The compromise on SS that both sides should be able to agree on.

[Lesh]

Because the entire idea is stupid?

As a teacher, I had a 403(b) account, which is very similar to a 401(k) for those who are unfamiliar with them. My funds were invested by professionals in stocks and bonds. Over the past 20 odd years, I have seen the amount i invested grow significantly. My tiny investment grew to over $40K. I was eligible to withdraw my funds with no tax penalty almost 2 years ago,

Since my health has taken a turn for the worst, last year I decided to withdraw both accounts in their entirety. I requested the paperwork to withdraw the accounts several months ago, waiting for a time when I thought the market might return to its former glory. Needless to say, that didn't happen. Since I can no longer perform my job, I withdrew both accounts. Thanks to Biden's wonderful economy, I lost nearly 10K in the past 6 months.

My social security has only increased, slight it has been, but I have never lost money like in my 403(b)s. Is this what you want for your social security recipients in the future?

BTW, I am not eligible for disability because I had to work 5 full years since retiring from teaching. I came up a year short!

If not for my social security and real estate, I would be living on $30K to last me the rest of my life.

Exactly...

 

[Lisa558]

How about this then?

We make SS voluntary?

If you don't want to be in the program then you don't have to be.

That way if you really trust the government bureaucrats to provide for your retirement then you can sign up for it.

If you don't save for retirement or if you don't get the government to do it for you then you are shit out of luck and it is your own damn fault?

Sound fair?

The problem is that most Americans have no self-control and will opt out, and rather than save for their retirement, spend every cent they earn.

Then they will arrive at retirement age, with 0, and liberals will of course that say we can’t just let them these irresponsible people starve. They will be put in nice retirement homes, paid for by taxpayers, or if they are still able to live in their own (minus the fact they’re broke), they will get welfare and food stamps. So we’d be paying for them anyway.

 

[Flash]

Only if you are willing for the country to default on it's obligations. To be a dead beat country. If that is what you want...........................



I have my own retirement. It's not about me. It's about you arguing the country should just default on it's obligations.

But all of that is irrelevant. The government created a program it is then required to operate or default. There is no obligation to bail out bad investments.

When the Worthless Negro was President the US bond rating fell and we are a lot worse off now than we were back then. With this tremendous debt with no end in sight and the total cost of Federal, State and Local government approaching 40% of GDP we are heading for a disaster.

I don't trust the government. If you do then fine.

I personally would be better off if I hadn't paid in all that money over the years and now receiving a piddly ass SS check from the government.

I would much rather be in control of my finances than some government bureaucrat that really doesn't give a shit about me.

 

[kyzr]

Social Security was always a dumb idea.
Right now there is a good portion of the money collected for Social Security going for friggin welfare in the form of disability payments. A tremendous number of the disability claims are fraudulent. The Negroes and Latinos (including Illegals) have learned how to scam the system and the stupid government lets them get away with it.
You are a sorry individual if you depend upon the government to provide for your retirement.
You can pay in hundreds of thousands of dollars in your work career and if you die young nobody gets jackshit, except maybe those shitheads scamming for disability.

I paid into SS my entire working life. I'm collecting SS now. The government is "providing" it owes me.
If you want another retirement fund, a 401k or IRA, pay for it yourself, no one is stopping you.
You can even get one with crypto now, but SS is here to stay. Its safe income when you retire.
If there is disability fraud fix it.

 

[Flash]

The problem is that most Americans have no self-control and will opt out, and rather than save for their retirement, spend every cent they earn.

Then they will arrive at retirement age, with 0, and liberals will of course that say we can’t just let them these irresponsible people starve. They will be put in nice retirement homes, paid for by taxpayers, or if they are still able to live in their own (minus the fact they’re broke), they will get welfare and food stamps. So we’d be paying for them anyway.

Somebody else's lack of control should be an excuse for the government to force me to pay into something that I didn't want to pay in.

 

[Lesh]

When the Worthless Negro was President the US bond rating fell and we are a lot worse off now than we were back then.

Your blatant racism aside...you're referring to the GOP shutdown of goverment

 

[kyzr]

Somebody else's lack of control should be an excuse for the government to force me to pay into something that I didn't want to pay in.

Its not lack of control, its a social safety net for seniors.
Unless you're a trust fund baby you will welcome the income when you retire.

 

[Lesh]

I personally would be better off if I hadn't paid in all that money over the years and now receiving a piddly ass SS check from the government.

I would much rather be in control of my finances than some government bureaucrat that really doesn't give a shit about me.

If all you have is SS now...you obviously were NOT very good with investments. (If only I had more money to throw away on bad investmentrs....)

Without SS you would have NOTHING

 

[Lisa558]

Somebody else's lack of control should be an excuse for the government to force me to pay into something that I didn't want to pay in.

The point is….you (and I) will end up paying for them anyway. So I’d rather them be part of a forced retirement plan than rely on the responsible savers for their entire support in their old age.

 

[Anathema]

If you don't understand you can lose money on your investments....

That’s why I don’t invest in stocks, bonds, or other shit like that. Instead I invest in food, water, weapons, ammunition, and other survival supplies. Things that can only increase in value.

 

[iceberg]

The Republican position, in a nutshell: Social Security isn't really an investment system, it's basically a ponzi scheme where the government taxes you, spends it on current payments, and legislatively (pseudo-arbitrarily) chooses how much to pay out and when. It would be better to abolish it and leave that money in the hands of people who can then use the free market to choose if, when, and how to invest and spend their money.

The Democrat position, in a nutshell: Social Security isn't just about retirement, it's really about providing a fundamental safety net. Disability is funded through Social Security also, and it would be unfathomable for the disabled to end up homeless and dying on the street. And the fact of the matter is that many people end up not being good at being disciplined enough to invest in their retirements adequately so if we take away Social Security we'll have tons of old people becoming homeless and dying on the streets from exposure and hunger. Social Security can be saved and made solvent with again with updated adjustments to the pseudo-arbitrary tax and spending levels.

The solution:
Keep Social Security and restructure it. One half of SS taxes go to funding disability programs. The other half gets privatized and directed to a 401k or IRA of the taxpayer's choosing. The result would be much like an employer sponsored retirement plan, except that the taxpayer would have more control to choose with whom and how their retirement funds are invested.

Why should it be so difficult for either side to agree to this?

fund from my other taxes. leave my SS alone.

 

[justoffal]

No. SS is a necessity for working people.
SS worked well for over 70 years with minor tweaks. SS needs a "fix" like raise the 62 "early" retirement age a year, and raise the "cap". Problem solved.

Also, make it a required program, no opting out for private plans. You can have both, but paying into SS should be required.

Yeah...62 should just go to 65 that simple

 

[whitehall]

Social Security might have it's benefits but it was a government scam from the beginning. The federal government can't resist tapping big chunks of money no matter what it is intended for. There never was a "locked box" and the government stole the FICA taxes in the first year and continued until LBJ made it official that FICA taxes would be part of the general fund.

 

[Lisa558]

Here’s an idea:

We can’t make it voluntary since so many people would fail to save for retirement, and we’d be on the hook for their support. (You know that’s what would happen.) Instead, you are still forced to contribute, via paycheck deductions, but you could divert half your contribution to one of several large mutual funds. They would be broad - like VTV or SPY - and, given history, you would come out ahead over time. No withdrawals allowed before retirement.

Also, to refine it further, in your 20s and 30s, you could invest in somewhat more aggressive funds, but beginning at 40, your choices would be limited to “safer options.”

 

[Flash]

I paid into SS my entire working life. I'm collecting SS now. The government is "providing" it owes me.
If you want another retirement fund, a 401k or IRA, pay for it yourself, no one is stopping you.
You can even get one with crypto now, but SS is here to stay. Its safe income when you retire.
If there is disability fraud fix it.

I have a better idea.

How about the friggin government not stealing my money for 30 years and I take responsibility for my own retirement?

Why do you Liberals want to depend upon the government for your well being?

 

[Osiris-ODS]

Funny how social security is constantly running out of money but welfare isn't

It's pretty simple really. The answer lies in the figure $30,712,537,322,765 (and climbing by the second). Once our government spending got to the point where the American public became so desensitized to hearing "billion" and "trillion" that no one even raises an eyebrow when they hear about Congress passing bills that send billions upon billions of dollars to dozens of foreign countries while American veterans sleep on the streets, and hundreds of millions of dollars to endless numbers of obscure political pet projects that 99% of Americans have never heard of, this country went full steam ahead towards an eventual economic collapse.

Anyone living in reality can see that our federal spending is unsustainable. And yet the federal debt has been growing exponentially at an ever accelerating rate since the 1990s because the criminals in DC are keenly aware of the apathy that has afflicted the American public when it comes to the looting of the US Treasury. The fact of the matter is, a sizable portion of this country doesn't give a crap that politicians in DC are a den of thieves who are running up a debt that will be next to impossible to pay down in order to enrich themselves and their associates, as long as those politicians cut the peons in on a little taste of the action too. On a macro level, these are the basically the kind of people who would agree to turn a blind eye while a thief raids the cash from a family member's safe, in exchange for one of the $100 bills they stole.

 

[ThisIsMe]

I don't know what the answer is, but i find it sad that, the current situation, the debt, deficit, social security crisis, and pretty much every other problem in this country are 100% the fault of our government, and it's mismanagement of our money, over taxing, and just a lot of bad decisions, but we will argue with each other and attack each other over it....

 

[kyzr]

I have a better idea.
How about the friggin government not stealing my money for 30 years and I take responsibility for my own retirement?
Why do you Liberals want to depend upon the government for your well being?

I'm a conservative. You have no clue what retirement is like. Stocks go up and down, and what you spend you can't invest. The money you put in is matched by your employer, SS guaranteed, so its a very good deal. Even better with a matching 401k. Its a moot point, SS isn't going anywhere, so why even debate...deal with it.

 

[Flash]

. You have no clue what retirement is like.

To hell I don't. I have been retired since 2003.

I know you are a Conservative. I was talking about the Liberals that support SS. I should have used the term them instead of you. My bad.

 

[Stormy Daniels]

Because the entire idea is stupid?

As a teacher, I had a 403(b) account, which is very similar to a 401(k) for those who are unfamiliar with them. My funds were invested by professionals in stocks and bonds. Over the past 20 odd years, I have seen the amount i invested grow significantly. My tiny investment grew to over $40K. I was eligible to withdraw my funds with no tax penalty almost 2 years ago,

Since my health has taken a turn for the worst, last year I decided to withdraw both accounts in their entirety. I requested the paperwork to withdraw the accounts several months ago, waiting for a time when I thought the market might return to its former glory. Needless to say, that didn't happen. Since I can no longer perform my job, I withdrew both accounts. Thanks to Biden's wonderful economy, I lost nearly 10K in the past 6 months.

My social security has only increased, slight it has been, but I have never lost money like in my 403(b)s. Is this what you want for your social security recipients in the future?

BTW, I am not eligible for disability because I had to work 5 full years since retiring from teaching. I came up a year short!

If not for my social security and real estate, I would be living on $30K to last me the rest of my life.

Did you not have the ability to change where your 403b was invested, like to safe low yield funds?