Social Security should only go to those who NEED it

[DisneyBamaFan]

Then take it up with congress! ...

I have, and I do. Sadly, the baby boomers have made this a 3rd rail issue. Even when Bush had control of the House and Senate and had promised the American people SS reform, he found that congress wouldn't touch it.

Only the people are going to be able to change this, and the only voting block big enough to make a difference is the baby boomer block...

 

[chicagodisneyfan]

And if you were able to invest that money yourself instead of being forced to turn it over to your government how much would that $275.000 be worth?

BTW: most of us do not consider $275k small stuff. Congrats to you that you are that wealthy

The $239,000 was given over the course of 40 years - that is not even $6000 a year. Are you suggesting people would save it?

Sorry I have money

 

[ntsammy5]

Thank you - only one war for me, but I am with you. 10th Mountain Division...

MACV, 3 ACR and 1st Cav..... too old for that crap now.

 

[S. C.]

I have, and I do. Sadly, the baby boomers have made this a 3rd rail issue. Even when Bush had control of the House and Senate and had promised the American people SS reform, he found that congress wouldn't touch it.

Only the people are going to be able to change this, and the only voting block big enough to make a difference is the baby boomer block...

One thing for sure! You win the award for typing baby boomer enough times in this thread.

 

[shelly3girls]

Running some basic numbers- if I made $75,000 a year for 40 years I would have paid into SS $229,000.

If I retire at 65 and live to be 77 (under US life expectancy) I would receive more than $275,000.

And if each year that money was invested with a 1% return by the age of 65 it would be over $280k. One percent is not too much to ask, is it?

 

[S. C.]

Sorry I have money

DisneyBamaFan is that you?

 

[wall*e2008]

Social security was enacted in 1935 when life expectancy was 61.7 years.

Today life expectancy us almost 78 years.

It seems as if the retirement age kept moving up - SS would not be in this mess.


Running some basic numbers- if I made $75,000 a year for 40 years I would have paid into SS $229,000.

If I retire at 65 and live to be 77 (under US life expectancy) I would receive more than $275,000.

I have been paying in and if its not there for me - so what? Do not sweat the small stuff.

To demand to be taken care of and paid MORE than you ever put in the system - but, but, but - sounds like some of you like socialism if it benefits you.

(yes I am aware of the actual definition of socialism - but I am using it in the DIS definition)

Did you include the employers contribution too?

 

[MrsPete]

Many of the younger generation has not even thought about saving for their retirement. Isn't the national savings rate in the negative . . . Living on credit is now the norm, not the exception . . . What kind of Jack$%$ gives an unemployed 18 year old a credit card . . . Newlyweds now consider a starter house a 3000 sq mcmansion . . . It's mind boggling the number of girls who will work all summer to buy a genuine Louie Vutton bag . . . how they plan on paying for books, 300 girls (over 3 years) have said flat out "charge . . .

I think this "living on credit" mindset is a greater issue in America than SS. If we as a society could get our minds around the idea of living within our means, then we as a society would also demand that from our politicians. Right now, though, the majority of Americans simply aren't stopping to think about debt being a problem.

I never claimed to have all the answers, but my mother allowing herself to be used by her grandson, my nephew, is wrong. Knowing that her SS checks go to pay for this 21 year old's 2 new cars is wrong, wouldn't you say? If she were using to money to pay her own bills, I would feel differently, but she goes further into debt every year to take care of this kid.

But isn't one of your opinions that freedom is of the utmost importance? I assume your mother is in control of all her faculties, so it's her choice to use her money to pay for his cars. I agree that it looks like a foolish choice, but it is hers to make -- I see lots of people spending money in ways that I wouldn't.

I will offer a simple analogy that will explain why we have a SS crisis coming:

Bama, you keep explaining the shortfall to us. We understand the facts; we just don't agree that the right answer is screwing over the people who actually put money into the system! I don't know what the right answer is, but your proposal is unfair to those who've worked hardest.

Let me ask a serious question. If you knew, for a fact, that the continued existence of SS would end up destroying this country, would you still feel this way? Would you still want the money, even at that cost?

Yep, for two reasons: 1) If this scenerio were true, the vast majority of Americans would have to act together to make any difference -- and that wouldn't happen. So refusing my share would be a meaningless sacrafice. 2) This simply isn't a true scenerio. SS is one problem among many, and even if every American turned his back on a life-long investment forced upon him by the government, we'd still be in debt and we'd still be leaving our children's generation in difficulty.

 

[wall*e2008]

Let me ask a serious question. If you knew, for a fact, that the continued existence of SS would end up destroying this country, would you still feel this way? Would you still want the money, even at that cost?

Purely a hypothetical question...

I told you I was taking it. I have funded schools but educated no children in them. I have funded welfare but never used it (and hope never to use it). I have funded food stamps and never once got a single penny. I have funded government workers pensions and I will not get a pension. I do pay gas taxes and use the roads. Seems to me I am giving way more than I am taking now and by the time I am eligible for SS I will have word from 17 to 67 or over 50 years. So yes I will take it. IMHO the stuff above is what will distroy America long before SS. BTW if SS only covered what FDR intended and not what it does now we would not be in this mess.

 

[OctMtnWoods]

I told you I was taking it. I have funded schools but educated no children in them. I have funded welfare but never used it (and hope never to use it). I have funded food stamps and never once got a single penny. I have funded government workers pensions and I will not get a pension. I do pay gas taxes and use the roads. Seems to me I am giving way more than I am taking now and by the time I am eligible for SS I will have word from 17 to 67 or over 50 years. So yes I will take it. IMHO the stuff above is what will distroy America long before SS. BTW if SS only covered what FDR intended and not what it does now we would not be in this mess.

I could have written that post.

But just in case SS ends up not being there by the time we get there, we are saving like crazy on our own too.

 

[wall*e2008]

I could have written that post.

But just in case SS ends up not being there by the time we get there, we are saving like crazy on our own too.

We are saving like crazy too. I am not planning on SS but I will take what I am eligible for.

 

[DisneyBamaFan]

... BTW if SS only covered what FDR intended and not what it does now we would not be in this mess.

Too true, because FDR intended that it be horizoned. It would not exist today...

 

[arielsleepingbeauty]

It comes out of my check every week and i damn wellam taking it if it's still there when i am supposed to get it. I am a single mom of 2 . I own my own home and I am making it on my own on a fulltime social worker's salary, which is not much. Never once have I received any kind of assistance whatsoever and I hope to never have to. I scrimp and save to make ends meet. When i retire, I will accept my SS with pride because I worked my butt off for it.
I see people taking advantage of the system everyday. I see people getting money and services for free when they are able bodied and can actually work a job. I could work the sytem too. I am a social worker and I know what to do. But i have respect for myself and want to teach my daughters to have diginity and respect for themselves.
I dont care how much money I have saved, that is mine, i earned it. No one should have the right to tell me that I have too much and shouldn't receive social security. If I want to blow it on scratch tickets or whatever, i will. I have every right to.

 

[ntsammy5]

The whole premise of this thread is that SS is the cause of our economic problems (or will eventually cause catastrophic problems) and that one solution is to discontinue the program(s). That's a huge leap of faith, one that I personally don't subscribe to.

 

[Charade]

Social security was enacted in 1935 when life expectancy was 61.7 years.

Today life expectancy us almost 78 years.

It seems as if the retirement age kept moving up - SS would not be in this mess.


Running some basic numbers- if I made $75,000 a year for 40 years I would have paid into SS $229,000.

If I retire at 65 and live to be 77 (under US life expectancy) I would receive more than $275,000.

I have been paying in and if its not there for me - so what? Do not sweat the small stuff.

To demand to be taken care of and paid MORE than you ever put in the system - but, but, but - sounds like some of you like socialism if it benefits you.

(yes I am aware of the actual definition of socialism - but I am using it in the DIS definition)

What a deal. Pay in for 40 years and only have enough to live 12. Fabulous.

Personally, I'd rather have invested my contributions over those 40 years. I could give most of it away and still have plenty to live on.

I find it quite sad that you can let all that money just disappear. And for what? Government incompetence.

 

[DisneyBamaFan]

What a deal. Pay in for 40 years and only have enough to live 12. Fabulous.

Personally, I'd rather have invested my contributions over those 40 years. I could give most of it away and still have plenty to live on.

I find it quite sad that you can let all that money just disappear. And for what? Government incompetence.

This is what happens when you trust the government with anything. The government is in place to govern us, not provide for us. We are just the riotous masses that need to be kept in line. Programs like SS are designed to do just that. But what happens when the government does something so bad that every American is forced to see the depth of its incompetence (at best) or corruption.

We have fought a few times, right here on American soil, over less. Heck, we threw out the Brits over tea taxes...