Social SecuritySocial SecurityYou know, somebody ought to really find a way to insert brains into the average American. I mean, really now, do you think that private accounts will increase your final Social Security benefit? Bush's Private Accounts plan is nothing more than another boondoggle for the corporate interests.
Yes, Social Security is in trouble. Yes, it has to be fixed.
Let's look at the situation. When Social Security was instituted,
it was
already a giant pyramid scheme to take care of the elderly. The
idea was
that if one lived long enough to collect, there would be funds to
support one
to a life
style believable to the average depression era worker. There
would be
years of contributions into the Social Security Trust Fund (two lies in
one
sentence). But with the average life span in those days less than
the early age
to
collect, few would see any money from it. My father died at 63 20
years
ago. Maybe he collected a year of early benefits. Maybe
not.
My mother is alive and collecting spousal benefits -- not enough to
live on and my father was a professional engineer contributing all of
his life.
Black people
are
still contributing a large share and their average age at death is less
than
the 70 years that the SS admin has currently designated as the normal
start
date. When SS was started, no one counted on people living to be
100.
Moreover, it was advertised as your retirement plan.
With as much
as was
being paid out, people counted on being able to retire on their
benefits. Another lie. When I was in college, SS was billed
as the only
retirement plan. The advertising changed shortly thereafter.
So, besides living longer, what happened? Many things. The cost of medical care soared. WW II caused a deluge of babies all retiring in the next 10 years. Costs of living rising faster than the income to SS. Other factors too numerous to mention. Poor and improper investment by the Federal government of the contributions. Such poor administration of the basically untapped thirty years of funds until now all that is left is a big Ponzi scheme. So what do we do about this?
We have been doing. Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs) are now available in several flavors. Tax-free IRAs – no tax on returns, ever. Regular Tax-deferred IRAs. 401K, 403B, etc. If you earn money, you can save it in your own private accounts. WE ALREADY HAVE PRIVATE ACCOUNTS! We do not want to mess with the current system: we just need to fix it.
Why does Bush want private accounts? He wants his friends in corporate America to contribute less money to SS. This leaves more money for the corporation profits. What you do not pay employees goes to the owners. If you move money to private accounts, then it is moved. But that is not what he wants. The bottom line is to eventually contribute less to SS and make individuals responsible for their ability to make a profit from investments. Remember for every dollar made in the stock market, someone else loses a dollar, and commissions are paid on both sides. If you move your money to a private account and you lose money, then it is your fault and not the governments for not returning enough. It does not matter whose fault it is. If you do not have money for retirement, the Republicans can point fingers -- but you are still hungry.
It takes no real brains to realize that "private accounts" are just
a way to reduce funds going into the general fund. Reducing funds
into the general fund reduces the benefits available to those who need
it. It takes no brains to realize that if you are earning a
salary there will not be enough in the general fund to pay for your
life style. It takes no brains to provide your own "private
account" with an IRA, 401K, or 403B. Do you realize that if you
input 10% of your salary into one of these plans for the first 20 years
you work that by the time you are 60 years old you will have enough to
live a very nice life style? For you SS will then just be
dessert -- if the Bushes of the world have permitted it to
survive.
The real solution? Keep SS for people who need it. Maybe raise the retirement age. Transferring the blame to the poor person who spends his life working is not helping anyone. If you want a safe retirement, save for it in the currently available private tax-free or tax-deferred accounts.