Fixing social security

[Derek44]

@Derek44 What is/ was you and your father’s occupation if you don’t mind me asking.

Log truck driver.

 

[SAJ-99]

Thank you.

You guys blew this thing up like 10 pages while I was out earning your social security

Also, is it too late to ask you to have another kid? Asking for a friend, of course…

 

[Derek44]

Also, is it too late to ask you to have another kid? Asking for a friend, of course…

Someone already suggested that in this thread in a different context. Don’t remember who, but I think they’re onto something. We’re gonna have to get the rookie numbers up. I’ve been attempting to do my part but I always strike out.

 

[ImBillT]

I have retired, pretty early, with what I hope are pretty comfortable assets. Having said that, luck plays a role. Folks who work manual and get hurt are messed up without SS. And trust me, anyone can get a neurological disease which has no respecter of how hard you hammered. Or cardiovascular. Or cancer. Or immunological. Or rheumatological.

So maybe, lets be a little gentle.

"God forgive me, for I am an old person without money,".
Voices of Old Friends, Simon and Garfunkel, Bookends

There’s definitely good reason to have some sort of social safety net, but that’s not excuse for corruption, mismanagement and illegal or near illegal use of funds, which are he reason that SS is where it is today. Eliminating it without a replacement that takes care of those who actually need it isn’t the right answer, but I’m not sure it actually being seriously discussed. On the other hand, taking more money from the people paying in while promising them less and less and leaving things otherwise the same doesn’t seem like a good answer either. Not that I know what the answer is.

 

[SAJ-99]

There’s definitely good reason to have some sort of social safety net, but that’s not excuse for corruption, mismanagement and illegal or near illegal use of funds, which are he reason that SS is where it is today.

Uh, no. 13 pages, off season, no distractions, and you can’t seem to do a simple Google search.

 

[Derek44]

There’s definitely good reason to have some sort of social safety net, but that’s not excuse for corruption, mismanagement and illegal or near illegal use of funds, which are he reason that SS is where it is today.

Bullshit. I would love for one of you to step up and show me one link. I’ll even take a snopes link. That shows where SOCIAL SECURITY was defrauded or illegally used. This isn’t SSI that we’re discussing. And the ignorance of the difference is a bulk of the problem.

 

[ImBillT]

Uh, no. 13 pages, off season, no distractions, and you can’t seem to do a simple Google search.

I’m in and out of wakefulness currently. Been in bed with fever and chills most of the day.

 

[Derek44]

I’m in and out of wakefulness currently. Been in bed with fever and chills most of the day.

Hope you get to feeling better.

 

[ImBillT]

Bullshit. I would love for one of you to step up and show me one link. I’ll even take a snopes link. That shows where SOCIAL SECURITY was defrauded or illegally used. This isn’t SSI that we’re discussing. And the ignorance of the difference is a bulk of the problem.

I’m talking about implementing a system that was supposed to be voluntary and never used for identification purposes, with a trust fund whose money does not belong in the general fund turning into a mandatory program whose trust fund has been pilfered in a very questionable way resulting in what is essentially a pyramid scheme where today’s retirees are funded by current working people instead of by the retiree’s own funds which the government was supposed to manage for a return, and also turned into the primary means of universal identification.

I’m not saying that there is major fraud or anything else sketchy in terms of who is receiving what benefit. I’m saying that our lawmakers have destroyed SS. The way it currently works results in a situation such that in the case of a population decline, then people who put in the most will end up receiving the least because there aren’t enough working people under their age to fund the system. And one day those working voters very well may vote to light the whole thing on fire. Thats the mismanagement that I’m talking about.

 

[ImBillT]

Hope you get to feeling better.

Thank you very much. It’s greatly appreciated.

 

[cgasner1]

Also, is it too late to ask you to have another kid? Asking for a friend, of course…

Depends how hot is this friend? I told my wife the other day I either need to get clipped or we need to start selling the seed. She said if I can find someone to buy it go ahead. So what do you guys think the quart or pint?

 

[Derek44]

Depends how hot is this friend? I told my wife the other day I either need to get clipped or we need to start selling the seed. She said if I can find someone to buy it go ahead. So what do you guys think the quart or pint?

Hot damn!!! I think there’s another site for you. OF???? If we’re selling by bulk, my tsp. won’t be worth much

 

[SAJ-99]

I’m in and out of wakefulness currently. Been in bed with fever and chills most of the day.

Hope you feel better soon.
There are three things you need to remember that got SS to where it is today.
1) Boomers living longer than they were expected
2) family size shrinking
3) incomes not keeping pace
The rest is noise.

 

[ImBillT]

Hope you feel better soon.
There are three things you need to remember that got SS to where it is today.
1) Boomers living longer than they were expected
2) family size shrinking
3) incomes not keeping pace
The rest is noise.

Thank you for your kind wishes.

I agree with all three of those things being issues, but it does not negate the fact that if the money the boomers paid in had been invested rather than spent, the uphill battle would be a lot less uphill. Was the original rationale not that lots of people were incapable of managing their own retirement funding, and the result that the government took about 13%(employee and employer) of their wages in the name of retirement and then mismanaged it to the point that it’s about to be insolvent?

 

[KG92]

And that is what I’ve been talking about. This thread was originally based on the Social Security base. Social Security is not the “welfare” that some people are confusing it with. Every program in our system could use an overhaul. Or at least a little maintenance. That’s the nature of the beast with a growing society.

Social security absolutely is welfare if someone takes out 100x more than they contributed.

 

[Desk Pop]

Bullshit. I would love for one of you to step up and show me one link. I’ll even take a snopes link. That shows where SOCIAL SECURITY was defrauded or illegally used. This isn’t SSI that we’re discussing. And the ignorance of the difference is a bulk of the problem.

Office of the Inspector General

The Office of the Inspector General is directly responsible for meeting the statutory mission of promoting economy, efficiency, and effectiveness in the administration of Social Security Administration programs and operations and to prevent and detect fraud, waste, abuse, and mismanagement in...

oig.ssa.gov

 

[Derek44]

Social security absolutely is welfare if someone takes out 100x more than they contributed.

Then your 401K or any investment with interest is welfare????

 

[SAJ-99]

I agree with all three of those things being issues, but it does not negate the fact that if the money the boomers paid in had been invested rather than spent, the uphill battle would be a lot less uphill. Was the original rationale not that lots of people were incapable of managing their own retirement funding, and the result that the government took money about 13%(employee and employer) of their wages in the name of retirement and then mismanaged it to the point that it’s about to be insolvent?

No. That was not the rationale. Retirement in the 1930's basically didn't exist. It is an insurance program, not a retirement program. Its goal is not to maximize risk adjust returns. It is to provide a safety net in old age. All this stuff is on the SS web site. I agree that people are incapable of managing their own retirement (See the Financial Analyst industry) but SS was set up when there wasn't really retirement. It was designed for when people reached an age where they COULDN'T work. We have moved away from that as less manufacturing and a more service economy. Maybe we should make changes to reflect that?

There is no mismanagement. As I have stated before, there was no "raiding" of the funds by politicians. It was a budgetary change that had little impact. The question is how to move forward. I think it can be fixed with relatively minor changes. But people tend to blow those out of proportion, particularly the media.

 

[KG92]

Then your 401K or any investment with interest is welfare????

Yes, absolutely. Taking other people’s tax money is exactly the same thing as earning interest with your own money.

 

[Nick87]

Well. Thanks for the link. Yep. I guess it happens everywhere. (We already knew that to some extent) but I appreciate you showing me that. I guess because of Mr. Costa, we better just shut er down. Will your church send my mom some funds for her next utility bill? Our local church already turned us down when my dad died. Because we didn’t go every Sunday. We were too busy trying to earn our livings and take care of his medical bills and keep him comfortable before death

Had a POS Uncle who used his younger brothers (died real young) info to collect his somehow for years. So I think it's probably more common than you think.