Originally posted by funkedup
1. SS is a ponzi scheme. If you don't know what it means, look it up. It is not indefinitely sustainable and will collapse eventually.
2. I defy anyone to find a 10 year period since the inception of SS where the SS return on investment outperformed the Dow. Money invested in SS is money thrown down the drain. If the same money had been put into the stock exchange, the country would be much richer in the long term.
3. If SS were eliminated it could be replaced with need based government aid. No need for retirees to starve like some alarmists say.
4. Clinton did not "rebuild" the economy. Presidents do not have a major effect on the economy. Fiscal and monetary policies do affect the economy, but they are not directly controlled by the President, and they are only secondary effects. The ups and downs of our economic indices are primarily a result of complex system dynamics of the economic behavior of our populace. Humans evolved trade as a method to facilitate mutually beneficial economic transactions. The best thing the government can do is get the hell out of the way and let us do our thing.
So what you are saying is that savings bonds are useless?Pyramid scheme too I guess.
Like I said, i'll keep putting into S.S., you can keep your money. But don't ask for S.S. when you get there.
Need based government aid..aka..welfare. So instead of them paying into their own retirement, you want them to collect tax paid welfare.
Ok, the Dow. Let's say you put 100,000 in the stock market. Over 5 years it grows 10%. Then over the next 5 years it loses 10%. How much money do you have? Oh yeah, everyone gets rich in the stock market. Over the past 5 years, for every one person who made money, can you tell me how many lost money? I have nothing against the stock market, but i'm not going to trust my retirement to it. I'de rather buy bonds. With all the scandel and the insider info, I don't have faith in it anymore, sorry. Inside info deals like Bush and martha stewart(to name a few) Scandels, like enron. It never ends. My 401k has taken such a beatin the market is going to have to really perform over the next 20 years for me to make a modest gain.
BTW, if S.S. were used just for retirement(like it should), it would never run out of money. Problem is that everyone who throws out their back or has any kind of disability collects from it. I think that money should come from elswhere. IMO.
