As a 27 year old, it is pretty obvious to me that there is going to be no money left in social security when I retire. Am I way off base here are do most people agree? Do you agree that social security is broke and that it needs to be phazed out or what? Why or why not?
2007-06-01 07:01:03 · 6 answers · asked by comer59 3 in Politics & Government ➔ Government
I have started a retirement account and I am fully prepared to make it my responsibility to provide for my own retirement. It just gets depressing looking at my paycheck and watching that money disapear, when I could be using it in my 401k. I would be open to a renovated system, but I wish the government would admit that it needs to be fixed.
2007-06-01 07:33:31 · update #1
People have been saying that for some time.
The system definitely needs revamping, but politicians are really afraid that unless they can promise something for nothing they shouldn't touch it. George Bush wanted to make improvements and got his hand slapped real hard by both parties. This problem will get solved as more people like you and me request that it be fixed.
Regardless of what has been saved by the Government (really nothing if you analyze it) the people working are passing money to the senior citizens and expect the same when they retire. This will get harder as people live longer.
Although Washington has not figured out how they will fix our SS, they are real anxious to let the illegals share in the benefits. Go figure.
My employer of 28 years went bankrupt so I can tell you the pitfalls of any fixed benefit plan. So, make good use of your 401k plan.
2007-06-01 07:18:13 · answer #1 · answered by Menehune 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Social security is not broke unless the US government defaults on the loans they've taken from SS. Social security does need to be fixed-and it wouldn't be so hard if someone had the guts to do it! SS is only meant to be a retirement supplement, although the lowest income people do live on it. Without SS, would they be homeless, on welfare?
The US government has borrowed a lot from SS and doesn't count that debt as part of it's accounting-nice trick, isn't it? If the government were to default on those loans, their credit will certainly never be good again. What a mistake that would be. A little like not paying back a loan to your kids.
My advice is don't count on SS and use those 401k plans. Save early for retirement. If you saved now for 10 years you have about triple or quadruple what the 50 yr old that saves for 10 years does!
2007-06-01 07:17:30 · answer #2 · answered by Middleclassandnotquiet 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Right know, unless you own your home, social security benefits are not enough to live on. If you own your home and don't have to pay rent or mortgage you can most likely subsist on SS benefits but just barely. I don't think the Feds. will break the social contract they have with Americans and ever get rid of it or allow it to go completely broke, that would be political suicide. They will continue to lower the value of the SS benefits so it will stretch and cover everyone. They will lower the payouts and increase the retirement age where citizens can begin receiving benefits. You already can't live off the benefits know unless you own your home and I predict the SS benefits value will only get smaller in the future until the benefits aren't really worth having. So to cover yourself just assume there will not be any SS benefits when you retire, or the benefits will be so pathetic as to be not worth having anyway and plan accordingly. I believe you need to arraign and plan for your own retirement, which means to save and invest etc.It is kind of ironic that in the not so distant future we will be right back where we were in the early 1900's when the SS program was set up, having to rely solely on your own planning to retire, and this after paying a ton of money to the feds in SS payments that you most likely will never see.
2007-06-01 07:22:57 · answer #3 · answered by Randysaurus 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Social Security (FICA) taxes were raised in 1983 in order to build up a surplus in the social security trust fund to help pay for the retirement of the baby boom generation. It is not Social Security that is broken - It is the rest of the government. The problem is that the government has been borrowing the surplus money in the the social security trust fund, every penny of which came from FICA taxes on the earnings of workers that was earmarked for their retirement and congress has no plan in place to pay it back when it is needed to pay benefits. - The borrowing has masked the true size of the Federal Budget Deficit, and made it easier to give tax cuts to the rich.
If you are 27, you should be urging your elected representatives to roll back the Bush tax cuts now in order to get the government working on a firm financial basis. - Its not right for the government to pass on a mountain of debt to your generation. - Its also not right to "borrow" money for some body's pension plan with no plan in place to pay it back. If the CEOs of a big corporation like Enron had looted their employees' pension plan the way congress has been doing with social security, they would be headed to prison.
2007-06-01 16:51:31 · answer #4 · answered by Franklin 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Bush tried to change it to individual retirement accounts, the democrats cried foul! At 27, you can save for your retirement very very well! Get a Roth IRA account going now, and save to it religiously, I'm 43 and have two of them. I don't plan on SS either and I'm closer than you. Good luck.
2007-06-01 07:10:16 · answer #5 · answered by Army Retired Guy 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
yes and let people choose their own retiremnet
2007-06-01 07:04:10 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋