Social Security Fix

Started by supsalemgr, June 02, 2019, 10:31:00 AM

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supsalemgr

https://www.cnbc.com/2019/05/31/this-bill-could-save-social-securitys-for-the-rest-of-this-century.html

SS is going to be OK for most of us, but we all know it is in serious trouble down the road. I am personally in favor of as much privatization as possible. However, that is not going to happen so something else has to be done.

Here is a bill that at a quick look has some merit. I don't like tax increases, but this plan seems pretty painless as the increases are over a long period. I do like raising how SS is taxed. Right now, Mrs. Sup and I are double taxed on SS since my pay was taxed when I earned it and now it is taxed again as I receive SS.

IF SS is to remain viable it must be paid for.
"If you can't run with the big dawgs, stay on the porch!"

Solar

Same here, I hate the fact they bill me for medicare as well, even when you don't use it. Unless you have insurance, then you are exempt, but I pay out of pocket for private care when I need it. I save thousands yearly.

Orrr? We could just privatize everyone's account, to where it can't be touched till retirement, no tax, just a deduction from your check into a private IRA/Trust that can't be touched for any reason other than 100% disability. Of course, this disability has to be proven in court, three different panels of doctors.
No tax, just your own money accruing interest.

Granted, this too is unconstitutional, but it is a pragmatic compromise.
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supsalemgr

Quote from: Solar on June 02, 2019, 12:40:23 PM
Same here, I hate the fact they bill me for medicare as well, even when you don't use it. Unless you have insurance, then you are exempt, but I pay out of pocket for private care when I need it. I save thousands yearly.

Orrr? We could just privatize everyone's account, to where it can't be touched till retirement, no tax, just a deduction from your check into a private IRA/Trust that can't be touched for any reason other than 100% disability. Of course, this disability has to be proven in court, three different panels of doctors.
No tax, just your own money accruing interest.

Granted, this too is unconstitutional, but it is a pragmatic compromise.

I totally agree SS taxes, by employee and employer be self directed by the employee!  :thumbup:
"If you can't run with the big dawgs, stay on the porch!"

Solar

Quote from: supsalemgr on June 03, 2019, 04:20:58 AM
I totally agree SS taxes, by employee and employer be self directed by the employee!  :thumbup:
Yep, if I was forced to take a percentage of my check and lock it away, I'm going to make certain my money has the greatest return. With that in mind, a new industry would emerge vying for my dollar promising the best return.
Heaven forbid I might actually see a nice chunk in my retirement, possibly a millionaire if I play the market Right.
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supsalemgr

Quote from: Solar on June 03, 2019, 05:34:09 AM
Yep, if I was forced to take a percentage of my check and lock it away, I'm going to make certain my money has the greatest return. With that in mind, a new industry would emerge vying for my dollar promising the best return.
Heaven forbid I might actually see a nice chunk in my retirement, possibly a millionaire if I play the market Right.

However, the leftist hand wringers will cry about the folks who make bad decisions.
"If you can't run with the big dawgs, stay on the porch!"

Solar

Quote from: supsalemgr on June 03, 2019, 06:59:19 AM
However, the leftist hand wringers will cry about the folks who make bad decisions.
:biggrin:
Yep, and demand they be subsidized. :sneaky:
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Evox

Nothing will be done to fix social security until it has to be done. 

Quite frankly the one good thing George W Bush did was his push to fix social security by allowing a portion of an earners contributions to be invested.  He couldn't pass that bit of legislation with a Republican house and senate. 

IF that had been done we wouldn't have a problem.  The problem has always been the pay-go nature of the program up until the early 80's, and then after the Greenspan commission's recommended on raising payroll taxes to create a surplus the ONLY thing that surplus could go into were US treasury bonds. 

Which was stupid in my opinion.  Quite frankly buying pools of mortgages would have been better than US Treasury bonds, by anything BUT US treasury bonds would have been better.  At least there would have been real assets in the fund.  But no, we invested the surplus in US Treasury bonds, the proceeds of which went into the general fund, and of course was spent by the Federal government. 

Possum

Quote from: Qweevox on September 03, 2019, 01:38:02 AM
Nothing will be done to fix social security until it has to be done. 


Unfortunately, the solution congress will come up with, if it ever decides it wants to "fix" ss rather than have it as a campaign issue will be similar to the solution to "fix" our national debt. Print more money. The "cause" that put ss in the state it is in and the cause that exploded our national debt, namely a congress that can not control spending, will not be addressed. 

Evox

You are probably correct.  As a member X-gen I always knew it'd be our generation that had to take it on the chin.  The Boomers were too large a voting block, and there is no way they'd vote for less money or benefit. 

X-Gen is the obvious sacrifice.  It's a relatively small voting block sandwiched between the Boomers and the echo-Boomers/Millennials a both large voting blocks. 

So if anything is to be done, it will be done then.  Why can't people understand that "investing" in U.S. Treasuries was a stupid idea?  In essence you just gave congress more revenue to spend.  And spend they did.  Even with the surplus of funds from the U.S. Treasuries that started to build in the early 80's, they managed to overspend and run up the debt.   

There are so few fiscal conservatives left.  No one seems concerned about debt.   

supsalemgr

Quote from: Qweevox on September 03, 2019, 11:07:21 AM
You are probably correct.  As a member X-gen I always knew it'd be our generation that had to take it on the chin.  The Boomers were too large a voting block, and there is no way they'd vote for less money or benefit. 

X-Gen is the obvious sacrifice.  It's a relatively small voting block sandwiched between the Boomers and the echo-Boomers/Millennials a both large voting blocks. 

So if anything is to be done, it will be done then.  Why can't people understand that "investing" in U.S. Treasuries was a stupid idea?  In essence you just gave congress more revenue to spend.  And spend they did.  Even with the surplus of funds from the U.S. Treasuries that started to build in the early 80's, they managed to overspend and run up the debt.   

There are so few fiscal conservatives left.  No one seems concerned about debt.

You summed it up. Let's keep in mind SS is not just another welfare program. Workers aid in and the fact the employer matches those payments is rarely mentioned. Congress will never control spending and they are the only ones who could pass laws to limit their spending. It will take a bi-partisan effort to make any meaningful changes. I am 100% in favor of guaranteeing SS as it is for anyone 35 or older and let folks below 35 self direct their SS taxes into a secure personal account untouchable by the feds. It will not happen in my lifetime, but it would be a beginning.
"If you can't run with the big dawgs, stay on the porch!"