Social security is not socialism but it needs to be privatized

your SS is gone? I thought you were still collecting. Actually you'll be collecting until you die.
And your anecdotal evidence of 1, means nothing to 300M people. All who won't be as lucky as you.

What happens if the pvt company you want everyone to invest in goes bankrupt??

 

Why does everyone think that 300M people can be a successful as the 1 person who thinks if they did it so can 300M people?
Great on you, it would be nice if everyone can thrive and survive what you did. Plain fact is, they can't.

Remember, less than 1/2 the country has any savings at all.

 

You just quoted a post that showed not a bandaid but a permanent fix and then either misunderstood it or lied about it

- - - Updated - - -

Originally Posted by Lesh View Post
SSI only fails if Republicans MAKE it fail.

The Trust Fund is made up of bills that are every bit as sound and real as any government bond.

As it stand there is enough money in payroll deduction and the Trust Fund to handle ALL obligations until 2032 at which point the payroll deductions will cover 75% of the obligation. That 25% gap can be imply and permanently filled in by simply raising the cap at which payroll deductions STOP being taken out.

Almost everyone pays into the system at 6% on their entire paycheck. It's a no brainer that those who have the most disposable income do a well...especially if it means that SSI continues to function as it does now.

- - - Updated - - -

And let's not forget what happened just a few short years ago. The stock market lost HALF it's value almost overnight...taking retirement accounts with it.

 

In 2040 things get even worse


"Social Security and Medicare are disastrously unbalanced for three reasons. First, “contributions” to Social Security and Medicare are insufficient to provide the promised benefits. Indeed, Social Security operates as a classic Ponzi scheme, with new contributions used to pay off earlier “investors.”

Second, life expectancy is up, and fertility rates are down. The population is aging, with a larger number of elderly living longer. This is good news for people but bad news for Uncle Sam.

Third, medical outlays are increasing rapidly. In recent decades Medicare outlays have risen three percent annually above the increase in per capita GDP. Since the elderly consume far more healthcare services than younger Americans do, this factor compounds the impact of demography.

Even before last fall’s financial crash, then-comptroller general David M. Walker warned, “The only thing the United States is able to do a little after 2040 is pay interest on massive and growing federal debt. The model blows up in the mid-2040s."

https://www.cato.org/publications/commentary/social-securitys-coming-crash-certain-end-entitlement

 

It's a band-aid short term fix for the immediate shortfall. The patient is bleeding to death and you can prolong life with bandages but if you don't stop the bleeding the patient will eventually die.

 

It makes no mention of immigration. Which is how jobs will be filled.
And there is no way to know what the debt will be in 43 yrs. For all numbers run are on certain expectations that may or may not happen.



And you still refuse to address what happens to all the money people give your private corp and they go bankrupt.
I am not surprised. For it makes your entire premise fall flat on it's face.

 

The only way you can call a permanent fix a "bandaid" is if you WANT the patient to die

 

Ahh yes the truth comes out. This is the elephant in the room as to why Democrats want open borders. They know SS is failing and need to open borders to unskilled uneducated immigrants to start the Ponzi scheme back up, new cannon fodder. As for your what if question there is no what if on SS now, it is going broke. Well regulated AAA rated insurance companies have perfect records and in my plan you'd spread your retirement savings out among at least several of them as an extra precaution unlike now where we have just the government Ponzi scheme which takes our money and spends it. This would also allow you to diversify risk reward strategies with some annuities that are guaranteed a certain return rate and others based on stock markets with a lower guaranteed earnings but higher potential earnings. The main thing though would be diversification of investments and the extra security that brings with it. Your money would be as safe as the American economy it's invested in and if that fully collapsed you'd have no money coming from government either unless you want money by the wheel barrel for a loaf of bread.

 

I wonder why it is that Cato and you both ignore the fact that by 2040...the biggest drain on Social Security (Baby Boomers) will be gone?

Oh that's right...they and you are being "disingenuous" to put it politely

 

The so called permanent fix is based on today's demographics which are changing as we speak, the fix is as fraudulent as SS itself.

 

Cato doesn't ignore that, they go into great detail of future demographics and why they will be what they will be. As baby boomers die off the coming generations will have an even longer life expectancy and even lower birth rate which negates any financial positive of current baby boomers feeding worms.

"Average life expectancy heading for 100
Previously unthinkable longevity milestone looms with average child born within next generation expected to live more than a century"

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/11348561/Average-life-expectancy-heading-for-100.html

 

Again...you're basing this on what? Does Cato even CONSIDER any kind of real fix?

Of course not.

All they (and you) want is for Social Security to be privatized.

As far as demographics...you seem to not realize that the demographic groups you fear will be paying INTO the system...

And of course as noted you ignore the fact that the Baby Boomers will be gone.

What cracks me up is that you have said you are a SSI recipient.

I guess "you got yours" and screw everyone else huh?

Oh and

"Average life expectancy heading for 100


Oooookayyyyy...in 2040?? Welcome to right wing fantasy world

From 1980 until 2011 life expectancy went up less than 5 years. That's 31years...

http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0005140.html

 

You obviously have not been paying attention. I've said I got mine and I'd like to see future generations get there's too. They won't get anything with this 1930s collapsing Ponzi scheme. They need a new SS system for a modern world and today's demographics.

 

The kicker is that Cato wants to dump all that money into the market...which JUST CRASHED a few year ago.

In 2008 people who retired had their 401Ks DEVASTATED...but still got every penny of the SS that was coming to them.

- - - Updated - - -

How would that happen after people like you destroy the system that afforded you your retirement?

And no...lifespans are not going to increase to 100 in 20 years....

 

And if life expectancy goes up ... do you expect the SS retirement age to stay the same?

You can't only point to changes that would increase cost while ignoring changes that would either reduce costs or increase revenue.

 

There's a saying my grandfather told me once about why most people don't succeed-- "I would if I could, but I can't cause I won't". The biggest difference between those who do reasonably well in life and those who don't is in their minds. It has to do with taking responsibility for your own life and all the decisions we have to make. For being determined, for doing your best- for trying again when you fail instead of staying down. Success comes from having a long term goal, and making good decisions all along the way that are consistent with the objective. It's not random- it's purpose, direction and mental discipline.

I know that with few exceptions, anyone could do that. I also know that most will not- and that this is a decision on their part. Not a decision to fail, but a decision not to try. Same result.
I knew a black janitor that had worked and saved all his life, who had quietly invested bit by bit- and left an estate worth over a million to his family. I also had a janitor working for me in a warehouse, whose parents had sent to college to the PhD level. At age 38, he still lived at home, rode a bicycle to work- and never got a job in his educational field. He stayed in school to avoid the challenge of life- and wasn't a very good janitor either.

It is finding what we have and making the most of it that makes us successful, but that always requires the determination to be responsible for yourself. Within that is self-esteem, probably the greatest personal power there is.That can't be given to you- you must earn that from yourself, and it often isn't easy in a society that promotes dependency and tries to control your perceptions and decisions. However, it is something that any person who truly wants it can do.

Of course many people are sure they can't. That is a self-fulfilling prophecy that conveniently releases them from the responsibility of failure and teh obligation to get up and try again , to learn, to grow. We are lazy by nature, we tend to take the easiest way available, and mastering yourself is a hard challenge. To accept that you could do so but won't is a bitter pill, and most simply chose to believe it's not possible for them- which also requires them to believe that success is a random accident, or that successful people stole the prize that might have been theirs- all ways to avoid the responsibility for their own choices. The most important aspect of this is to recognize that the decision of such people is theirs, and the consequences of our decisions are theirs as well- not something that other people have an obligation to save them from. When we do save those who think that way, we enable them to continue believing it.

The knowledge of success is not a secret, and it is far simpler than most people think. But if you attempt to teach it (and I did for three years) it is amazing how many people will look right at it and walk away. I've known many very wealthy people, and I always ask them respectfully for the reasons for their success, and with rare exception they were pleased and happy to share. I would give that information to anyone who could use it, but wouldn't waste my time on those unwilling to listen, unwilling to dedicate themselves to their own success.

It's like the old saying about leading a horse to water, but not being able to make him drink. That is truly sad, but it is true. WE are our own worst enemy- we are the cause of our own failure. We are also the answer- and it starts with getting your butt in the drivers seat of your life and taking charge.

Yes- most people could do well. But plain fact is, they can't, because they won't do what needs to be done.
I live by three principles so simple I can write them on the back of a business card. They lead to all the answers I need- but it is not enough to know them; they only work if I live them. When I learned how to do that, everything in life changed, very quickly. I'm not an exception, not much different than others- except that I couldn't quit trying. It's a choice.

 

How did people like me destroy the system that afforded us retirement, didn't have enough babies? Lived too long?

 

I would hope retirement age would edge up and it definitely should not only as people live longer but as work itself becomes less physically demanding. I seriously doubt it will keep up with rapidly rising life expectancy though due to politics. The only thing that will increase revenue is higher taxes which I'd like to see not happen. It wouldn't effect me but I don't want to see the younger generation saddled with financial burdens because my generation wouldn't fix SS.

 

Haha, that's a good one. Life expectancy of 100? The US can be lucky if life expectancy doesn't decline, as happened last year.

Of course, we can thank sedentary lifestyle, high sugar diet, obesity and gun violence for that, all brought to you by the US corporatist free market system. Life expectancy is better in MOST other developed nations, and that would include those that many in the US would call socialist.

 

It's entirely possible and should be planned for.

"October 2010) Humans are living longer than ever before. In fact, newborn children in high-income countries can expect to live to more than 100 years. Starting in the mid-1800s, human longevity has increased dramatically and life expectancy is increasing by an average of six hours a day. Have we reached the end of progress in increasing longevity? How long can we expect to live based on previous trends and biological constraints? What are the societal implications of this change? In this video, PRB president Bill Butz talks with James Vaupel, founding director of the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, about the amazing increase in human longevity over the past 200 years and how much longer human life expectancy can be extended."

http://www.prb.org/Multimedia/Video/2010/humanlongevity.aspx

 

Before dreaming about living on average to 100, we should be thinking about how to stem the ever rising tide of diabetes (number of diabetics has almost quadrupled since the 80s) and the ensuing rise in heart disease.

Preventing the slide back to lower life expectancy is more important than thinking about everyone living 100 years.

 

Thankfully you have not been able to destroy it yet...but you'll keep trying

 

I showed you statistics that showed that life expectancy rose only five years between 1980 and 2011. That's 30 years. Quantum pointed out that life expectancy DROPPED last year but you still cling to the idiotic claim that in 20 years life expectancy will climb by TWENTY FOUR years. All while ignoring the fact that the biggest drain on Social Security (Baby Boomers) will be gone by that time.

There's no point in talking to people like you.. Facts and statistics mean nothing to you

 

Trends show an ever increasing life expectancy over the last hundred years as medicine improves and there is every reason to believe that trend will continue. Research in cancer alone is progressing rapidly and if and when cancer becomes curable expect avg life expectancy to grow exponentially. Add to this the fact that people today are more health aware and things like smoking have dropped off drastically and you have to believe the average age of Americans is going to be older and older. This is going to make it increasingly impossible for the SS Ponzi scheme to continue and the coming generations are going to have to severely modify it at least or better yet scrap it and come up with a better plan. I'll be dead by then so I don't have a dog in this fight, the subject is largely academic to me. I do have children and grand children and even great grandchildren that I worry about though and I don't want to leave them with a completely out of control and dysfunctional SS system.

 

Even if children born today only live another five years it will put a huge imbalance on the SS system as birth rates continue to decline as they always do in societies that becomes more educated and prosperous. The aging of America is inevitable.