“It will be my objective to phase out Social Security." - Sen. Mike Lee says the quiet part out loud.

[dblack]

It is a Ponzi scheme. Do you not understand how it works?

Yeah, but it's sponsored by the government. So that makes it ok.

 

[Cellblock2429]

Never happen, that was long, long ago, we are where we are now.
We need to fix SS or we only get 70% of promised benefits.

/—-/ Make me a cash buyout of SS and require I invest it immediately, in an S&P ETF

 

[kyzr]

/—-/ Make me a cash buyout of SS and require I invest it immediately, in an S&P ETF

Never happen. That's not how SS works. That's what a 401k is for.

 

[Dont Taz Me Bro]

I was told years and years ago, when you get paid the first thing you do is invest, then live off the rest. Even if it's £$40 or £$100 or £$1,000 per month, immediately put it into a plan/investment.

If you fail to plan, you plan to fail. Anything off the government pension wise should just be classed as a bonus.

I put 4% of my paycheck into my 401k and at the end of the year my employer matches that 4%. I also receive a pension from my employer. Additionally, I have private investment accounts I put money into.

 

[Dont Taz Me Bro]

Why didn’t I prepare? I did. I got a union job that provides a small pension (I was only a member for 15 years so it’s only a grand a month). And I contributed as much as I could afford to my 401. Unfortunately every time the market took a hit , so did my 401.

Yeah, but the market rebounds. We all took a hit in 2008, but unless you were already drawing from it at the time you eventually recovered everything and more so, and actually, if you were still contributing, you were putting money in at historically low costs.

The stock market has an average return of 11%. Social Security's is less than 2%.

That said. I’m doing ok… because of SS

My point is I'd rather have a program that provides more to people than the bare minimum.

 

[Foolardi]

"to pull it up by the roots and get rid of it".

Well, that's plain enough for me! What do you think?

Hardly parentical but mores like abusively incidental.
Precisely why the Democrats are On the Outs.Virtually
out of the loop,so to speak.As weakened as ever in the
context of political parties.All for good reason.
The Democrat Machine is as bad as ever in current
United States.Likened to how Pravda operated.
No one with half a brain tied behind their back
cares a whit about what Democrats and scumbag that
cover for them Every hour of every day,
even a holiday weekend.For good reason.
They LiE.On purpose.They Smear ... even more on purpose.
They don't care a whit about Truth or fairness.
So why not take a really unquivering near legendary
Republican Conservative and twist his words to
make him out to be Bad for America.

 

[boedicca]

The SS actuaries say that in 2034 if no action is taken, payees only get 70% of promised benefits, because the money in is all that gets payed out. To avoid that we need to raise the cap now. SS can be "fixed" for the long term.

I oppose raising the cap. The people with incomes over the cap are already paying 24%-37% taxes on the amount over the SS limit. The problem is not lack of lack taxes - it is overspending by the government overall. Cut out the gross waste and narrow the scope of the government, fund SS out of the general fund to pay back the money Congress spent out of the SS surplus in the past - and phase out SS altogether over time to get rid of this Ponzi scheme.

 

[martybegan]

Never happen, that was long, long ago, we are where we are now.
We need to fix SS or we only get 70% of promised benefits.

Then figure out how to fix it without ending the original concept.

You pay in, you get back.

 

[martybegan]

Stop bitching and put up a better fix for SS.
Its going to be means testing, or raising the cap, or ___________.

Turn it into a fund that actually invests in something.

 

[boedicca]

You can look at it that way.
SS is an income tax that you get paid back in inflated dollars after you retire.

That's not how it works. The rate of return doesn't keep up with real inflation.

 

[Lesh]

Yeah, but the market rebounds. We all took a hit in 2008, but unless you were already drawing from it at the time you eventually recovered everything and more so, and actually, if you were still contributing, you were putting money in at historically low costs.

The stock market has an average return of 11%. Social Security's is less than 2%.





My point is I'd rather have a program that provides more to people than the bare minimum.

The key word there is “eventually”. If you were already drawing on it… you were fucked.

For those people SS was a lifeline

 

[Dont Taz Me Bro]

The key word there is “eventually”. If you were already drawing on it… you were fucked.

For those people SS was a lifeline

Not really. You took an immediate loss on the money you were withdrawing, but unless you pulled out your entire lump sum from your retirement, the money you still had in there eventually regained its value and climbed even higher in the following years. Also, don't forget the following year the stock market climbed massively. You lost out on the growth of what you withdrew during that period, but in the long term, that's all.

The stock market is a far better investment. SS can't even compare.

 

[Rigby5]

That's not how it works. The rate of return doesn't keep up with real inflation.

It does not matter if the "rate of return doesn't keep up with real inflation".
Social Security still saves us all trillions in the interest the national debt would incur for all of us, if not for being able to borrow the temporary SS surplus each year.
The point is that SS is not a ponzi scheme because it does pay out and is so modest in pay out that it is nothing at all like a ponzi scheme.
The plain facts are that people would not otherwise save for retirement, so then SS is an essential public service.
If not for SS, then we would also have to come up with trillions to support those who failed to invest in retirement on their own.

 

[Lesh]

Not really. You took an immediate loss on the money you were withdrawing, but unless you pulled out your entire lump sum from your retirement, the money you still had in there eventually regained its value and climbed even higher in the following years. Also, don't forget the following year the stock market climbed massively. You lost out on the growth of what you withdrew during that period, but in the long term, that's all.

The stock market is a far better investment. SS can't even compare.

2008 cut many 401s in half. If you were already drawing on it or about to, that money is gone and is not available to “increase” by recovering

 

[Lesh]

It is a Ponzi scheme. Do you not understand how it works?

Ponzi schemes do not last over 100 years

 

[Contumacious]

It does not matter if the "rate of return doesn't keep up with real inflation".
Social Security still saves us all trillions in the interest the national debt would incur for all of us, if not for being able to borrow the temporary SS surplus each year.
The point is that SS is not a ponzi scheme because it does pay out and is so modest in pay out that it is nothing at all like a ponzi scheme.
The plain facts are that people would not otherwise save for retirement, so then SS is an essential public service.
If not for SS, then we would also have to come up with trillions to support those who failed to invest in retirement on their own.

SO in a FREE COUNTRY the government can force me to financially care for idiots ?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?

 

[dblack]

Ponzi schemes do not last over 100 years

If they're propped up by the state they do.

 

[Lesh]

/——/ Liberal math: Soak the rich + soak them some more = all problems solved until next year.
Rinse and repeat.

Yeah… the poor struggling rich…

 

[Lesh]

I put 4% of my paycheck into my 401k and at the end of the year my employer matches that 4%. I also receive a pension from my employer. Additionally, I have private investment accounts I put money into.

Good for you.

Not everyone is in the position to do all or even much of that.

**** em huh?

 

[Rigby5]

Yeah, but the market rebounds. We all took a hit in 2008, but unless you were already drawing from it at the time you eventually recovered everything and more so, and actually, if you were still contributing, you were putting money in at historically low costs.

The stock market has an average return of 11%. Social Security's is less than 2%.





My point is I'd rather have a program that provides more to people than the bare minimum.

It is not true that the Stock Market has any "average return" rate.
If you happen to invest in a company that goes under, like Texaco or Hertz, then you lose everything.
The fact a few wealthy elite make huge sums, does not at all help those who lost everything.
So you can't ever put retirement into the stock market if you have any sense at all.

Social Security is invested in the interest on the national debt, so is absolutely guaranteed, and something guaranteed is the ONLY way retirement can or should be done.