Raise the retirement age and raise the payroll deduction.

/this isn't rocket science
//drtfa
///it was good enough for Reagan ...

The big question is whether the early bird special is a full dinner portion or a smaller lunch portion, cause if it's a lunch portion it makes sense to wait until 4:35 to eat and buy the full portion.

Your social security has been spent as fast as you paid it in. What you get is MY social security which I'll never see a dime of.

bravian: Raise the retirement age and raise the payroll deduction.

/this isn't rocket science
//drtfa
///it was good enough for Reagan ...

Won't fly. That would require the Baby Boomers (PBOT) to make some sort of sacrifice.

My AOL won't come up! I have emails to forward!

bastian_74: Your social security has been spent as fast as you paid it in. What you get is MY social security which I'll never see a dime of.

Shhh, you can't call it a pyramid scheme.

And while we're at it, why does everyone ignore the "Congress stops raiding the till" option?

Wait, they want to fix rock music, google, and VCRs, too?

How to fix Social Security? Simple. Get off my lawn.

Make sure there are enough illegal immigrant workers who pay into the system yet never pull retirement.

I have already paid a lot into SS in my lifetime, as has my wife - to be honest, if they end it now and stop deducting from my check I am fine to cut my loses and handle retirement on my own

Phase 1: Means testing to receive social security payments.
Phase 2: Remove the payroll cap.
Phase 3: Permit people to control the investment of their half of the 12%. Limited to things like whole life and deferred annuities.

With those three things we could actually make retirement more enjoyable. The third thing will be the hard one to get past congress because they treat the thing like a broken piggy bank, but I bet I could get the insurance industry to pony up some lobbyists.

I'll bet old people are in favor of making everyone else pay more for a longer period (and can we get a few more wars going to keep a few million from making it to retirement age?). The retired folks lived through one of the longest economic booms in the history of the world and wound up 65 and broke with their hand out (or even worse, rich and still with their hand out). There's nothing that can't be fixed by asking the young and able bodied to sacrifice twice as much (well, this already changed in the 80s) for promises that they'll receive the same in 30-40 years.

Just so you know, Subby, people who were teenagers when "Rock Around the Clock" came out are now in their 70s.

Mearen: bastian_74: Your social security has been spent as fast as you paid it in. What you get is MY social security which I'll never see a dime of.

Shhh, you can't call it a pyramid scheme.

And while we're at it, why does everyone ignore the "Congress stops raiding the till" option?

It's neither a pyramid nor a Ponzi, it's just a wealth transfer plan. Both comparisons fail because SS doesn't promise any type of non-sustainable return like a Ponzi nor does it require an ever increasing number of entrants like a pyramid. It's just a savings vehicle to transfer money from higher earners to lower earners for retirement. It has a defined structure of who pays in and who gets paid out.

Also, SS doesn't look like a pyramid, or if it did it would be an upside-down pyramid. Its current funding shortfall is a product of the baby boomers retiring and birth rates declining. That means more beneficiaries and fewer workers than there were when, say, the boomers were working and their parents were retiring. So there are actually less people paying for more beneficiaries. This is the opposite of a pyramid.

So while you can hate SS for the way it's managed, the way it's paid out, and the way it takes money from higher earners and transfers it to lower earners, it is neither a Ponzi or a pyramid regardless of what noted economist Rick Perry says.

THEY TOOK ERR JOBS

I am so foocking sick of the media helping convince people that corporations/banks know best when it comes to our money. Basically this is a sly way of just sticking the tip in on a suggestion of privitizing insurance. That is called GAMBLING.

And this is just insulting (from the foocking article):

But with the skyrocketing costs of entitlement programs boosting the nation's debt, the Republican candidates are advocating for changes they say will ensure future retirees can draw benefits.

Taking care of our elderly is NOT what's primarily boosting our debt. And most seniors would probably say they don't want idiot politicians taking chances with their food money.

/Lawn. OFF.

You wanna fix Social Security? Start by requiring Congress to pay back the money it "borrowed" from us during the good years.

I really don't care what Florida retirees think when it comes to Social Security. They already cashed in their benefits in the form of lower taxes (deficit spending financed by SS buying all those bonds) for the last 30 years. They borrowed money from their retirement accounts to pay their current bills, and now expect someone else to honor the IOUs they stuck in there.

The healthcare industry, unions and the government created the problem. They should be responsible for fixing it.

In 1930 the life expectancy in the U.S. was 58 for males and 62 for women. That meant that most would contribute to Social Security but never collect. Brilliant!!!! Today, thanks to medical advances, improved working conditions and living conditions the life expectancy in the U.S. is roughly 75 for males and 80 for women. So not only are people actually collecting now, they're doing so for quite a long time.

As a relatively young person I say f**k the old. That comes out of my paycheck

Law of unintended consequences: What effect do we think raising the retirement age might have on the unemployment rate? (number of people who want a job but can't find one, divided by total number of people who want a job, right?)

Mandapants: Make sure there are enough illegal immigrant workers who pay into the system yet never pull retirement.

Okay I laughed.

Ever driven by home depot? I've always wanted to pay those guys to be my posse for the day

SoCalSurfer: Mandapants: Make sure there are enough illegal immigrant workers who pay into the system yet never pull retirement.

Okay I laughed.

Ever driven by home depot? I've always wanted to pay those guys to be my posse for the day

Mind blown! Finally, I could have my very own entourage like MC Hammer. I'd put them all in purple and mustard yellow suits and we'd get in fights with Kanye West's entourage.



I bet a gang of day laborers could totally take these guys.

Social Security is not a retirement plan. It's a social safety net. We need to stop pretending it's like an IRA. It's not.

farm machine: The healthcare industry, unions and the government created the problem. They should be responsible for fixing it.

In 1930 the life expectancy in the U.S. was 58 for males and 62 for women. That meant that most would contribute to Social Security but never collect. Brilliant!!!! Today, thanks to medical advances, improved working conditions and living conditions the life expectancy in the U.S. is roughly 75 for males and 80 for women. So not only are people actually collecting now, they're doing so for quite a long time.

I say we kill two birds with one stone: draft only the elderly for deployment to Afghanistan. This would put some of our nation's most patriotic and upstooping citizens on the front lines where they could get the benefits of fresh air, exercise and hazard pay. We'll tell 'em it will be a Princess Cruise but with weapons and MRE buffets.

West_Side_Charlie: Just so you know, Subby, people who were teenagers when "Rock Around the Clock" came out are now in their 70s.

And the Woodstock Generation is in their 60s

I tried to get two birds with one stone by duct-taping Social Security to my VCR, but it wasn't into that...

... and how to vote.

/Who'll let Chad down?

Fabric_Man: bravian: Raise the retirement age and raise the payroll deduction.

/this isn't rocket science
//drtfa
///it was good enough for Reagan ...

Won't fly. That would require the Baby Boomers (PBOT) to make some sort of sacrifice.

This boomer has been pissing into that leaky bucket for 45 years.

/my lawn, get off

Jack Black 62: It is easy to fix. End it now and make people responsible for their own retirement.

Either that, or let me opt out- I'll forgo the payments I've already made if you let me opt out, make my own investments, and not take any more of my paycheck, as opposed to slowly moving the goalposts to attempt to sustain the broken system for a few more years.

End the right to vote at age 75

sharkbeagle: End the right to vote at age 75

Then you'll just have one party. Nobody in their right mind would vote for a Republican.

grinding_journalist: Either that, or let me opt out- I'll forgo the payments I've already made if you let me opt out, make my own investments, and not take any more of my paycheck, as opposed to slowly moving the goalposts to attempt to sustain the broken system for a few more years.

Social Security is not a retirement plan.
Social Security is not a retirement plan.
Social Security is not a retirement plan.

People need to stop confusing Social Security with an investment/retirement plan. Because it's not one.

Jon iz teh kewl: sharkbeagle: End the right to vote at age 75

Then you'll just have one party. Nobody in their right mind would vote for a Republican.

No one in their right mind does now.

stiletto_the_wise: grinding_journalist: Either that, or let me opt out- I'll forgo the payments I've already made if you let me opt out, make my own investments, and not take any more of my paycheck, as opposed to slowly moving the goalposts to attempt to sustain the broken system for a few more years.

Social Security is not a retirement plan.
Social Security is not a retirement plan.
Social Security is not a retirement plan.

People need to stop confusing Social Security with an investment/retirement plan. Because it's not one.

I'm not- I'm suggesting that I could do better with the money on my own than the government can, and would come up with my own retirement plan to replace what SS would have tried to cover/supplement- as opposed to opting out and not coming up with anything. Wanting to replace SS with my own retirement plan doesn't mean I think SS is a retirement plan; it means I'd rather allocate the assets on my own.

sharkbeagle: End the right to vote at age 75

And don't begin the voting age until 30. Based upon the fact that the brain isn't even fully formed until the late 20's. Up until CAT and MRI we just thought kids were stupid and oblivious for no reason.

Jack Black 62: It is easy to fix. End it now and make people responsible for their own retirement.

I love how the conservative solution always ignores reality for most people ;)

2wolves: [i1089.photobucket.com image 170x50]

That is what I came for !! twice

Crotchrocket Slim: Jack Black 62: It is easy to fix. End it now and make people responsible for their own retirement.

I love how the conservative solution always ignores reality for most people ;)

And ignores the fact that the "fark em, I've got mine" approach costs us all way more money in the long run.

Jack Black 62: Crotchrocket Slim: Jack Black 62: It is easy to fix. End it now and make people responsible for their own retirement.

I love how the conservative solution always ignores reality for most people ;)

Sorry, that is not a conservative solution. If you want to help others, start or contribute to a retirement charity.

I like solutions that haven't been shown historically to fail every time. You know, solutions that might actually work on a society level.

Mandapants: .

Are we related ? Don't remember seeing you at the Pants family reunion .... did you have a hat on ?

Theft in your statement implies that the wealthy don't have a say in the political process, when in reality they actually steer it.

I see you like ignoring reality and basing your political ideas on how you want the world to work instead of how it does.

Jack Black 62: Crotchrocket Slim: Jack Black 62: Crotchrocket Slim: Jack Black 62: It is easy to fix. End it now and make people responsible for their own retirement.

I love how the conservative solution always ignores reality for most people ;)

Sorry, that is not a conservative solution. If you want to help others, start or contribute to a retirement charity.

I like solutions that haven't been shown historically to fail every time. You know, solutions that might actually work on a society level.

Sorry. I like solutions where you don't steal wealth from others. I can see that you support theft.

Psst. While screaming "thieves" in a room of Paultards might get you applause, most people do not consider taxation to be theft and insinuating that it is will always be a nonstarter. Try to show people the benefits of your plan for them. Pointing out the drawbacks of the current plan does not actually persuade others to choose your plan.

But that's neither here nor there. SS will continue because the overwhelming majority of Americans are not comfortable managing their own retirement. They will continue to support someone else doing it for them. This is a nonstarter.