Quote:
Originally Posted by Blueblaze
The solution is ridiculously simple, and there will eventually no other option -- start making the wealthy help pay off the debt owed to current retirees. SS is the only government program that the wealthy are excluded from by statute. The moment you hit "wealthy" (about $110K/year, last I checked), you quit having to pay for this boondoggle.
If folks like Elon and Zuck had to pay the same 15% of their lifetime earnings that we did, SS would run a surplus to the end of time. In fact, Zuck alone could cover the SS deficit for the next hundred years by himself, and still be a billionaire 100X over.
If we were a smart country, we would just calculate the amount needed to payoff the current retirees and reimburse the kids. Then we'd divide it up, tax EVERYONE to cover it, and just end the damned thing. With EVERYONE paying, it would be a trivial tax, compared to FICA. In its place, we would set up a privately-funded retirement program, and force everyone to INVEST the same 15% we had confiscated for a Ponzi scheme. Our kids would retire with an actual asset worth millions, instead of just a stupid promise that's forfeited the moment you die.
The only downside would be that the gooberment wouldn't have a slush fund to borrow from, like they have for the last 100 years. But now that they've just about blown through it, anyway, maybe we can finally convince our corrupt politicians to finally give Americans a real retirement system instead of a Ponzi scheme.
Of course, it only works if we retirees don't set our hair on fire the moment we see an ad with somebody pushing granny off a cliff.
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A whole lot of words to explain that you don’t understand how the program works.
See some of the responses above:
- SS taxes during our working years do not cover what we will be paid in retirement
- investing the same amount in the market *might* earn enough to break even if there are no bad years
- SS payouts are capped just as taxable income is capped. If you want to tax more income then be prepared to pay more in benefits, then see the first item above
- The market is a similar “Ponzi” scheme as SS. Without new players to buy your shares your stock is worthless (see memecoins for an example)
SS is suffering from a lower worker to retiree ratio, longer lifespans, and now the new “no tax on SS” scam. The first is fixed by increasing taxes, the second by increasing the retirement age, and the third by ending the games.