johnnymk

I just received my statement of earnings during my entire working period and expected payments at age 62 and age 66.
The statement also shows how much I paid in and how much my employers paid.

If you add both Social Security snd Medicare for the combined payments into the system, it totals over $180,000.

I am going to take the earlier benefit package at age 62, which will probably be less than the $1272 per month that they estimate, since I retired at age 56.

So let's assume $1100 per month or approximately $13,000 per year.

With all of the ailments I currently have, if I make it to age 70, I will be lucky. Assuming I make it to 70, they pay out $104,000. Even if I live till age 80, they pay $234,000. Of course, this does not count the marginal Cost of Living increases which they grant.

Being EXTREMELY conservative, that $180,000 investement could have easily doubled over the past 35 years to $360,000. And if I were just your average investor, I imagine I could have tripled the investment to over a half a million bucks.

Guess who wins? The government or me?

__________________
Government's view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it. - Ronald Reagan (1986)

zippyjuan

But would you have put aside that much money on your own? The way Social Security works is that the people contributing this year pay for the benefits paid out this year and the government skims off the rest for the rest of the budget. When it was first established in the 1920s, people did not live as long after retirement as they do today. Also there were about 50 people paying for each person collecting while within the next twenty years that is expected to drop to just three payers for one collectee. There is no trust fund account for you or even all contributors. That cookie jar is full of IOUS's from Uncle Sam.

__________________
I add new pictures to my photo gallery pretty regularly. You can see them here if you are interested: http://www.pbase.com/jeffryz

johnnymk

Yes, I know the history of Social Security and the dilemma that it is in and how it is used for everything else.

I just want to state that it is not some grand bonanza where retirees are receiving more money than what they and their employees contributed.

Merlin

Actually the guy who holds on until his late 90's. The system is designed (poorly I might add) so that people who die "early" balance out people who die "late"

And yes, as with most things the government does, you would be much better off if you just kept your money yourself. They have proven to be poor investors of it. When my time comes in another 30 years I don't expect to get anything really. It is simply another tax that I'm paying that I'll get very little for.

__________________

gear02

btw could explain to me the idea of privatizing social security, and why the dems hate that idea?

__________________

johnnymk

No, it's because the dems are great at blaming the rich and corporations, not taking responsibility for anything and then using every excuse to "suck off of the system".

Merlin

Dems. for the most part like it when the state is in control. They view it as the government's job. Privatizing flys in the face of this. Also, as a group they don't trust business to run things in the best interests of the citizens. Obviously we can debate this last point all day long and not get anywhere but you get the idea of why they don't like it.

gear02

Neither do I. Business care about their bottom line, and although they will claim they are caring, they would also cut you in a second if it'll help them. Look at how Walmart treats their employees, and at how many companies trim hours off employees' timesheets.

http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?s...&tid=98&tid=99

I'm not anti-business, but to trust them with our welfare is pretty naive.

But that doesn't explain what privatizing SS means.

zippyjuan

The Republican idea for privatisation of Social Security is to let people create their own accounts and make their own investment decisions with that money- good or bad. Basically getting rid of Social Security and replacing it with IRAs which less than twenty percent of people presently have. This would result in significantly greater numbers of people broke in old age (or younger) and forced to work until they drop dead. Or rely on other more expensive government programs.

Airencracken

Social security is a scam, and a bank account for the feds.

__________________
"I remember my first orgasm, I just wish someone was there to share it with me..."11-05-2003 05:33 AM - Topane
They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. - Benjamin Franklin
Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, & the soul of soulless conditions. It is the opiate of the masses. - Karl Marx
Hell is other people - Jean-Paul Sartre