I.O.U's.

 

[Flopper]

Social Security payments should be placed in a locked box away from the greedy hands of legislators, banksters and Wall Street tycoons. It should be invested in safe and well regulated accounts earning low but secure interest.
The crooks and liars see social security as a gold mine to be plundered, and the crooks and liars don't care if the aged and infirm live out their lives selling apples on the streets.
Banksters and Brokers provide little and take lots. Payments into social security should not be capped.

As I recall the trust is invested in US Treasury Notes. There are lots of restrictions on intergovernmental loans, particular from the trust fund.

 

[rightwinger]

You can already invest your 401K or IRA in private investments. What do you gain by investing your Social Security funds?

I gain actually receiving my Social Security funds, because currently I'm on course of not getting a dime of it back because of you and your generation.

Furthermore, the average return on the stock market over the long haul is 11% per year. The average return on Social Security is around 3% per year.

How can you get your Social Security paid if the contribution pool is gutted by diverting money into private investment?

 

[Dont Taz Me Bro]

You can already invest your 401K or IRA in private investments. What do you gain by investing your Social Security funds?

I gain actually receiving my Social Security funds, because currently I'm on course of not getting a dime of it back because of you and your generation.

Furthermore, the average return on the stock market over the long haul is 11% per year. The average return on Social Security is around 3% per year.

I wouldn't blame it on a generation. His generation paid for your grandma. Blame it on the mismanagement of the politicians who stole the treasury and left I.O.U's.

And who elected them?

The Baby Boomers are going to bring this country to its knees. They are greediest, most selfish and self centered generation this nation has ever seen. They don't know the meaning of sacrifice that their parents did.

 

[rightwinger]

With employers moving towards 401K type pensions, fewer and fewer employees have a defined benefit plan available to them.

The best retirement plans rely on multiple income sources of which Social Security is one of them. A paid of mortgage, 401K and Social Security will provide a stable retirement fund