Here is a fearful set of statistics. “. . . 65% of all beneficiaries rely on Social Security to provide 50% or more of their incomes, while 36% rely on benefits for 90% or more of their incomes. For non-married beneficiaries, including widows, the reliance is higher with 74% relying on benefits for 50% or more of their incomes and 46% relying for 90% or more of their incomes.”
The program was officially designed to provide supplemental income. But for a lot of people, it’s not supplemental income. It’s primary income.
The system is going bust, along with Medicare and Medicaid. If you are planning to retire on your Social Security income, re-design your plan. The combined shortfall of revenue to expenses is $222 trillion. That’s the present value of the shortfall.
Will the federal government default? Yes. Will those who are counting on this income be stiffed? Yes. Will it be tax money down the drain? Yes. Is it a Ponzi scheme? Yes.
Is it exactly what voters deserve? Yes.
The welfare state is going belly-up. Should we rejoice? Yes.
You had better not count on support from Social Security. Stay in the work force. Or start a small business. Or invest wisely. But abandon hope now in Social Security if you are under age 50.
Those that rely on SS for 50% or more of their retirement income will soon be the only ones collecting any SS. Anyone with other income will be determined to be rich, and thus unable to collect SS. This is a math problem; there isn't enough money to pay everyone SS income under the current rules, so the rules will change, and the losers under the new rules will be people with other sources of retirement income.
For one thing, it is not WELFARE,, people who work pay into this program, I hate it when they refer to it as welfare.
And after you've collected everything that was "paid" it becomes welfare.
For your info….SOCIAL SECURITY…….IS NOT AN ENTITALMENT OR WELFARE. It was EARNED. By people who actually went to work….and the government bozos back in the 70's. had to SPEND IT. Now when it is needed it is gone. To bad it wasn't invested as wel as Congress's retirement
Welfare my a** articles like this really chap my hide social security is an entirely self funded program and by law it can't tax or deficit spend. Furthermore people who believe in the Constitution should take note!
Who Pays for Social Security?
http://www.nasi.org/learn/socialsecurity/who-pays
" By virtue of the power to borrow money "on the credit of the United States," Congress is authorized to pledge that credit as assurance of payment as stipulated — as the highest assurance the Government can give — its plighted faith. To say that Congress may withdraw or ignore that pledge is to assume that the Constitution contemplates a vain promise, a pledge having no other sanction than the pleasure and convenience of the pledgor. P. 294 U. S. 351
http://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/294/33…
And second, there is this Criminal Mischief statute 18 US 1361. Government property or contracts
http://uscode.house.gov/download/pls/18C65.txt
"Far from being "worthless IOUs," the investments held by the trust funds are backed by the full faith and credit of the U. S. Government."
http://www.ssa.gov/oact/progdata/fundFAQ.html
Republicans About To Fall For A World Class Social Security Bait-And-Switch Con
http://www.forbes.com/sites/lawrencehunter/2012/1…
The Great American Retirement Scam: Why The Wealthiest CEO's In America Want To Take Away Your Social Security
http://www.forbes.com/sites/rickungar/2012/11/28/…
Even the Weekly Standard notes the difference
'Welfare Spending Equates to $168 Per Day for Every Household in Poverty'
http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/welfare-spend…
Even Ron Paul collects Social Security btw
http://articles.latimes.com/2012/jun/20/health/la…
Republicans About To Fall For A World Class Social Security Bait-And-Switch Con
http://www.forbes.com/sites/lawrencehunter/2012/1…
The Great American Retirement Scam: Why The Wealthiest CEO's In America Want To Take Away Your Social Security
http://www.forbes.com/sites/rickungar/2012/11/28/…
NSC Warns Means Testing Could Be Part of Congressional Deal
http://www.nationalseniorscouncil.org/index.php?o…
"Now let’s look at how that $2.7 trillion Social Security surplus arose. In 1983, President Ronald Reagan sponsored an increase in Social Security taxes, changing the program from pay-as-you-go to collecting much more taxes than it paid in benefits. The idea was to have the Boomers prepay part of their old age benefits."
http://www.ssa.gov/history/reaganstmts.html http://blogs.reuters.com/david-cay-johnston/2012/…
"According to a 2011 study by the Urban Institute, a married couple retiring last year after both spouses had worked throughout their lifetimes wound up paying about $598,000 in Social Security taxes. If the man lives to 82 and the woman to 85, they can expect to collect about $556,000 in benefits."
http://blog.aarp.org/2012/08/06/the-takeaway-toda…
The TRUTH About Who Really Owns All Of America's Debt
http://www.businessinsider.com/who-owns-us-debt-2…
Check your premises. And then approach the subject with a somewhat open mind. SS is not entirely "self funded"…whatever it is you mean by that. SS has already run a deficit, meaning it's paid out more than it took in. Those IOUs are claims on future resources…either taxes or borrowing. And the sad fact is that the tax base is shrinking while the payouts are growing…not a good combination. There are only two ways to reconcile this very basic math problem; reduce benefits or raise taxes (or both). Which one are you in favor of?
The only reason it is a deficit is BECAUSE…CONGRESS…..dipped into it and spent money on welfare give always rather leave their sticky little fingers off it
All borrowing is a claim on future resources but that has nothing to do with Social Security being self funded. and everything to do with the government over spending. The politicians borrowed from the fund but that doesn't mean they don't have to pay it back. Social Security has not run a deficit it has a $2.7 Trillion Dollar surplus. This is backed up by facts not premises. Social Security is the largest creditor the U.S. has as shown here…
http://www.businessinsider.com/who-owns-us-debt-2…
Under the law, the trust fund is treated like any other bondholder. So Social Security spending the interest from its trust fund does not contribute to the debt any more than any other bondholder, that is true whether it is another gov. agency, a foreign country or a private individual. It’s all the cost of servicing the national debt.
By Law Social Security can't deficit spend it was set up by Congress as a stand alone program that can only spend money from its designated revenue stream
(Chapter 7, Subchapter II, Section 401(h) of the Social Security Act).
http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/42/chapter…
Back in the early 1980s, when Social Security was facing a short-term financing crisis, a commission chaired by Alan Greenspan recommended a variety of adjustments to the program. Those tweaks, along with better economic growth, in the following decades Social Security collected more money in payroll taxes than it paid out in benefits.
http://www.ssa.gov/history/reports/gspan.html
“The trustees’ report found that Social Security's surplus will be $69.3 billion in 2011. Those who say that Social Security is in deficit this year are flat wrong,” said Nancy Altman, Co-Chair of the Strengthen Social Security Campaign. “By law, Social Security cannot deficit-spend and cannot borrow, so it is obvious that Social Security cannot add a penny to the federal deficit.”
http://www.strengthensocialsecurity.org/media/pre…
Shaheen is right: Social Security not part of deficit mess
Nancy Altman is do-director of Social Security Works; she served as Alan Greenspan’s assistant in his position as chairman of the bipartisan commission that developed the 1983 Social Security amendments.)
http://www.concordmonitor.com/home/3411872-95/soc…
As for our population shrinking they told us back in the 1970's that too many children were killing the planet then they allowed untold millions of emmigrants both legal and illegal you can't believe everything the govt. tells you about our population. Obama via executive order just amnesty to millions of people who tend to have large families. That point is really mute anyway since as shown Social Security has a large surplus and the way the program is designed if it starts to run out of money by law since it cannot tax it would simply reduce benefit amounts.
I have no problem with them reducing WELFARE benefits but SS is not a welfare program. and politicians and journalists should stop lying to the public. A Welfare program is a program that is paid for by government funds Social Security is paid for by people and their employers.
Let's get something straight right now – Social Security benefits are NOT welfare! People who have paid in to Social Security most if not all of their working lives did so mostly because they didn't have a choice, but also because they knew at retirement time they were entitled to the benefits they PAID FOR! When I pay for something I don't call that welfare or charity, I call that a return on my investment! Yes, there are other programs poorly run by SS that are taking even more away from those who were, and who are now supporting the programs. LET"S KEEP THE DIFFERENCES CLEAR! Social Security RETIREMENT and DISABILITY are NOT WELFARE! They were and are PAID FOR.