Originally Posted by Rebel Pirate (Post 1742889)

Once we started down that road (Social Security and Medicare) there is no way to go back to the beginning ... and no off ramp. Both are good examples of (well intended) social welfare. But, the mathematics has changed. In 1945, there were 42 workers supporting each social security recipients. By 2010, there were 3 workers supporting each recipient.

Is Social Security a Ponzi scheme? Well, not really. But, there are some differences and similarities. I think the biggest similarity is that both are doomed to financial collapse after the passage of sufficient amount of time; that's not gonna happen anytime soon mind you, but it WILL happen. The biggest difference is that one is legal and one is illegal.

Originally Posted by Paper1 (Post 1741088)

I disagree with your "me first generation" reference at the same time we are burying our children and grandchildren in debt with our social security, pensions, and medical care that we feel is our just due. We will have to agree to disagree as to who is the real "me first" generation is.

Originally Posted by jacksonbrown (Post 1747267)

So we shouldn’t hope for a return to “normalcy.” The old normalcy is what necessitated shutting down the world economy because of some pesky new bug. We don’t want to return to that normalcy, do we? Instead, there’ll be a “new normal” to live with.

from The American Thinker

Originally Posted by jswirs (Post 1747280)

Please don't include social security as contributing to our grandchildren's debt. Many, many folks have paid into that system for many , many decades, and don't forget to include the funds donated to that system by our employers. I did the math, I would have to live into my mid 90's before I exhausted all of the contributions both I and my employer have made.

Originally Posted by jacksonbrown (Post 1747267)

So we shouldn’t hope for a return to “normalcy.” The old normalcy is what necessitated shutting down the world economy because of some pesky new bug. We don’t want to return to that normalcy, do we? Instead, there’ll be a “new normal” to live with.

from The American Thinker

Originally Posted by jswirs (Post 1747280)

Please don't include social security as contributing to our grandchildren's debt. Many, many folks have paid into that system for many , many decades, and don't forget to include the funds donated to that system by our employers. I did the math, I would have to live into my mid 90's before I exhausted all of the contributions both I and my employer have made.

Originally Posted by Paper1 (Post 1747489)

I may be wrong but I believe you and your employer were paying for your parents and grandparents not into a personal account. Yes we were over paying and the government we elected decided to spend that money and create the imaginary trust fund you reference. I may have an odd way to look at it but we should have been paying more income tax instead of spending excess social security taxes that were collected. Now that we both shared opinions how do we fix it?
Regards

Originally Posted by MACH7SS (Post 1740840)

Other than a few minor things like shaking hands and hugging at group gatherings, I sincerely doubt anything will change permanently. At first people will be cautious but complacency will eventually dull their concerns. After six months to a year, the Corona Virus will be history. And if they test and approve a vaccine before then, the whole time frame will shorten dramatically. I just checked the US death toll today and it shows a total of 9171 fatalities. The US death toll of the H1N1 pandemic in 2009 was over 12,000 in an equally short time. Do you see any huge changes in the US after the H1N1?

Originally Posted by Kahuna32162 (Post 1747569)

Just an update, as of today, April 16th, the US death toll has topped 30,000. Worried yet?

Originally Posted by coffeebean (Post 1741670)

Hubby and I were just discussing this at dinner this evening. We are frequent cruisers but will probably hold off cruising for at least a year. Sad but true.