In self defense I have conducted my work life and savings life as if SS didn't exist. I have put in to the system the required amount over the last 45 years of working, and will participate in Medicare because they give me no choice...but could do without it if I had to. I don't calculate SS into my retirement plans financially. Whatever I receive I will consider a bonus. btw I am 2 years away from retirement. I look at my friends that have no alternative plans and are going to be totally dependent upon SS, and I just shake my head.
The problem is the money system itself. Boomers, the concern probably isn’t whether you’re getting your SS payments or not. I suspect you will. The question is how much you’ll be able to buy with the paper. COLA won’t matter because the methodology is gamed to keep the adjustments lower than they should be. We can already see the gaslighting attempts from the academic economists:
My non-financial recommendation is repair any feuds you have with friends and loved ones. It’s in all of our interests to strengthen our relationships and our communities. These state Ponzi programs are all falling apart. They are and always have been unsustainable scams. Absolutely nothing is guaranteed, nobody owes us anything, and there is no political figure coming to save us. We’re all we’ve got at this point. Just my two.
Ah, gato, why do I have this nagging feeling now in the back of my mind that you're just another elitist trying to turn us against each other...in this case, young against old? Look, some of us never made big money, okay?...because we were raising families, or didn't go to university, or weren't brilliant entrepreneurs, or we were just regular working shmos. I put 8% of my salary per year, while I was working full-time, into my 401k. It won't be nearly enough to fund the rest of my life, hoping I live long. Yup, I'm one of those horrible people who will actually *need* my SSA "entitlement"....the one I started paying into at age 15, that my husband, as a self-employed person, had the privilege of paying into *double*, that we had no choice but to do so. I voted for politicians back in the day who wanted to privatize SS, to no avail. Believe me, I'd rather have my compound interest. That being said, I also live *very* modestly, and will likely be saving some of my small SSA income once I start receiving it.
Anyway, how is your current diatribe of haves vs. have-nots any better than Joe Biden's disgusting "We're losing patience with you dirty unvaxxed vermin" (to paraphrase) speech of 2021? It's not.
When I was 60 I received a letter from the SS detailing what I had paid in over 40 years and what I was eligible to take out beginning in 7 years. By my calculation I would get back in nominal dollars what I paid in if I lived to 104, sans interest, of course. Note: I have been self employed these 40 years and, as such, have paid both employer and employee share of FICA (15.3%).
I know that, even if I survive to 104, that this is the worst investment I have ever made, and would happily take today 1/2 of what I have already paid in a lump sum in exchange for opting out of the system going forward. The government will likely means test me out of my benefits anyway when the fiscal reality becomes an exigency.
Your point made concerning rates of return in the private sector is excellent. If the American worker knew how much wealthier they would be if they had been paid the full value of their labor, then invested the part confiscated by the government, there would be an instantaneous revolutionary impetus.
The SS program has been the biggest wealth destroyer in history and now it is just a matter, for most people, of getting their share of the rotting carcass before there is nothing left. Anyone in Washington that has ever seen the budget knows this, yet they are too craven to do anything about it.
We are doomed if there is not an awakening. The realities of the fisc cannot be neglected forever.
Here kitty, kitty. Come closer so I can slap you! Social Security IS NOT an entitlement! I paid into SS my entire working life to get back a small amount of what I paid in and I planned my savings and investments on the assumption it wouldn't be available by the time I was old enough to collect.
Welfare is an entitlement. Giving money and benefits to criminals who illegally cross our borders is an entitlement. Reparations for nonexistent harms is an entitlement. Corporate welfare is an entitlement. SS if anything is a loss, but I'll take what I can get because it is mine and I earned it! The same is true of medicare which I also have to currently pay for. Tough titties, kitty, if you don't like it.
This is why I switched from "conservative" in my naïve youth to anarchro-capitalist many years ago (i.e. fringe libertarian), and why our founding fathers assumed we'd need to have a little revolution every 2-3 generations if we were to remain free.
Even the most idealized state - that which starts with noble intentions to carry out its selfless charter - becomes "self-interested" in time; an organism unto itself with a survival instinct. It inevitably usurps more and more power in that interest, thus attracting the charlatan, parasite class to benefit from our diminishing individual freedoms and autonomy.
This can be seen in all facets of life touched by government. Before long, you have what El Gato has so eloquently laid out for us in these last two posts. It is always this way. Government "programs" exist for the ultimate benefit of the state, not for the people it supposedly serves. Ponzi schemes abound.
Never forget that power corrupts even the most "benevolent king" and as that power coalesces, the corruption and rot spread to all that benefit from its ill begotten riches.
We will continue the descent towards bondage until we get fed up somewhere down the road and throw off the yoke of absolutism. Thus, the cycle begins anew.
Yeah, gato malo, post-boomer hindsight is 20-20. Those of us who lived through the ponzi scheme had no choice but to participate. Other generations have to be tutored by you (thanks!) to see the math!
You definitely get part of it: making other provisions for retirement when the feds are draining your paycheck for their programs is challenging. There were lots of other scams going on for someone born in 1954, too: wars, gas shortages, basic rights and wealth grabs on a regular financial crisis/ bubble-bursting basis. And once a person retires, one often pays MORE for Medicare health premiums than one did to private insurers before retirement. Not to mention that Medicare is first and foremost a rationing system with massive surveillance capabilities. We don’t get to opt-out of Medicare at any point, but we probably should not use it if we can pay direct and protect our privacy. Not using it could save you from federally-mandated hospital protocols and other pharmacological harms. This is the decision-point some of us are at now. May it serve as a tiny dot of illumination for younger generations.
I have known it was a ponzi scheme since my first job in High School, and through my whole working career, where I also interacted with many who were destitute living on meager SS and disability checks. Just enough to stay alive to feed the matrix system with a little more tax juice ... The crime was that unless one was self-employed there were scant few jobs that did not mandate (familiar word these days) FICA "contributions".
The story line isn't one of blaming a generation (I don't think), the real plot is the fallacy of gov't welfare programs that are only designed to gain votes. I am of the belief that EVERY gov't program fits this paradigm, or at least I cannot think of one that doesn't. The worst is yet to come when this socialized medical system crashes under the fouled theatrical promises of delusional criminals (politicians used as human meat puppets for the pharmaceutical and insurance billionaires).
Entitlement: my entitlement to have others pay to provide me with what I don’t provide for myself. The National Insurance Fund was started in 1948 in Britain, supposedly to fund the cradle to the grave welfare state: health, sickness & unemployment benefit and State pension. The Minister responsible for the scheme/scam, remarked: “The great secret about the National Insurance Fund is, there ain’t no fund.” Compulsory National Insurance Contributions (employer and employee) were not hypothecated, but just paid into the Treasury. Well the last laugh was on the Minister responsible, who resigned in protest in 1950 because the NIC wasn’t funding the scam, but being used to rearm the military somewhat depleted after 5 years of war. This was good politics, because the Labour Government had Socialised the economy, nationalising industry and utilities, and health, so the industries involved in rearmament, iron & steel, ship building, coal, aircraft production, weapons, heavy engineering were all State owned and could fulfil the promise of plenty of jobs. This just shifted money from one part of the economy to another but created no wealth and devoured it.
It was realised in the 1950s the pension ‘fund’ was empty and so an additional compulsory contribution was introduced. Then in the 1960s that second ‘fund’ was replaced by another, which was credited with only part of the contributions an individual had previously made. People weren’t happy. The Thatcher Government tried to encourage people to take out private pensions, and part of your contributions to the State scam could be diverted to this. However many companies had their own schemes and you could not opt out of the State scheme for a private scheme if this were the case. By now it was very confused, because workers were more mobile, not staying like before with a company for their whole working life. People then ended up with a number of paid-up small pensions. In the late 90s, the Labour Chancellor changed the tax rules regarding share dividends and pension funds. It constituted a raid on pension funds worth billions to the Exchequer and meant many funds would be making reduced payouts or near bankrupt. This helped cause a pension crisis resulting in women’s retirement age of 60 being increased to 65 in line with men - equality - then pension age increased to 67, and I think the plan is for it to be put up to 70. Another triumph for Socialism and Statism.
in Belgium where I used to live, they said the retirement funds would be empty by the time dad retired. He has retired 30 years ago. The retirement funds are still paying. Probably the same as what we were told with oil as kids - when in school they told us the oil reserves would be empty by 2000. Lots and lots more oil are pumped up and it is now 23 years later and still going strong. I wonder where the oil comes from, just read that it is not from fossilized veggies and that must be the case, otherwise it would be long gone.
In self defense I have conducted my work life and savings life as if SS didn't exist. I have put in to the system the required amount over the last 45 years of working, and will participate in Medicare because they give me no choice...but could do without it if I had to. I don't calculate SS into my retirement plans financially. Whatever I receive I will consider a bonus. btw I am 2 years away from retirement. I look at my friends that have no alternative plans and are going to be totally dependent upon SS, and I just shake my head.
The problem is the money system itself. Boomers, the concern probably isn’t whether you’re getting your SS payments or not. I suspect you will. The question is how much you’ll be able to buy with the paper. COLA won’t matter because the methodology is gamed to keep the adjustments lower than they should be. We can already see the gaslighting attempts from the academic economists:
https://faybomb.substack.com/p/let-them-eat-cars
My non-financial recommendation is repair any feuds you have with friends and loved ones. It’s in all of our interests to strengthen our relationships and our communities. These state Ponzi programs are all falling apart. They are and always have been unsustainable scams. Absolutely nothing is guaranteed, nobody owes us anything, and there is no political figure coming to save us. We’re all we’ve got at this point. Just my two.
Ah, gato, why do I have this nagging feeling now in the back of my mind that you're just another elitist trying to turn us against each other...in this case, young against old? Look, some of us never made big money, okay?...because we were raising families, or didn't go to university, or weren't brilliant entrepreneurs, or we were just regular working shmos. I put 8% of my salary per year, while I was working full-time, into my 401k. It won't be nearly enough to fund the rest of my life, hoping I live long. Yup, I'm one of those horrible people who will actually *need* my SSA "entitlement"....the one I started paying into at age 15, that my husband, as a self-employed person, had the privilege of paying into *double*, that we had no choice but to do so. I voted for politicians back in the day who wanted to privatize SS, to no avail. Believe me, I'd rather have my compound interest. That being said, I also live *very* modestly, and will likely be saving some of my small SSA income once I start receiving it.
Anyway, how is your current diatribe of haves vs. have-nots any better than Joe Biden's disgusting "We're losing patience with you dirty unvaxxed vermin" (to paraphrase) speech of 2021? It's not.
When I was 60 I received a letter from the SS detailing what I had paid in over 40 years and what I was eligible to take out beginning in 7 years. By my calculation I would get back in nominal dollars what I paid in if I lived to 104, sans interest, of course. Note: I have been self employed these 40 years and, as such, have paid both employer and employee share of FICA (15.3%).
I know that, even if I survive to 104, that this is the worst investment I have ever made, and would happily take today 1/2 of what I have already paid in a lump sum in exchange for opting out of the system going forward. The government will likely means test me out of my benefits anyway when the fiscal reality becomes an exigency.
Your point made concerning rates of return in the private sector is excellent. If the American worker knew how much wealthier they would be if they had been paid the full value of their labor, then invested the part confiscated by the government, there would be an instantaneous revolutionary impetus.
The SS program has been the biggest wealth destroyer in history and now it is just a matter, for most people, of getting their share of the rotting carcass before there is nothing left. Anyone in Washington that has ever seen the budget knows this, yet they are too craven to do anything about it.
We are doomed if there is not an awakening. The realities of the fisc cannot be neglected forever.
It's not only a ponzi scheme; it's a bidding war with an ever expanding "menu".
In 1945, The SSA had 42 workers who supported each individual retiree, while today only 3.3 workers support each retiree.
It's broke, in both senses of the word.
Let's face it no reform can cut deep enough to fix it.
At 52 I have made alternative plans. It would be foolhardy to believe it will exist when I'm eligible.
Not to worry!
The B-21 will be paid for and maybe 20% of them will be safe to fly on any given day.
Trillions for fancy weapons, not one cent for responsible management!
sleep well tonight uncle is running 800 little operations around the world to keep B-21 profits safe.
Here kitty, kitty. Come closer so I can slap you! Social Security IS NOT an entitlement! I paid into SS my entire working life to get back a small amount of what I paid in and I planned my savings and investments on the assumption it wouldn't be available by the time I was old enough to collect.
Welfare is an entitlement. Giving money and benefits to criminals who illegally cross our borders is an entitlement. Reparations for nonexistent harms is an entitlement. Corporate welfare is an entitlement. SS if anything is a loss, but I'll take what I can get because it is mine and I earned it! The same is true of medicare which I also have to currently pay for. Tough titties, kitty, if you don't like it.
Gato - you worry too much. The fix is in.
The eldercide took place with time bomb jabs and ventilators.
They fixed the FICA Glitch
This is why I switched from "conservative" in my naïve youth to anarchro-capitalist many years ago (i.e. fringe libertarian), and why our founding fathers assumed we'd need to have a little revolution every 2-3 generations if we were to remain free.
Even the most idealized state - that which starts with noble intentions to carry out its selfless charter - becomes "self-interested" in time; an organism unto itself with a survival instinct. It inevitably usurps more and more power in that interest, thus attracting the charlatan, parasite class to benefit from our diminishing individual freedoms and autonomy.
This can be seen in all facets of life touched by government. Before long, you have what El Gato has so eloquently laid out for us in these last two posts. It is always this way. Government "programs" exist for the ultimate benefit of the state, not for the people it supposedly serves. Ponzi schemes abound.
Never forget that power corrupts even the most "benevolent king" and as that power coalesces, the corruption and rot spread to all that benefit from its ill begotten riches.
We will continue the descent towards bondage until we get fed up somewhere down the road and throw off the yoke of absolutism. Thus, the cycle begins anew.
Yeah, gato malo, post-boomer hindsight is 20-20. Those of us who lived through the ponzi scheme had no choice but to participate. Other generations have to be tutored by you (thanks!) to see the math!
You definitely get part of it: making other provisions for retirement when the feds are draining your paycheck for their programs is challenging. There were lots of other scams going on for someone born in 1954, too: wars, gas shortages, basic rights and wealth grabs on a regular financial crisis/ bubble-bursting basis. And once a person retires, one often pays MORE for Medicare health premiums than one did to private insurers before retirement. Not to mention that Medicare is first and foremost a rationing system with massive surveillance capabilities. We don’t get to opt-out of Medicare at any point, but we probably should not use it if we can pay direct and protect our privacy. Not using it could save you from federally-mandated hospital protocols and other pharmacological harms. This is the decision-point some of us are at now. May it serve as a tiny dot of illumination for younger generations.
And we continue to re-elect members of congress who’s have been instrumental in the overspending. Screw everything else, vote fiscal conservatives
Just print the money. It’ll be fine.
I have known it was a ponzi scheme since my first job in High School, and through my whole working career, where I also interacted with many who were destitute living on meager SS and disability checks. Just enough to stay alive to feed the matrix system with a little more tax juice ... The crime was that unless one was self-employed there were scant few jobs that did not mandate (familiar word these days) FICA "contributions".
The story line isn't one of blaming a generation (I don't think), the real plot is the fallacy of gov't welfare programs that are only designed to gain votes. I am of the belief that EVERY gov't program fits this paradigm, or at least I cannot think of one that doesn't. The worst is yet to come when this socialized medical system crashes under the fouled theatrical promises of delusional criminals (politicians used as human meat puppets for the pharmaceutical and insurance billionaires).
Entitlement: my entitlement to have others pay to provide me with what I don’t provide for myself. The National Insurance Fund was started in 1948 in Britain, supposedly to fund the cradle to the grave welfare state: health, sickness & unemployment benefit and State pension. The Minister responsible for the scheme/scam, remarked: “The great secret about the National Insurance Fund is, there ain’t no fund.” Compulsory National Insurance Contributions (employer and employee) were not hypothecated, but just paid into the Treasury. Well the last laugh was on the Minister responsible, who resigned in protest in 1950 because the NIC wasn’t funding the scam, but being used to rearm the military somewhat depleted after 5 years of war. This was good politics, because the Labour Government had Socialised the economy, nationalising industry and utilities, and health, so the industries involved in rearmament, iron & steel, ship building, coal, aircraft production, weapons, heavy engineering were all State owned and could fulfil the promise of plenty of jobs. This just shifted money from one part of the economy to another but created no wealth and devoured it.
It was realised in the 1950s the pension ‘fund’ was empty and so an additional compulsory contribution was introduced. Then in the 1960s that second ‘fund’ was replaced by another, which was credited with only part of the contributions an individual had previously made. People weren’t happy. The Thatcher Government tried to encourage people to take out private pensions, and part of your contributions to the State scam could be diverted to this. However many companies had their own schemes and you could not opt out of the State scheme for a private scheme if this were the case. By now it was very confused, because workers were more mobile, not staying like before with a company for their whole working life. People then ended up with a number of paid-up small pensions. In the late 90s, the Labour Chancellor changed the tax rules regarding share dividends and pension funds. It constituted a raid on pension funds worth billions to the Exchequer and meant many funds would be making reduced payouts or near bankrupt. This helped cause a pension crisis resulting in women’s retirement age of 60 being increased to 65 in line with men - equality - then pension age increased to 67, and I think the plan is for it to be put up to 70. Another triumph for Socialism and Statism.
Now run a spreadsheet showing how much forever wars cost with interest.
SS is not the problem.
Bullspit spending is.
in Belgium where I used to live, they said the retirement funds would be empty by the time dad retired. He has retired 30 years ago. The retirement funds are still paying. Probably the same as what we were told with oil as kids - when in school they told us the oil reserves would be empty by 2000. Lots and lots more oil are pumped up and it is now 23 years later and still going strong. I wonder where the oil comes from, just read that it is not from fossilized veggies and that must be the case, otherwise it would be long gone.