77 Years Of Being Wrong Just Isn't Enough [View article]
"It is a misunderstanding of reality to think social security does NOT provide for the needy; "
It is complete delusion to suggest that it does. The largest payouts go to someone like Pete Stark who has 2 ex-wives, a current spouse, and 3 children under 18.
The 65 and old demographic is by far the wealthiest of any. So SS is large part flows from the needy to the less needy. Not one penny of benefit is based on need. Cash flows from singles to married people. Cash flows from younger co-horts to older ones.
"40% of those over 65 above the poverty line."
You are only considering the cash inflows of Social Security which is not entirely honest. If those people had not put money into Social Security, they likely would not be in poverty in the first place.
The definition of poverty is income - which is a poor measure for people who do not work. You want to look at wealth statistics - and the median wealth of households headed by someone 65 and older is .... 47 times that of younger households.
You are buying into junk science used by people who want to justify the system. Social Security throws around a lot of money, but none of it is based on need. Social Security does not even have visibility into need. So it couldn't be a safety net even if it wanted to be.
77 Years Of Being Wrong Just Isn't Enough [View article]
The first point is that Social Security's OAS portion of payroll taxes is not 15% but 10.6%. Separately, you aren't just getting retirement benefits. If you happen to have survivors, you are getting very generous life insurance.
The reason that it is mandatory is because Congress was too short-sighted to fund its promises from 40 years ago. There is basically pennies saved in Social Security on the dollar contributed.
It is a misunderstanding of Social Security to think that it provides for the needy. Not one penny is based on need. Ask Pete Stark who is wealthy by Congressional standards. There are all kinds of capital flows in the system, none of them are directed at the needy.
77 Years Of Being Wrong Just Isn't Enough [View article]
Actually, Social Security isn't a government funded program. It is a paygo system in which payroll taxes create revenue today in exchange for the promise of future benefits. Millions of Americans do not contribute to SS, nor are even eligible.
Cullen is talking about changing the financing from insurance where the covered worker pays to one in which the person holding cash pays. (That is the person who loses value due to inflation)
It is a stretch to call the Trustees 'fear mongers'. You call them such because you don't like what they are saying. Ignoring their warnings will put us in a position where we are helpless when it goes insolvent.
77 Years Of Being Wrong Just Isn't Enough [View article]
Disability was added in 1956 and carries a separate charge of 1.8% of payroll taxes. That revenue as we are finding out with all aspects of Social Security does not cover the costs.
Given that people now retire at 66 moving to 67, the increase in age is modest compared to the increase in cost. The larger problem is that someone who is 21 has a 50% higher chance of reaching the age of 65.
77 Years Of Being Wrong Just Isn't Enough [View article]
Thomas Jefferson wrote a letter to Madison that came to a very different conclusion :
Long story short, no generation can bind another to its obligations.
"Then, no man can, by natural right, oblige the lands he occupied, or the persons who succeed him in that occupation, to the payment of debts contracted by him. For if he could, he might during his own life, eat up the usufruct of the lands for several generations to come;"
77 Years Of Being Wrong Just Isn't Enough [View article]
"Fact is at the end of WWII there were 16 workers for every retiree, now there are less than 3. "
The fact is that those workers paid 2% of the first $3,000 or (about 50K in 2012 $s). Now we pay 10.6% of the first $113,700. That means that in terms of WWII workers we have as much as 36 workers for every retiree, and that doesn't include the income from the Trust Fund.
If demographics were the problem, why is it that Social Security reached insolvency in 1983 at the peak of the boomer earning years.
77 Years Of Being Wrong Just Isn't Enough [View article]
Social Security is less of a ponzi scheme and more of garden-variety check kiting where every generation serves as a new bank. Check kiting is worse than a ponzi scheme because there is actually capital in the ponzi scheme. The 2.7 trillion dollar 'surplus' is held against more than 23 trillion in unfunded promises - or checks.
Printing money does not solve this problem because benefits are protected against inflation. As wages rise to reflect inflation, past contributions are scaled as well. The system doesn't work. Instead of trying to fix what is wrong, we are trying to pay for what is wrong.
77 Years Of Being Wrong Just Isn't Enough [View article]
I am not here as much but it is good to see that you are still here with sensible commentary.
I don't think immigration will fix Social Security unless there is a selective gateway which picks single, high-wage workers who work more than 35 years. Other than that, the new investors are likely to simply vote for Congressman who change the terms of the system.
That is a great question. There are two different shortfalls. The 75 year shortfall is a joke because it does not include the full financing cost of the system. The infinite shortfall is much larger. Anytime that you hear the 75 year financing gap, you are dealing with a problem in another 20 years. It is my understanding that the full financing cost is projected to be sound.
"...if we can't touch what we put into SS why did Congress?"
Largely Congress didn't touch it. It was given to our parents and grandparents - more than 90% of all revenue ever collected.
"...if we had been mandated to pay into a saving account at our bank I wonder what the compounded interest would be? "
Social Security is insurance. The best measure is provided by SSA under the moneys-worth studies. The results will not surprise you. The economic returns have deteriorated steadily since inception.
The problem is that you didn't pay the same rates that her generation will. If you retired before 2011, you are likely to have made money on your contribution. If you are just entering the system, you are going to lose money. You are somewhere in between but comparing yourself to what they are getting is honesty self-absorbed.
If you started work in 1965 the maximum contribution in 2012 dollars was roughly $1,500. Today it is nearly than 10 times that amount. You will get your schedule benefits. At best, they are apt to get 75% of their benefits.
The problem is that the average person has no idea what benefits they receive. If you were married with kids, your SS provided you free life insurance. It was provided free of charge, and basically doubles the cost of providing benefits.
You aren't stealing from them. Your parents and grandparents are. Your parents and grandparents meant to steal from you, but up to now the country has transferred the theft from boomers to GenXers.
What you should explain to them is why you and your generation should be exempt from cleaning up the mess that your generation voted for. You are asking them to clean-up a mess for which they didn't have a vote.
What should scare you is that the writer was unaware that Social Security is already means-tested with a test that reaches up to 1/3rd of retirees. The portions of the piece dealing with Social Security are largely not researched.
The material is not well thought out. The Post should not publish material that lacks footnotes and research. Here is the thoughtful line... "Add in thoughtful measures such as a reasonable new age limit and "chained CPI," and the Social Security shortfall could be solved." There is no research to support this vague statement.
It was mainly self-absorbed mush about how wonderful he is to make such an offer.
Social Security Demographics Guarantee US Bankruptcy [View instapost]
"So absent a moral uprising against the blatant generational theft that is the Social Security/Medicare program, the demographics of democracy virtually ensure we will go full speed over the cliff."
"Fix Social Security Now" on FB. Reform will come. All we ask for is a honest discussion. http://www.FixSSNow.Org feel free to tell us where it is wrong.
77 Years Of Being Wrong Just Isn't Enough [View article]
It is complete delusion to suggest that it does. The largest payouts go to someone like Pete Stark who has 2 ex-wives, a current spouse, and 3 children under 18.
The 65 and old demographic is by far the wealthiest of any. So SS is large part flows from the needy to the less needy. Not one penny of benefit is based on need. Cash flows from singles to married people. Cash flows from younger co-horts to older ones.
"40% of those over 65 above the poverty line."
You are only considering the cash inflows of Social Security which is not entirely honest. If those people had not put money into Social Security, they likely would not be in poverty in the first place.
The definition of poverty is income - which is a poor measure for people who do not work. You want to look at wealth statistics - and the median wealth of households headed by someone 65 and older is .... 47 times that of younger households.
You are buying into junk science used by people who want to justify the system. Social Security throws around a lot of money, but none of it is based on need. Social Security does not even have visibility into need. So it couldn't be a safety net even if it wanted to be.
77 Years Of Being Wrong Just Isn't Enough [View article]
The reason that it is mandatory is because Congress was too short-sighted to fund its promises from 40 years ago. There is basically pennies saved in Social Security on the dollar contributed.
It is a misunderstanding of Social Security to think that it provides for the needy. Not one penny is based on need. Ask Pete Stark who is wealthy by Congressional standards. There are all kinds of capital flows in the system, none of them are directed at the needy.
77 Years Of Being Wrong Just Isn't Enough [View article]
Cullen is talking about changing the financing from insurance where the covered worker pays to one in which the person holding cash pays. (That is the person who loses value due to inflation)
It is a stretch to call the Trustees 'fear mongers'. You call them such because you don't like what they are saying. Ignoring their warnings will put us in a position where we are helpless when it goes insolvent.
77 Years Of Being Wrong Just Isn't Enough [View article]
Given that people now retire at 66 moving to 67, the increase in age is modest compared to the increase in cost. The larger problem is that someone who is 21 has a 50% higher chance of reaching the age of 65.
77 Years Of Being Wrong Just Isn't Enough [View article]
Long story short, no generation can bind another to its obligations.
"Then, no man can, by natural right, oblige the lands he occupied, or the persons who succeed him in that occupation, to the payment of debts contracted by him. For if he could, he might during his own life, eat up the usufruct of the lands for several generations to come;"
You can see the whole letter here...
http://bit.ly/16C5gwt
77 Years Of Being Wrong Just Isn't Enough [View article]
The fact is that those workers paid 2% of the first $3,000 or (about 50K in 2012 $s). Now we pay 10.6% of the first $113,700. That means that in terms of WWII workers we have as much as 36 workers for every retiree, and that doesn't include the income from the Trust Fund.
If demographics were the problem, why is it that Social Security reached insolvency in 1983 at the peak of the boomer earning years.
77 Years Of Being Wrong Just Isn't Enough [View article]
Printing money does not solve this problem because benefits are protected against inflation. As wages rise to reflect inflation, past contributions are scaled as well. The system doesn't work. Instead of trying to fix what is wrong, we are trying to pay for what is wrong.
77 Years Of Being Wrong Just Isn't Enough [View article]
I don't think immigration will fix Social Security unless there is a selective gateway which picks single, high-wage workers who work more than 35 years. Other than that, the new investors are likely to simply vote for Congressman who change the terms of the system.
One Proposal To Fix Social Security [View instapost]
One Proposal To Fix Social Security [View instapost]
Largely Congress didn't touch it. It was given to our parents and grandparents - more than 90% of all revenue ever collected.
"...if we had been mandated to pay into a saving account at our bank I wonder what the compounded interest would be? "
Social Security is insurance. The best measure is provided by SSA under the moneys-worth studies. The results will not surprise you. The economic returns have deteriorated steadily since inception.
One Proposal To Fix Social Security [View instapost]
If you started work in 1965 the maximum contribution in 2012 dollars was roughly $1,500. Today it is nearly than 10 times that amount. You will get your schedule benefits. At best, they are apt to get 75% of their benefits.
The problem is that the average person has no idea what benefits they receive. If you were married with kids, your SS provided you free life insurance. It was provided free of charge, and basically doubles the cost of providing benefits.
You aren't stealing from them. Your parents and grandparents are. Your parents and grandparents meant to steal from you, but up to now the country has transferred the theft from boomers to GenXers.
What you should explain to them is why you and your generation should be exempt from cleaning up the mess that your generation voted for. You are asking them to clean-up a mess for which they didn't have a vote.
One Proposal To Fix Social Security [View instapost]
One Proposal To Fix Social Security [View instapost]
One Proposal To Fix Social Security [View instapost]
It was mainly self-absorbed mush about how wonderful he is to make such an offer.
Social Security Demographics Guarantee US Bankruptcy [View instapost]
"Fix Social Security Now" on FB. Reform will come. All we ask for is a honest discussion. http://www.FixSSNow.Org feel free to tell us where it is wrong.