Social security ponzi scam?

Date 09-27-2011 17:45

afriend sent me this thought id share

This is very appropriate in light of what is going on !!! Remember, not only did you contribute to Social Security but your employer did too. It totaled 15% of your income before taxes. If you averaged only 30K over your 49 year working life, that’s close to $220,500. If you calculate the future value of $4,500 per year (yours & your employer’s contribution) at a simple 5% (less than what the govt. pays on the money that it borrows), after 49 years of working you’d have $892,919.98. If you took out only 3% per year, you would receive $26,787.60 per year and it would last better than 30 years, and that’s with no interest paid on that final amount on deposit! If you bought an annuity and it paid 4% per year, you’d have a lifetime income of $2,976.40 per month. The folks in Washington have pulled off a bigger Ponzi scheme than Bernie Madhoff ever had. Entitlement, my foot, I paid cash for my social security insurance!!!! Just because they borrowed the money, doesn't make my benefits some kind of charity or handout !! Congressional benefits- unlimited unemployment benefits, free healthcare, outrageous retirement packages, 67 paid holidays, three weeks paid vacation, unlimited paid sick days, now that's welfare, and they have the nerve to call my retirement entitlements !!!!!! They call Social Security,and Medicare an entitlement even though most of us have been paying for it all our working lives and now when it’s time for us to collect, the government is running out of money. Why did the government borrow from it in the first place?

By jwright650 (*****)

Date 09-27-2011 17:53

Joe, I've been saying that all along...every employee and their employer paid into this fund, it's not like when you retire that you would be drawing money that wasn't yours already. On top of that, it is mandatory that each employee and employer contribute to this fund...you do not have a choice.

By OBEWAN

Date 09-27-2011 19:21

This caused me to give up my membership in the Republican Party after 33 years.

If they cancel my social security and medicare I am through with them for the rest of my life. I will vote for a dog first.

By JLWelding (***)

Date 09-28-2011 01:24

If I have not contributed to my ss in ten years do I lose it? I have worked for my self in this time.

By Pickupman (***)

Date 09-28-2011 02:48

Even if you are self employed you pay SS. You may have enough deductions that you don't pay INCOME tax, but you still pay SELF EMPLOYMENT tax (SS).

By Tommyjoking (****)

Date 09-28-2011 04:10

Joe I hate to say it but it is true.....the worst savings accounts pay better interest then the SS. Govt. bonds pay way better then SS....and they pay crap.

Privatizing SS and making the hard choice of a cutoff date is one of the best moves the feds could ever do.....hell I will volunteer myself (age group) to fall in the cutoff. I am not getting any return on what I paid in worth a sh&T so go ahead and declare me to have to start over. I figure I can do better with a mandated 5% in 15 yrs on the market then the dang govt can do with it in a lifetime.

I agree with forcing people to put money away for retirement as unconstitutional as it is (unless your a scumbag lawyer). BUT let us choose how that money is spent...whether it is in a savings account or a 401k...it should be our choice of investment. I could be a blithering idiot with a checkbook and get a better return then Uncle Sam gives.

You know Union Pacific workers pay no SS on their checks.....I always respected UP for being so big and powerfull and having the balls to stand up to the US govt and say NO.....we can take care of them ourselves. They had some power back then....I think before it is said and done the railroads will have that kind of power again.

By Tommyjoking (****)

Date 09-28-2011 04:14

AND WHAT IS SO SICK....when you look at that cheesy statement from SS saying what you will draw......whoever you worked for had to MATCH that money and pay in. They are so close to being in the negative that you would get more use from a freaking mattress with a hole in the side!

By DaveBoyer (*****)

Date 09-29-2011 03:11

You get a statment from the Social Security people every year that shows what You contributed. Once You have enough credits to collect at retirement, You don't loose it from not contributing [as I understand it].

You CAN LOOSE the ability to get disability, as I have, from not contributing [enough] for 10 years. To get disability, You need 40 credits, 20 of them earned in the last 10 years before You became disabled.

By JLWelding (***)

Date 09-29-2011 04:26

I think thats what I had heard. Oh well it wont br there after this pres. gets thru with us.

By OBEWAN

Date 09-29-2011 14:15

Yes that is true. If you go to the govt website there are even calculators to help you know how much you are supposed to get. The number of years DO have some influence on the amount of benefits to collect, but not working for several years will not kill your benefits. It is based upon average earnings over a lifetime. If you have just a few years of very high earnings you are set. I have been laid off for two years now. In the past 33 years I have been idle for 7 years. My average earnings are now high enough that it only makes a few hundred dollars a year difference if I work until age 62 or remain idle until age 62, and I am now 53. Look into it if you really want to know. I will collect about $14K a year as it is.