IDBillzFan Posted August 18, 2009 Share Posted August 18, 2009 Pet peeve: "intact" is ONE WORD. Not two. Gotit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PastaJoe Posted August 18, 2009 Share Posted August 18, 2009 You know why because it is this type of government dependency liberals rely on to keep their voting base in tact. Once an entitlement THAT large takes hold, as Medicare has since it was enacted in 1965, it's virtually impossible to stop it. Millions of people relied on it to cover them in old age, and now Medicare faces a complete cluster!@#$ when all the baby boomers hit the ranks. And that is why so many conservatives are fighting the attempts at health care reform; because once that entitlement takes hold, it becomes another toy to increase individual dependence on the government. Actually, I would go after Social Security before I'd go after Medicare because the deficit is so embarrassingly large. In fact, I started giving consideration this past week to a rather bizarre concept of offering Americans the chance to opt-out of Social Security. In other words, give every American the chance to "call it even" with the government in exchange for not having to contribute any more of their paycheck to SS. Given my age, there's a fatass chance that I'll ever see SS when I reach 65, so I think I would gladly "call it even" with the government, then take the amount pulled out for SS every paycheck and add it to my retirement account. Not sure how many people would do it, but I'm willing to help fix SS by giving them (writing off) what I've put in and getting off the future dole. How about you? A true conservative would try to end Medicare regardless of the political implications. And I would be against opting out of SS and letting it die out. It was set up as a safety net for the poor and elderly. I'm not depending on SS as my primary source of retirement money, but I think it needs to be there for those who need it, and support continuing to fund it. Just as I believe that younger healthy people should have to buy some form of health insurance, just like they have to buy car insurance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DC Tom Posted August 18, 2009 Share Posted August 18, 2009 And I would be against opting out of SS and letting it die out. It was set up as a safety net for the poor and elderly. I'm not depending on SS as my primary source of retirement money, but I think it needs to be there for those who need it, and support continuing to fund it. Translation: "I support government-mandated charity." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IDBillzFan Posted August 18, 2009 Share Posted August 18, 2009 A true conservative would try to end Medicare regardless of the political implications. And I would be against opting out of SS and letting it die out. It was set up as a safety net for the poor and elderly. I'm not depending on SS as my primary source of retirement money, but I think it needs to be there for those who need it, and support continuing to fund it. Just as I believe that younger healthy people should have to buy some form of health insurance, just like they have to buy car insurance. But a true conservative would not simply leave 50 million people currently on the dole hanging for the sake of calling themselves a conservative. You find a way to phase it out, but to simply end it for the sake of ending it is impossible, which is in large part why the Democrats put it in place in the first place. It's the ultimate definition of "poisoning the well" for conservatives. As to SS, just think about it. YOU could keep dumping your money into it, and get your pittance at the end, assuming any money is left. But by letting someone like me opt out, it's one less person you'd have to pay out in 20 years. So you're losing my 12.4% now, but all that does is reduce the rolls and force the government to control spending of money it doesn't have. BUT the government gets to keep everything I've already put into it. I have no idea how it would play out, but how many millions of people would opt out? People in their 20s, 30s, 40s would almost definitely opt out. Think of all the people you'd take off the future rolls. Then the government could just keep paying out people until everyone eligble was paid out, but in time the number of people eligible would end because every new person entering the workforce would obviously opt out. At some point, SS as an entitlement and major deficit would come to an end, and individual Americans could once again be responsible for their own fate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IDBillzFan Posted August 18, 2009 Share Posted August 18, 2009 I would gladly opt out of SS. Losing 12.4% of a good chucnk of my income to SS sucks. I would rather defer an additional 12% to my SEP or 401k. At least I have control over it. Even if it mean eating the amount you've put in to date? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
X. Benedict Posted August 18, 2009 Share Posted August 18, 2009 At some point, SS as an entitlement and major deficit would come to an end, and individual Americans could once again be responsible for their own fate. I am unsure of how it all works out...but I think the retreat of the dollar was engineered for this very reason. Retirees in the future might be getting a similar amount, but it won't keep up with a normal COLAs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chef Jim Posted August 18, 2009 Share Posted August 18, 2009 Even if it mean eating the amount you've put in to date? Yes a quick calculation. If I put in 12.4% of my schedule C income for the next 17 years into a qualified plan it would grow to about $465,000 which would generate $2300 per month in income. That would be more than I'd get from what I've put into the system the previous 30 year plus I'd have control over that money. Dude, I'd do it in a heartbeat. That is why I was for privatization of SS when Bush proposed it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bills_fan Posted August 19, 2009 Share Posted August 19, 2009 At some point, SS as an entitlement and major deficit would come to an end, and individual Americans could once again be responsible for their own fate You could call it that...or the largest Ponzi scheme ever perpetrated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buckeyemike Posted August 19, 2009 Share Posted August 19, 2009 I would gladly opt out of SS. Losing 12.4% of a good chucnk of my income to SS sucks. I would rather defer an additional 12% to my SEP or 401k. At least I have control over it. Agree wholeheartedly. I'm only 40, and cannot collect anything out of SS until my 67th birthday in 2036. If I had put that money into my SEP account, my guess is it would be quite a bit higher right now. I've been self-employed since 1998. I'm responsible for my retirement and well-being in old age. No one else. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KD in CA Posted August 19, 2009 Share Posted August 19, 2009 Translation: "I support government-mandated charity." Which is even worse when the government itself is running the charity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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