If stupid liberals had only listened to Bush back during his presidency and allowed Social Security funds to be invested directly into the stock market, perhaps these citizens wouldn't be facing such a dire situation right now.

bales: its funny how nobody has mentioned that since the bottom fell out. man, would we really be farked if that went through.

I'm sure all the people who fervently supported the idea have just been really, really busy and haven't had time to comment.

bales:
its funny how nobody has mentioned that since the bottom fell out. man, would we really be farked if that went through.

MugzyBrown: Pocket Ninja: If stupid liberals had only listened to Bush back during his presidency and allowed Social Security funds to be invested directly into the stock market, perhaps these citizens wouldn't be facing such a dire situation right now.


Actually if it began around it was being proposed by Bush in early '05, the investments would be about flat right now.

If it was implimented in the mid-late 90's when it was originally gaining steam the social security fund would be up over 50%

Coming here to say basically this. The key to investing is a stiff upper lip. Keep those contributions going during the down times and you won't miss out on those handful of rallies that make all the difference.

NikolaiFarkoff: Keep those contributions going during the down times and you won't miss out on those handful of rallies that make all the difference.

Forgot to add that most investors act like deer in headlights when things get rough. Usually they start selling. At best, they stop contributing. This is basically financial suicide.

Our state tuition fund (and several pension funds) are going through this right now, since a lot of their investors' timeframes were not in line with a full market cycle. All they saw was "down 50% from last year? I'm out!"

I hate threads like this.

We get it, libs, some people aren't responsible enough to save money. But many of us believe that shouldn't be our problem. When my grandfather moved to the US he pulled himself up "by his bootstraps" (I know, hurrrr) and started a coal mining business. Thanks to him my family has fantastic retirement savings. Should my hard work be penalized so some woman in a ghetto can retire with her 30 children at the age of 40? Is that justice? troll

I Said: When my grandfather moved to the US he pulled himself up "by his bootstraps" (I know, hurrrr) and started a coal mining business. Thanks to him my family has fantastic retirement savings.

Under ObamaCare, small coal mining business owners would be taxed out of existence. Had MAObaMARX been president when your grandfather moved to the US, you might not even be alive right now. Think about that.

I Said 2010-03-09 09:37:58 AM
I hate threads like this.

We get it, libs, some people aren't responsible enough to save money. But many of us believe that shouldn't be our problem. When my grandfather moved to the US he pulled himself up "by his bootstraps" (I know, hurrrr) and started a coal mining business. Thanks to him my family has fantastic retirement savings. Should my hard work be penalized so some woman in a ghetto can retire with her 30 children at the age of 40? Is that justice? troll


You're supposed to give it up and live no better than anyone else. It's the liberal way

I Said: I hate threads like this.

When my grandfather moved to the US he pulled himself up "by his bootstraps" (I know, hurrrr) and started a coal mining business. Thanks to him my family has fantastic retirement savings. Should my hard work be penalized

I can't decide. Were you trying to be ironic?

Saving is for pussies.

Nabb1: Saving is for pussies.

You forgot an 'h'.

I_Am_Weasel: Nabb1: Saving is for pussies.

You forgot an 'h'.

Phussies

I just don't want to feel like a sucker if I saved all my life and then suddenly dropped dead before even retiring.

Mordant: I just don't want to feel like a sucker if I saved all my life and then suddenly dropped dead before even retiring.

HOY HOY well if NoBama gets his way you'll drop dead from a socialized doctor with no money bc he'll tax it to oblivion.

skitzo: zymosan: But we should probably do away with social security because obviously people are responsible enough to manage their own retirement.

I'd gladly give up the 10 years I've paid in if I could get the money they steal out of my paycheck today and invest it myself. I have no faith that it will be there when I need it and I can do much better on my own. If I starve or am homeless when I'm older I have nobody to blame but myself.

You sound rugged

bales: i'll be working until the day i die, and honestly i think i prefer that over living on a fixed income.

I've always figured on doing that anyway, I've seen too many people retire into misery or death.

skitzo: If I starve or am homeless when I'm older I have nobody to blame but myself.

Sounds ok, but you have to promise to blame yourself quietly so everyone else doesn't have to listen to it. Also, if you could have a hole (sprinkled with lime to cut the smell) ready and roll into it at the last moment it'd be helpful.

Mordant: I'm sure all the people who fervently supported the idea have just been really, really busy and haven't had time to comment.

I still support the idea. Mainly because I understand that it wouldn't be implemented by hiring the person that yanks rugs out from underneath cartoon characters causing them to flip around and fall in an amusing fashion, but would be phased in, allowing people to have multiple decades to smooth out peaks and valleys.

I Said: Mordant: I just don't want to feel like a sucker if I saved all my life and then suddenly dropped dead before even retiring.

HOY HOY well if NoBama gets his way you'll drop dead from a socialized doctor with no money bc he'll tax it to oblivion.

Don't forget that he'll sell your family members to China for a box of Karl Marx bobbleheads.

bales: honestly i think i prefer that over living on a fixed income.

I always wondered about the term "fixed income". I work for a living and my income is pretty much fixed. Anybody who gets paid a salary is on a fixed income.

EvilEgg: I always wondered about the term "fixed income". I work for a living and my income is pretty much fixed. Anybody who gets paid a salary is on a fixed income.

I think it was a phrase invented by senior citizens to justify the fact that nearly all of them are total f*cking cheapskates who steal Equal packets from restaurants and don't tip for sh*t.

EvilEgg: I always wondered about the term "fixed income"

It means an investment class that has a fixed payout. Like a bond or something. It doesn't refer to their income, it refers to the results of investment.

sigdiamond2000: EvilEgg: I always wondered about the term "fixed income". I work for a living and my income is pretty much fixed. Anybody who gets paid a salary is on a fixed income.

I think it was a phrase invented by senior citizens to justify the fact that nearly all of them are total f*cking cheapskates who steal Equal packets from restaurants and don't tip for sh*t.

Oh good, that means I can keep using it.

I Said: I hate threads like this.

We get it, libs, some people aren't responsible enough to save money. But many of us believe that shouldn't be our problem. When my grandfather moved to the US he pulled himself up "by his bootstraps" (I know, hurrrr) and started a coal mining business. Thanks to him my family has fantastic retirement savings. Should my hard work be penalized so some woman in a ghetto can retire with her 30 children at the age of 40? Is that justice? troll

I really didn't get the whole idea of the "liberal media" for a long time, until I realized conservatives see articles like this and then assume they are liberal because they point out a social problem. The news is supposed to tell us things like this, just putting your head in the sand because they don't support your agenda doesn't make it right.

Also, that is a bullshiat false dichotomy. You are acting like the only solution to this problem is to tax you at an 80% clip vs your solution, having a few people be really rich and the rest of the people starving in the streets when they hit 65. Having these people cared for means the country does better in the long run, which is good. When we don't tax people at a fair rate and let these situations happen, then the country ends up like it is now. Conservatives love to jump to shortcuts like Pocket Ninja's "investing directly into the stock market example,"* but that is not a real solution.

*Al Gore's lockbox idea was genius and he was largely derided for it. Yeah I went there

Don't really see how I can retire with less than $2M....

ne2d: It's kind of hard to save for retirement with all that money being taken out of my paycheck every week to pay for some old rich asshole's Viagra.

Uh, I don't think that's the body part Viagra works on. Sure, it may get there in the end...

SnakeLee:

Also, that is a bullshiat false dichotomy. You are acting like the only solution to this problem is to tax you at an 80% clip vs your solution, having a few people be really rich and the rest of the people starving in the streets when they hit 65. Having these people cared for means the country does better in the long run, which is good. When we don't tax people at a fair rate and let these situations happen, then the country ends up like it is now. Conservatives love to jump to shortcuts like Pocket Ninja's "investing directly into the stock market example,"* but that is not a real solution.

*Al Gore's lockbox idea was genius and he was largely derided for it. Yeah I went there

You're being silly, you know. You can't vilify liberals properly without hyperbole. Liberals want everyone taxed at 100% so the money can go directly to everyone else, so long as the everyone else doesn't do anything.

patrick767: So you're saying we should just let old people who didn't save wisely die in the streets, huh? I'm sure that would have no consequences whatsoever for our society. Compassionate conservatism!

First of all: the hook was invisible.

Second: This is the argument I use on my bootstrappy family: Sure, take away social services. And then we can walk over the bodies of dead and sick homeless people on our way to work.

People fail to realize, in their bitter selfish fits of being crybabies about taxes they don't understand, that providing a safety net is good for EVERYONE.

LordZorch: Don't really see how I can retire with less than $2M....

What are we supposed to do with this information?

Talon: if you truly believed in the bootstrappy theory, you'd support a 100% inheritance tax.

wtf? I believe in the bootstrappy theory, so the government should take 100% of my money and make the decisions on who gets what for me? That makes absolutely no sense whatsoever.

EatHam: Talon: if you truly believed in the bootstrappy theory, you'd support a 100% inheritance tax.

wtf? I believe in the bootstrappy theory, so the government should take 100% of my money and make the decisions on who gets what for me? That makes absolutely no sense whatsoever.

It's logically consistent. If you believe that "all men are created equal/anyone can get ahead/etc" then you really also need to believe in a level playing field for everyone.

People like myself say "bullsh*t. There is no level playing field and life is remarkably more difficult for the poor. So, since life is unfair, I prefer some of that unfairness to swing in favor of the people it usually tramples"

Those who have more will no doubt be asked to share their pie

I don't see where in TFA it says anything about this. Basically, the gist of it is that a lot of people aren't saving money and may have to work longer than expected as a result. Am I missing something here?

I Said: patrick767: So you're saying we should just let old people who didn't save wisely die in the streets, huh? I'm sure that would have no consequences whatsoever for our society. Compassionate conservatism!

First of all: the hook was invisible.

Second: This is the argument I use on my bootstrappy family: Sure, take away social services. And then we can walk over the bodies of dead and sick homeless people on our way to work.

People fail to realize, in their bitter selfish fits of being crybabies about taxes they don't understand, that providing a safety net is good for EVERYONE.

damn I was trolled! Nice one dude I usually don't bite on ones that aren't real

Pocket Ninja: If stupid liberals had only listened to Bush back during his presidency and allowed Social Security funds to be invested directly into the stock market anything other than worthless government IOUs, perhaps these citizens wouldn't be facing such a dire situation right now.

FTFY. Diversify, diversify, diversify. Domestic stocks, international stocks, corporate bonds, treasuries/municipal bonds (esp. the tax-free ones), money market funds, gold/precious metals, real estate, CD's for immediate cash on hand, whole life insurance if you have the money to spare, etc. etc. Never put all your eggs in one basket. (Stocks were down -0.2% this decade. Bonds were up 5.6-8%. Lesson, again: Diversify!) And the older you are, the safer your investments should be. (And no, Social Security is not a "safe" investment; Congress could slash everyone's benefits tomorrow and nobody would have any way to get them back. In fact, expect this to happen when the SS trust fund goes tits up on or about the year 2036.)