Social security by the numbers

[BuzzH]

You can dwell on the exceptions. What I said stands for the vast majority of us.

Fact is we're going to pay one way or another.

 

[Alpine01]

Your avoidance of admitting the Repubs want it to go away completely demonstrates how partisan it has become and how disengaged the public is.

You paint with a very broad brush. I don't want SS to go away. It is a social contract that the US Govt. agreed to with the voting public - you pay X amount in over your working lifetime based on your income and you get a guaranteed amount Y back when you retire. I don't believe the Govt should break that contract. I could support any number of changes to that contract if it is phased in so that older workers and retirees get what was initially agreed to and successively younger workers get a modified version that returns a large fraction of what they have contributed with other avenues to save for retirement that could provide a better return than SS with commensurate risk. Low risk, lower return, higher risk, higher return. Perhaps a floor that makes sure there is something at the end even if individuals can't/won't save for their own retirement. But there needs to be some individual responsibility for planning for and saving for their retirement years.

The problem is boomers didn’t pay in enough and income of new workers isn’t high enough to support them. The solution is simple- pay out less, take in more. Dems want to pay out more, Repubs want to take in less. It is probably too late for privatization without creating a huge divide between the old and the young.

It's not all on the boomers - they played the game defined by the Govt and played by the Govt's rules. You can't retroactively go back and fault them for that. And successive generations like mine have entered the workforce with 100% knowledge of the game and its rules. You want to change the rules, negotiate a new social contract with voters. If you want to take in more via taxes, it is going to fall at the feet of younger workers. That's how the SS Ponzi scheme works. Older workers have played by the rules for a very long time and changing those rules late in their game is unfair to them. Most are far from being wealthy, my parents included. And paying them less than what was agreed to is also unfair. Phasing in a partial privatization approach for the youngest workers may be a viable approach but it needs to be in conjunction with an economy that provides more than mostly service industry type jobs where the cheapest labor source is always the default answer. The vast majority of higher paying skilled blue collar work and the lower-level white collar work that was tied with it has left the US in the push for globalization of the economy. Doubtful it will ever return so the gap between service industry and high tech will continue to widen and so too the income gap.

But enough rambling. I've given my $0.02 to the conversation. Time to go enjoy my retired life.

 

[kodiakisland]

Fair has nothing to do with anything anymore.

Removing the cap makes sense.

To those who pay the least.

You have the option to give the Federal government more than you owe every year. How many benevolent souls actually do?

 

[Treeshark]

Fact is we're going to pay one way or another.

This is where I come down in this one too. SS, for all of its flaws, is probably the least bad option we have.

 

[BuzzH]

To those who pay the least.

You have the option to give the Federal government more than you owe every year. How many benevolent souls actually do?

I donate a lot of work hours to the federal government every year, which is pretty dumb really.

 

[Horseman]

I’m disappointed in how many people on this thread are still blaming the poor for for the social security crisis like it’s still the 1990’s…’they don’t wanna work or plan for their retirement like they did in the old days’. ‘I’m making $xxx,xxx per year and have paid SS $xxx,xxx over my lifetime because I work hard and make good decisions. This is BS and you sound like a willfully ignorant jerk. The reality is you are fortunate. You grew up with good parents who helped you get a good education. I’ll bet a bunch of you have even received an inheritance or a loan from mommy and daddy like DJT and the wealthiest 1%. You think you are the perfect example of the hardworking American dream because you earn enough $xxx,xxx to live comfortably and believe you’re saving enough for your own retirement…Reality check-you have way more in common with and are far closer to the plight of the people living off of welfare, homeless shelters and food banks than you do with the worlds first US TRILLIONAIRE, the 989 US billionaires and their insider trading US politicians. Geee wonder where all the money and purchasing power went? Don’t make yourself look like a hateful willfully ignorant moron by blaming the poor (your neighbors) for not trying hard enough. You are just one relatively tiny disaster away from financial ruin don’t flaunt your good fortune. Rein in the 1%.