Posted: 2/7/2005 1:14:05 AM EDT
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Ok, I'm 30... I'm sitting here listening to talking heads on Foxnews yell at each other about SS. I gotta tell ya, I don't count on retiring on Social Security. The only thing I really know about SS is that it the .gov is skimming some of my cash off my paycheck. So, my question is... Are there really people out there under the age of 40 that count on this shit to retire? Dg84 |
Those that do are going to be rudely awakened to the cold hard reality. Social Security is an utter failure. Its entire premise is woefully flawed. You know what the truly dumbest thing about it is? It was started at a time when the people creating it could SEE that family sizes were getting smaller and lives were getting longer. Of COURSE its going bankrupt! How could it not?!? Simple mathematics. If the number of people paying into it continually shrinks and the people drawing on it continually grows, what do you think is going to happen?!? Its crappy feel good legislation from a has been party which is on its way to extinction. Lets toss this socialist garbage in the dump where it belongs. |
Not in its current state. SS started with 0 dollars in the trust. The first year contribution were the first years distirbutions. It has operated that was since its inception. It was fine back then since there were more workers than retirees. Now it is starting to lean the other way. I wouldn't be surprise if they do away with it altogether. People some to think that this is a government benefit and cannot be taken away. However, this was started as an Old Age Insurance. It can be pulled at anytime. Dumbasses against reforming SS doesn't seem to understand this.  Also monies in the trust is comingled within the govt general account. Bush's proposal to take out of the gen'l is what the Democrats are against cause it will show exactly how much the gov't is under water. |
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I'm 25 years old and paid almost $2500 in SS in 04. If I was allowed to keep that $2500 and invest it throughout the year the way I WANTED TO INVEST IT, I would be rich at the ripe age of 50. The thing that pisses me off the most is that generally speaking, the younger generation like me tend to vote Democrat, so the people that should not thinking about collecting SS are siding with the people who want to leave the crappy system in place, the democrats. If they would just wise up and not be so partisan, they would realize the money they paid into SS every year could be personally invested, creating a nest egg for them and their children. Instead the democrats are seeing the SS issue as the last leg to stand on to keep them united as a party; meanwhile the people that are siding with them are the ones that are going to get shafted by the partisan politics. This whole SS issue is really starting to piss me off. |
I just did the same thing in the "best simpson's quote" thread. I think the simplest explanation is that DoubleFeed and I have magical powers - probably frlom the demon that has possesed our avatars. 
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The scam isn't the system, it's the myth of paying into it that is... People actually believe that there's an account with their name on it. The SSA does their part in perpetuating this myth by giving you a 'statement' with your 'contributions'. The reality is, that by code law there is no account, only records of payments. True, the amount and duration of these payments do mean something, but everyone should be clear that this is not a funded account. As such, there are no assets assigned to you. And that means no obligation, and it all could end with the swipe of a pen. It's a transfer payment system, PERIOD!!! You don't 'pay into' it, any more than you 'pay into' your local county government through your real estate taxes. |
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Regardless, SS should've been revamped every generation to keep up with demand and times. Problem is no President ever had the balls to do it. Sure there have been some that attempted, but soon dropped it after seeing their popularity levels go down. |
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Which is why once again, even if you don't agree with the president, you couldn't help but to respect him for that for the 2nd or 3rd time during his time in office. |
This is exactly what I was saying in my first reply. I was also trying to emphasize the point that the people, who should be thinking in those terms, are the ones mostly voting democrat. It's a twisted turn of events to say the least. |
My question is, HOW MANY of those under-30 people are saving and investing agressively? A lot of the people I know in their 20s and 30s are busy buying the latest plasma-screen TV, and replacing their car every two years - and don't even know what a ROth IRA is, and get a glazed look in their eyes when you try to explain 401k contributions to them. They may not be expecting social security to take care of them, but a lot of the younger people sure don't seem to ACT like they are going to take care of themselves when they need to retire. (I worry that the next politicians who promises them all sorts of free crap will get easily elected once these assholes appreaoch retirement and remember that they never bothered to save) |
I agree 100%. And why should they care when we have an entire political party not will to fess up there's a problem, hell I'd think you find a majority of the people who are in their 20-30's that blow their money like you explained vote for the democrats anyways, so now they have even more stacked up agianst them. Vote democrat and we'll take care of you. Sounds all too familiar. 
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That is exactly what happened over the past 60+ years. The SS system that we have in place today is nothing what is was designed to do. None of the people who designed the system ever planned for it to pay benefits to multiple ex-wives, non-workers, step-children, foster children, grand children or any of the other "dependents" that it currently is paying benefits to. I've been paying SS taxes since I was 14 years old working a part time job. When I'm ready to retire I will have paid approx. $200,000 into the system. No one asked me if I wanted to contribute. They TOOK my money. When I worked for more then one employer they took excess contributions from my employers without having to refund any contributions to them. To make matters worse most company private pensions have a reduction formula in place that subtracts out your estimated SS payments that will reduce your private pension payments. Don't count on any meaningful changes to the system in the near future. |
Under my fathers suggestions I took 15000$ at age 15 and invested it for my retirment, I had to work two hard years for that cash but it will be worth it when I'm Older. |