Quote:
Originally Posted by Stu from NYC
Why would you call SS an entitlement. We paid for it all those years and now even pay taxes on the payouts
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You are entitled to a monthly SS check if you qualify by contributing for enough quarters while you are employed.
If the checks stopped when you recovered the amount you contributed then I might agree with not calling it an entitlement. (Without COLAs, age 67-70 for me)
I might even agree if the checks stopped after reaching the total contribution of you and your employer. (Without COLAs, age 73-75 for me)
However, the checks don't stop at either of those points, they keep on coming until you die. And even then, if you have a spouse who did not work they can continue collecting until they die. (With COLAs, hopefully age 85+ for me)
SS is not paying you back for the money you put in, SS is providing a life-long entitlement.
As for the "if we invested it ourselves" line: 401Ks are examples of where we can invest it ourselves. I can't find the stats for how many actually contribute the maximum but looking at the median balances of retirees, it doesn't appear that many do. When we have the opportunity to invest it ourselves, we don't.