Well the entire market has not gone up for 12 years and we might have a few more years like that. As a soon to be 59, I'm sure glad that my social security check will be $2,000 plus per month. Hopefully all the imagined high rollers have been disabused of the idea that they will always do great in the market and that their jobs are always safe. Imagine if you have the bad luck to suffer some unemployment and you had to go from say 52 to 65 with no market gains. I know you believe this won't happen to you and your nest eggs will be massive by the age of 52, so who cares if they don't go up. I also know that you have been fed fundie economic ideas that the social security system will go bankrupt and don't take into account political economics and that the ss system will be bailed out unless we have a total economic collapse which would take down all your paper and real estate assets any way.
I thought the stock market had gone up the past 12 years? Just took a huge dump the last year. Or you could say a huge market correction. I guess I've bought into to what people have been feeding me. I don't expect to see a dime of the social security money I've been paying. I'm 35 right now and hope to be able to have some rental properties and my 401k that I know will go up and down along with savings for retirement.
Glynch is right. Most indices are where they were in the 90's. Considering most people contributed to the funds while they were higher than they were today/12 years ago, people are under water in terms of retirement savings if they had it in stocks.
I know the stock market is at or below what it was 12 years ago, I was meaning just a year or 2 ago, it was at it's highest points ever.
Yeah a lot of folks are having real life examples that debunk a lot of the privatization arguments that have been spewed by the financial services industry and recycled by conservative and libertarian "think" tanks.
My 401(k) is fine, heavily weight toward treasuries. You dont HAVE to invest in the dow, you can park it in cash, or you can even short the market. Thank God for social security, which will have deficits in the trillions of dollars.
But we already have a private retirement system - it's called an IRA or a 401k. The point of SS is as a safety net - insurance of a basic minimum source of income, not to maximize your wealth. A market is made by people taking different sides of a trade. So what happens to all the people that do lose out? They are back to square one of having no safety net, which removes the purpose of SS entirely.
The problem is if the market tanks or you get screwed because the financial institution that manages your retirement funds steals your money right before you retire, do you expect the government to let you starve?
So far, SS is one of the few welfare programs that has actually produced a profit off interest. Obviously, the forecast is grim, but it's more that pulled its own weight for 70 years.
Before we try and talk about the FAILURE of Social Security can we put the money we borrowed from it . . BACK IN THERE??? how the hell we gonna say . .well it don't work . but not acknowledge the constant dipping into the til that the government has done over the years????? Rocket River
70 years? Its been given 60 years to build up. Its just been the last few years that the first contributors who have been giving their entire careers are just now getting their SS. Given that its just now coming full cycle, its a pretty crappy system if its already in trouble.
Should we support the people who have consistently ignored their future, who instead choose to be the grasshopper who plays all day long, but once winter sets in, he's screwed? The trend is to continuously improve our quality of life with every dollar we can spare. We get new cars every 3 years. Every 10 years, we choose to buy a new house. We must always have the latest gadgets. Its not just a handful of Americans who live this lifestyle ... its a large majority. Once they hit 60, they do not have a significant amount of savings, they don't have their houses and cars paid off, and often are in deep debt. We act like our IRAs, 401ks, and SS will allow us to continue this lifestyle for years to come after retirement, but the simple truth is that its not true. It will only continue to get worse if Americans do not change their lifestyles.
Social Security and Texas state government retirement. When all else fails, that'll keep rolling in. Beans, rice, and a big bottle of vitamins!
It is in trouble because the .gov has no money to back it up. They took all the cash and bought bonds, so on paper it is fine for 35 years, but in reality it will be on a budget somewhere somehow as a debt being claimed within 10 years.
My employer doesn't offer a retirement plan, so I am limited in what I can put in. I'm saying I could do better with the 12.4%. Right now I'm limited to the 3% or so that I can afford to put in this year. I would prefer the choice. You are guaranteed 5% interest in FDIC accounts. You let me save 15% or so of my income and put it into an account, I will be fine with that alone. Because people make risky choices, trust the wrong people, and get screwed does explain why going private, or even giving the choice is a risky proposition, but given the choice I'd rather invest my money.
I wouldn't put real estate in the same boat as paper assets. For example, an apartment owner isn't really affected by price fluctuations as long as the rents are coming in.
