At this point Social Security is a complete scam to the American people, if you can’t guarantee the money will be there and that we will get a decent return on investment (which at this point I don’t believe you can) the it should be optional. People could be doing so much more to set up their futures and retirements then paying into a system that will have 0 return or in some cases negative return.
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SS can be easily ended. Just pick a date for example, say 2025. Anyone born after Jan. 1 2025 will not have SS taken out of checks when they work. This way we slowly will end it once a generation has died off. We can come up with some solutions to fund SS to make sure those on it. Im worried we will never be rid of socialist policies in this country. People want tax payers to fund everything from welfare, food stamps, child support enforcement etc. I mean its not the tax payer or governments job. People need to be more responsible. It needs to end. We should be going back to things over 125 yrs ago.
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I really like the idea…but in practice the generation currently paying into social security (my generation) is going to get screwed no matter what. We might not end up paying a specific “social security” payment…but to support the existing social security infrastructure the money will just be taken from us in some other way and under some other name…but at least we will have the dignity of the government not lying to us and having them admitting they screwed up.
The problem with Social Security is two-fold. One, it was predicated on each new generation being around as large as the previous one. That was a stupid assumption even in FDR’s time.
The other problem, and what is causing the current concerns over Social Security, is that Congress has illegally withdrawn funds from the primary funding of the program to spend it on their own agendas.
Social Security, and I say this even as one who depends on it now, needs to be reformed so that it can maintain itself despite shifts in the sizes of generations. This would mean that such funds would have to be reinvested properly into well performing and diversified investments that can build up over time and support the payouts eventually on its own.
Stopping Social Security from being taken out of a paycheck would not solve the problems people believe simply because most people are not financially intelligent enough to develop their own retirement plans. Simply look at how many people use their 401Ks for additional funding when they need it.
At the same time, taking monies out of one’s paycheck should be a variable process. So when the Social Security investments are doing well and can support the expected payouts as is, such withdrawals from paychecks will go down. When such investments need additional cash then paycheck withdrawals will increase to a maximum cap based on the needs of the funds involved…
This may be a possible solution. I do say possible. It would require the United States Congress to stop using Social Security as a political plot every four years to try and push the election one way or the other so I’m not sure they are willing to give up that club. It would be great if they moved in this direction.
Here are some things I would ask you to consider before voting to eliminate the Social Security Retirement system:
Many people retire with only SS benefits and no other means of support. While this is obviously something that should be avoided, life happens. Marriage, divorce, children, sickness, accidents, and of course bad decisions all can prevent significant savings for retirement. These people only have SS because they were not given a choice and did have to contribute. If you believe they would have been able, willing, or disciplined enough to save and not use those savings for the emergency of the day, you are mistaken.
The majority of American voters will not knowingly allow elderly people to live in extreme poverty or actually die of neglect. They would demand some form of welfare which would be paid by those same younger taxpayers that no longer pay into SS. This welfare would be far more expensive, as it would include things such as housing.
I think you would be hard pressed to find someone who disagrees that retirees should get back what they paid in. The issue isn’t them. The issue is politicians who can’t manage money. Politicians who didn’t stop to wonder if the massive surplus being paid in would be needed to support a massive generation of retirees. Instead, politicians took my grandparents’ money to bail themselves out of other bad financial decisions. So now, my generation gets to suffer the consequences. We are paying for our grandparents to retire. We will probably foot the bill for at least part of our parents’ generation. All while separately saving the personal funds that will be our only source of retirement income. Voting out social security now won’t change the situation for my generation but it will spare our children and grandchildren the stupidity.
Remember the current Social Security Program is nothing but a Ponzi Scheme. Any real solution requires some form of investment and saving.