Want social benefits? Fund them. The secret of paying for benefit programs is to control costs and set aside regular, mathematically sufficient, designated contributions from present income for future payouts. If you cannot meet the funding requirements, the benefit promises have to be lowered. This issue is that simple. Here is a direct link.
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Cory’s Chart Corner
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Perhaps if you are living in a fantasy world. There are nothing in the coffers of Social Security, Medicare or Medicaid but a bunch of IOUs. Those who paid into it for most of their adult lives won’t be getting much but devalued dollars back… its a terrible investment.
Yes, SS must be funded. Congress was bribed (literally) by Wall Street to defund the payroll tax cut as an intentional effort to start the process of privatizing it – by defunding it they can point and say “See it’s bankrupt!” and try to get the workers to buy into their BS. The Wall Streeters are slobbering like rabid hound dogs at the mere thought of forcing all that SS money into their failing investment markets. It would give them another round of “life” similar to the round they have experienced since they bribed Congress in the late 70s, early 80s to allow corporations to stop funding pensions, and forced workers to put their money into the Wall Street gambling casino/fraud game.
Actually Social Security has been an outstanding “investment”. It has saved tens of millions of old folks from being destitute. It will be a very significant piece of my “retirement” funds; as it will for most working folks. 25 or so years ago I thought it was a raw deal: “Look at all the money they are taking from my paycheck – I’m getting ripped off” I thought. So, I wrote the SSA and asked if I could opt out of SS as I was sure I could do better “investing” my own money than they could. I don’t think they replied. 25 years later, working as a technical professional making very good money, I am very happy that I will (hopefully) get a SS check. I saw how it helped my grandparents, and now my parents, and in 10 or 15 years I’ll need it; not just want it, but NEED it.
Extremely few workers can accumulate enough wealth in say a 50 year working career to last the rest of the 30 or so years they might live. Most could not accumulate enough to last 5 years. Most don’t make enough while working to save much; those that do save have a nasty habit of being wiped out by stock market crashes, fraud, financial collapses, losing their job, etc, etc, etc. That’s why SS was started, and why it will continue to be funded. It’s time to raise the payroll tax back to where it was, then the following year increase it by a full 2 percentage points; and make it robust and the envy of the world. This would give the people some confidence in their futures and such confidence is what is needed to have any hope of a “real” recovery.
Its not ‘social security’. Its ‘society security’. Lets get that one straight. No one wants a roving herd of destitute oldsters roaming around the soup kitchens and food pantries, do they?
SS has worked so far, but its days are numbered. The IOU’s are not backed by anything much of value, other than ‘taxpayer skin’. Beat the weasels to the goodies.
Save outside the system, if you are smart enough to figure that one out.
Roberta, progressive politicians spent all the money. It’s all borrowed money, just wait and see what Obama Dollars will buy when the buying power of the dollar is only $0.20.
Progressive politicians? Not exactly. I think it was almost all politicians that spent the money.
Agree that the dollar ain’t what it used to be.
SS is now a pay as you go system – thanks to our idiot criminal politicians; but I’m not aware of a better alternative to SS – privatizing it will not work.