Little-Acorn
06-29-2013, 11:03 PM
When Social Security was first implemented in the 1930s, the government assigned the "retirement age" to be 65. After that, you could start drawing benefits.
By some strange coincidence, the average age of death in the 1930s was..... 65.
Meaning, half the people who would pay in all their lives, would never draw out a dime, except for death benefits.
And the rest wouldn't draw out very much before they, too, kicked off.
Social Security was designed to be "self-supporting"... for that time. With no thought of what might change in the future... like medical science advancing enough to enable people to live a LOT longer.
BTW, all the money you've paid in, has already been spent. In the SS Trust Fund is nothing but IOUs from the government. Remember Obama's statements a year or so ago, that if the Debt Ceiling wasn't raised, Social Security checks couldn't be written to its benefits recipients?
The money has been "borrowed" by other government agencies, and spent. All the money being paid out as benefits to retirees, is coming from the money you and I are paying in now. None of it is being saved for us. This is the defining characteristic of a Ponzi scheme.
Which brings us to the other issue.
Remember the other predictions various govt officials have made, saying that SS will be "solvent" for the next 15 or 20 or 30 or 50 years (depending on which politician you listen to)? They mean that they will be able to pay retirees their scheduled benefits from that money supposedly in the Trust Fund, until then.
But all the Trust Fund money has been "borrowed", and is gone. This means that those agencies that "borrowed" it, have to pay back ALL the money by that deadline (15 or 20 or etc. years from now), so it can be paid out to retirees that need it. And of course, if they are going to be replenishing the Trust Funds this way, they can't borrow any more while they're paying it back.
So, how much money is owed to the SS Trust Fund and other such govt-held trust funds?
Answer: 30.1% of the entire National Debt is owed to these Trust Funds. That's $4.7 trillion. (See reference below.)
That's how much must be paid back into the SS Trust fund and other such funds, to keep them "solvent" for that long.
Has anyone heard of any plans to pay off 30% of the National Debt within the next 15 years? Or 20? Or.....?
Neither have I.
Next time someone tells you how solvent the Social Security Trust fund is, or any other government trust fund, show him the numbers and see what he says then.
Reference: See Current and Back Issues: http://fms.treas.gov/dts/overview.html . Pick a recent date, and and look under "Intergovernmental Holdings".
By some strange coincidence, the average age of death in the 1930s was..... 65.
Meaning, half the people who would pay in all their lives, would never draw out a dime, except for death benefits.
And the rest wouldn't draw out very much before they, too, kicked off.
Social Security was designed to be "self-supporting"... for that time. With no thought of what might change in the future... like medical science advancing enough to enable people to live a LOT longer.
BTW, all the money you've paid in, has already been spent. In the SS Trust Fund is nothing but IOUs from the government. Remember Obama's statements a year or so ago, that if the Debt Ceiling wasn't raised, Social Security checks couldn't be written to its benefits recipients?
The money has been "borrowed" by other government agencies, and spent. All the money being paid out as benefits to retirees, is coming from the money you and I are paying in now. None of it is being saved for us. This is the defining characteristic of a Ponzi scheme.
Which brings us to the other issue.
Remember the other predictions various govt officials have made, saying that SS will be "solvent" for the next 15 or 20 or 30 or 50 years (depending on which politician you listen to)? They mean that they will be able to pay retirees their scheduled benefits from that money supposedly in the Trust Fund, until then.
But all the Trust Fund money has been "borrowed", and is gone. This means that those agencies that "borrowed" it, have to pay back ALL the money by that deadline (15 or 20 or etc. years from now), so it can be paid out to retirees that need it. And of course, if they are going to be replenishing the Trust Funds this way, they can't borrow any more while they're paying it back.
So, how much money is owed to the SS Trust Fund and other such govt-held trust funds?
Answer: 30.1% of the entire National Debt is owed to these Trust Funds. That's $4.7 trillion. (See reference below.)
That's how much must be paid back into the SS Trust fund and other such funds, to keep them "solvent" for that long.
Has anyone heard of any plans to pay off 30% of the National Debt within the next 15 years? Or 20? Or.....?
Neither have I.
Next time someone tells you how solvent the Social Security Trust fund is, or any other government trust fund, show him the numbers and see what he says then.
Reference: See Current and Back Issues: http://fms.treas.gov/dts/overview.html . Pick a recent date, and and look under "Intergovernmental Holdings".