Since I'm approaching the magic number to get a pay raise, I decided to stop by the local SSA satellite office today (very small and very crowded). What a shock!

The place was full of about 40 to 50 waiting people. Since I didn't want to take a number and spend too much of my retirement waiting in line, I took the information I needed to do it on line and left.

This is an observation: At least 95% of the people there were minorities, with the majority of them being Hispanic. Several had kids with them and there was no way the ones with kids are about to turn 62 years old. I did not see more than 10 or so people that looked to be anywhere close to being old enough to draw SS.

IMHO the SS overhaul should not be centered around how the money is invested, but who the money is going to. If most of the people in that room have fangled a way to draw SS, then it's no wonder the system is going broke.

I'm going to see if I can muddle through the bureaucracy and see if there is a break-down on who the benefits got to. I'm sure it's a well guarded secret.

 

Well, as long as politicians can buy votes with your money there will be no SS reform. The best thing would be for the system to be abolished and everyone put money into his own retirement account, or not as he sees fit. But that will never happen either.

What WILL happen is the system will eventually get to a critical mass where benefits will have to be cut or taxes raised, probably both. The demographics of more baby-boomers retiring (me) with comparatively fewer people paying in (our kids) means that the ratio of payers to receivers will get closer and closer to 1:1. Which means that every person working will adopt a retiree and provide for his SS benefits.

The payers won't stand for it since they will in all likelyhood be unable to pay for their own needs given the heavy tax load so there will be the mother of all financial crises.

The government will respond with borrowing from the fed and the fed will obligingly print more money. This will accellerate inflation so that even though retirees will get everything they were promised, dollarwise, they still won't be able to buy food shelter and medical care because prices will be even higher.

The government will create more money which will be more inflation which will cause higher prices...

Think it can't happen here?

Anyone who is 50 years old and still working should buy as much gold/silver as they can and stay out of debt as much as possible. They should probably not count on SS benefits to be worth anything when they most need it.

Edwin

 

I'm just glad I don't pay into S.S.

Britt

 

Good for you, nothing wrong with being responsible for your own future. It sure seems we have gotten away from that.

 

Check the name.....civil service. Probably a better deal.

 

These numbers are scary. Especially if you look at past years compared to now. I know a lot of it is contributed by "baby boomer's", but how much of it is driven by the number of illegals and fraud.....especially the disabled and children. There are a lot of charts, but they all seem to have the same trend.

http://www.ssa.gov/policy/docs/statc...hly/index.html

Interesting data from 1974 t0 1999.

http://www.ssa.gov/policy/docs/statc...1999/sect2.pdf

 

Yes… I have a civil service job. Right now I feel pretty fortunate that I do. I hate what is happening (going to happen) to Social Security. As it stands right now, I will be able to retire with 90% of my ending salary. I will also be able to take my insurance with me upon retirement at no cost to me 6 months after retirement. I will never become rich by being a Firefighter but the benefits outweigh the earnings. If I should die in the line of duty, then I know that my family will be well taken care of. Unfortunately that means that some other fireman will probably try to move in but hey…. What are friends for?

I have also invested a portion of my earnings in deferred compensated mutual funds and Roth IRA’s. My wife unfortunately falls under Social Security so we have invested a portion of her earnings in the same kind of funds.

I do not have an answer for Social Security. My only advice would be, be your own Social Security program. While it sucks paying into Social Security most of your life, I’m afraid that it might not be there when you really need it.

Britt

 

With the state of social security as it is, if you are depending on social security for your retirement, then you are going down a very risky path. GW has been very vocal in his attempts at letting people invest part of their Social Security earnings into private investment accounts, but it gets killed almost immediately by AARP, because this is less money going to current retiree's.

Social Security can't continue in its current incarnation. The working people of America are paying for the retired people. With the number of people that are retiring about to increase, the working people simply cannot keep up. To thank me for all the money I give to the retired people, the government has graciously upped my retirement age to 67 from the norm of 65, to help counter this.

Lets assume that you are 20 years old and your contribute $50 a week of your earnings into a retirement fund. Also assume that your fund averages 8% gain until you retire at 65 years old you will have saved $1, 054,907.98. That $1 MILLION dollars when you retire from a measly $50 a week deduction. People can have a healty retirement if they only plan for it.

Now don't get me started on welfare reform.

 

Ever consider what $1,000,000 (One Million Dollars) probably WON'T get you in the year 2053?
I have a concept that our fearless leaders could give a spin.....

How about leave the freaking money ALONE! As in, stop raping the SS money to squander on other crap. It's like this (in a nutshell), if the jerks in congress and the oval office would have never raided the funds in the first place we wouldn't need to keep hearing about how Bush is going to "reform" the system.
Is AARP a branch of Govt. and no one told me?
Makes me want to break something when I think about how basially disfunctional the federal government and their policy is.

 

Let's all run into the office on a Sunday to save Terri Shavio when we actually have real issues to deal with other than a personal, family matter to stick our beak in.

I paid the maxium as an independent contractor into SS this year, I suppose it will be routed to Haliburton some way or another?
(Okay, bedtime for Phil now)

 

The one that cracks me up is when people say " The social security trust fund". There never has been a "trust fund", only IOU's from our favorite pols.

 

The only real way to fix SS is to have the Fed.Govt. pay back what it has stolen from the fund already and then put a lock on the cash box. Next,I'm wondering where ole Dubya would like all that new money to go??? Enron maybe? Or possibly Worldcom, or maybe we could get Mr. Keating from S&L to over see our investments. I am betting that the wall street mougls are just licking chops waiting for that money to come rolling into Manhatten. Whatdaya Think

 

I've used the Enron example more than a few times myself. I ususally get cocky responses like, "They would'nt put all of the $ in one spot". That makes you feel better? I don't see whats wrong with leaving the money alone? This way, it's there for the people that PUT IT THERE!!!
What's Dubya?

 

Fact: SSI money goes directly into the treasury to be spent! It has always been that way and will continue to be until someone makes it different.

Rick

 

That's my point, SS doesn't need to be fixed that money just needs to be put to use for what it was intended and not the General Fund. Also if we could get the Senators and Congress people to contribute to SS that would 'bout fix 'er for good. You see they don't pay SS they have their own retirement program that pays them their salary for the reat of their life and if they die wifey gets it for the rest of hers. Now for the good part what does it cost for such a program you ask, not one read cent. We the tax payers pick up the tab on that. Great deal-----for them.