darthtang aw
Active Member
People vote for Mickey mouse every year also.
Trump tax plan
- Thread starter snakeblitz33
- Start date
gemmy
Active Member
I look at what has happened in Atlantic City and know that Trump is not someone I would want to become president.
geridoc
Well-Known Member
Actually, you are wrong. Social Security witholding is used to pay current benefits. As an effort to bolster the longevity of the system, several years ago witholding was increased above that needed for immediate payout, and the excess invested in bonds, which will be sold publicly when the number of retirees peaks and there are not sufficient workers to pay current benefits. The fix is easy - increase the retirement age by one or two years, or tie it to the increase in life expectancy and there is sufficient funding. But, social security taxes are not used directly for any government operation other than benefits, and bond purchases.
Your mistake is in thinking that there is an "account" where your payments to the system are kept in a locked box, to be paid out later, and that the government has looted your lockbox. That isn't how it works.
bang guy
Moderator
IIRC A few years before the withholding was increased, the withholding was decreased which shortened the longevity of Social Security. The increase was just putting the withholding back up to where it was.
2quills
Well-Known Member
IIRC, withholdings were decreased temporarily as part of a plan to relieve the American tax payers of the immediate sting of the recession and help re energize the economy under the current administration. It didn't have anything to do with social security reform.
Problem is we have more and more elderly folks living longer lives and less and less working tax payers to cover it.
Problem is we have more and more elderly folks living longer lives and less and less working tax payers to cover it.
bang guy
Moderator
Right, but the effect was it lowered the funding of Social Security for a several years. My interpretation is that this defunding was the start of the Democrats dismantling Social Security. A successful start for sure.
pegasus
Well-Known Member
Uhm... you have heard that a lot of money is taken out of SS and put into a "general fund", haven't you? The general fund is the government's cookie jar, and it's dipped into to pay for politicians' "pet projects". Money is taken out, and replaced with bonds that are so de-valued that there is very little return on them. What used to be 10% is now more like 2%. When it was functioning properly, it was sustainable. Worthless bonds have taken longevity out of the program...
2quills
Well-Known Member
It's not just Dems. The GOP is taking shots as well.
Personally, I wouldn't mind seeing S.S. privatized as long as the folks who have already payed into it don't get screwed.
My money is probably safer through private investment than it is in the hands of our government anyway. At least I'd be able to choose what I wanted to do with it.
Freedom is freedom of choice.
beaslbob
Well-Known Member
My point was there is no account.
I glad you agree there is no money in the social security trust fund. That money was spend on payments to benefits as you stated and used to buy government bonds. which means the money the bonds were purchased with was used to pay government expenses. So now all that remains are those bonds or IOUs.
2quills
Well-Known Member
Well when you're 17 trillion in debt. That 20+ trillion tied up in 401k, IRAS and pensions seem mighty tempting.
That's what happened in Europe. And that's what happens when nations go bankrupt. Obama already enacted capital control. We need not look any further than Greece to understand what type of situation we are heading for here.
They already took over 1/6th of the economy with the stroke of a pen when Obama care was in acted. That wasn't enough. They want (they need) our retirement funds as well.
You guys didn't really want to retire, did you?
snakeblitz33
Well-Known Member
And they will get it too.
A friend of mine was telling me that the US will never end up like Greece because we have a large central bank. Well.... You can not keep printing money to cover expenses. It causes inflation which kills the economy.
They will end up taking those 401k's and pensions and say too bad, that's how we had to pay our debt.
A friend of mine was telling me that the US will never end up like Greece because we have a large central bank. Well.... You can not keep printing money to cover expenses. It causes inflation which kills the economy.
They will end up taking those 401k's and pensions and say too bad, that's how we had to pay our debt.
beaslbob
Well-Known Member
geridoc
Well-Known Member
You are right, but that is the action required by law. The Social Security Administration is not permitted to place the surplus into a locked box, nor are they free to invest it in any way that they might wish - they must purchase US bonds. Of course, bonds are an IOU, and will have to be redeemed when Social Security needs the funds - just like General Motors or Google.