How to Fix Social Security

According to US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, the US Social Security trust fund will be used up by 2041 (thank you modern medicine!), though many think it may be sooner than that. This means that for many of us there will be no money available when we retire. Ultimately this leaves us with three choices

1. Raise Social Security Taxes
-Currently employees pay 6.2% tax, this is matched by another 6.2% from employers


2. Cut Benefits

3. Privatize Social Security
-The idea here isn't necessarily to privatize the entire account, just a portion of it (primarily in mutual funds). So, for example, you might pay a 3.2% tax and the other 3% would go into a private account

So what's your solution?

I voted other. Social Security is a pyramid sceme and those are against the law. The program should be phased out over time in a way that minimizes the detrimental impact on the the most vulnerable, because it's going to go bankrupt anyway. This is what SHOULD happen.

What WILL happen is they will end up raising the payroll tax. Sympathetic media will then congratulate these "couragous" politicians who have "saved" social security and the vast majority of people will never realize their getting stuck with the bill.

This is interesting reading:

Social Security Trust Fund - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_Security_Trust_Fund)

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Assisted-suicide advocate Kevorkian to run for U.S. Congress (http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2008/03/24/kevorkian-congress.html)

I voted other because as 70 said it is a pyramid scheme. I think it ought to be revitalized to only allow citizens to withdraw what was put in with the appropriate interest applied. Once you are out then you are out. Then we need to figure out ways to make lif cheaper for older citizens. But the current model for social security will never work no matter how we tweak the taxes or benefits. It needs to be remodeled as a savings plan and not a pyramid scheme to ever really work.

i say leave it alone. the money that is earmarked for social security benefits is used for strictly that. the main issue, in my opinion, is that every time the gov't gets into a bind for one of their programs, they dip into the S.S. fund

i say leave it alone. the money that is earmarked for social security benefits is used for strictly that. the main issue, in my opinion, is that every time the gov't gets into a bind for one of their programs, they dip into the S.S. fund

That is definitely a big issue but long term that doesn't matter because the system is simply economically unsustainable since it is really nothing more than a fancy pyramid scheme.

I say privatize it so that the majority of your money goes into something that can build compound intrest, for one.

Secondly, if the govt decides to dip into it, there is a smaller portion that they would be able to touch.

Overall it is a win, win, win.

Economy, beneficiary, govt.

I just got a letter from Social Security today that said if I earn no more money for the rest of my life, I will be entitled to $560/month when I retire. If I continue to earn money until I'm 62 at this rate, I'll earn $680/month.

What? I'm 37. Twenty-five more years of rock-breaking is supposed to get me an extra $120? Screw you.

If the Federal Government offered people my age and younger the opportunity to opt out of the Social Security plan for 10% of what we've put into it, there would be a stampede of people begging for checks. Since that isn't going to happen, there needs to be means-testing for benefits. Not entirely fair, but it's like Social Security is a lottery, and it only pays out when you lose.

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