tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8918506024298353276.post1745958159347128114..comments2023-09-20T07:41:02.432-04:00Comments on Polecolaw: The Social Security "Debate"Palermo's Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09467127128993089930noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8918506024298353276.post-60357927189590938112007-11-27T12:18:00.000-05:002007-11-27T12:18:00.000-05:00I remember when I was dd's age. A fierce capitalis...I remember when I was dd's age. A fierce capitalist, with nothing but wild success before me and the ability to take care of myself completely until the end of my life. I also wanted to opt out of SS and use my money as I saw fit. 30 years later, I find that life doesn't often turn out to be what you thought it was going to be. (Not to mention that our 'capitalist' system is already wildly compromised, not least by handouts to the wealthy and to very profitable corporations...and very stupidly managed financial institutions...) <BR/><BR/>Through the questionable investments, ups and downs of life, good and bad luck and the usual human failings--which I shockingly discovered that I, too, was not immune to--I kept paying into SS. Now that I can see the finish line in sight, I am very glad that I did. <BR/><BR/>Ah, poor dd. So much to learn, and such a cold, callous and empty heart and head with which to learn it. Hope you grow up someday and find out that other people are just as valuable as your special, privileged, little self.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8918506024298353276.post-76295544336384523362007-11-24T14:08:00.000-05:002007-11-24T14:08:00.000-05:00ddis seriously wrong. he has combined a couple of...dd<BR/><BR/>is seriously wrong. he has combined a couple of lies he has heard with his own fantasies about how SS works, and the evils of government.<BR/><BR/>the government does not take care of you, in detail, "from cradle to grave," but human beings invent government in order to accomplish some things that they cannot accomplish as individuals. and since we left the age of stout yeoman farmers and small tradesmen 150 years ago there has been a need for government to buffer the swings in the national economy.<BR/><BR/>all social security does is to provide a way for working people to save a part of their own income for their own retirement, safe mostly from inflation, but also from market swings, and personal bad fortune. you aren't paying for anyone else's retirement. rich people do not contribute to social security at all. those who end up a little better off after a life time of work get a slightly worse "return" on their social security investment, in the same way that people who do not have a fire get a worse return on their fire insurance than those people who do have a fire.<BR/><BR/>meanwhile all the hysteria is about nothing. Social Security can continue to pay benefits forever. if we want the benefits to remain at the same percentage of lifetime earnings as they have been over the longer life expectancy we should enjoy in the future it makes sense to raise the amount we save while we are working. this would amount to a tax increase of less than a dollar per week each year from 2016 to 2036, while the average wage is going up ten dollars per week each year.<BR/><BR/>the fact that the money you pay in each month is taken out to pay for current retirees is no more significant than the fact that any money you put in the bank, or use to buy a stock, is taken out that same day and used by strangers for their own purposes. all that matters is that when you need to get your money out you can.<BR/><BR/>it turns out that with stocks there is no guarantee. with banks there is a modest guarantee...underwritten by the bad old government... and with Social Security there is a perfect guarantee... unless you are stupid enough to let the stock brokers stampede you into "fixing" what aint broke.<BR/><BR/>and you need to find out what a pyramid scheme is, and what Social Security is before you run around making a fool of yourself in front of people who can tell the difference.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8918506024298353276.post-2775018632554050032007-11-21T21:21:00.000-05:002007-11-21T21:21:00.000-05:00dd - I would not mind having to save on my own, an...dd - I would not mind having to save on my own, and I do anyway. The problem is when you are forced to pay a lot into a system for decades on the promise that you will have benefits later and there is no way to get that money back. Some day I will go through all of my contributions and figure out how much that would be worth if I had invested it all on my own. It's way too late for people getting ready to retire to go and change all the rules now, unless they could get all of their money back with interest. That will never happen.<BR/><BR/>Thanks for your comments.Palermo's Bloghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09467127128993089930noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8918506024298353276.post-78984715722735116912007-11-20T17:52:00.000-05:002007-11-20T17:52:00.000-05:00First of all, this idea that government needs to t...First of all, this idea that government needs to take care of us from "cradle to grave" needs to end. Social Security was a bad concept to begin with. Most of us wont see the benefit of such payroll deductions in the future anyway - I wish I could opt out. If I were to place the amount into my 401K I would be much better off.<BR/><BR/>The idea that the government forces me to pay into a savings system it manages and promises to pay me back in the future completely obfuscates what the role of government should be.<BR/><BR/>I don't care if Boomers don't receive the benefits they paid for. They should've done something to correct this failure of a system and that's what I intend to do now. If there's enough money to pay your benefits back I'm fine with it, but if I have to fund your retirement on the premise that someone else will eventually fund mine is a pyramid scheme which will eventually collapse.<BR/><BR/>Your assumptions are based on the premise that what is a $100 today will be equivalent to a couple of bucks in the future. This is unsustainable economic policy in my view.ddhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13396596393079037326noreply@blogger.com