Interesting take on SS

[oldtrig]

One option is to continue raising the retirement age, perhaps to as high as 69 or 70. While the full retirement age is gradually increasing to 67 (for people born in 1960 or later) from 65, this increase is not enough to counterbalance the gains in longevity.
I do not think they have looked at what happens to a person after age 65. I am sure there are a few lucky people who will live to 100 without problems but I am not one of those people. Not sure what I would do if they took my SS away from me. I have cash saved and probably could make it until a very old age but I sure would hate to take that chance. oldtrig

[haha]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ejman Actually, freeriders are the price we pay to live in a semi-civilized society. Personally, I would rather pay a certain (reasonable) amount via taxes to provide bread and circuses to the freeriders than have to live with my shotgun at my side to keep the vermin at bay. (Wait, I am living with my shotgun at my side...never mind)

Well, as best I can tell, I didn't comment on the best way to go about this. Just told the story.

Overall, I would like to see more controls, but SS recipients at least have 40 quarters of work which puts them ahead of some Americans..

Ha

[Independent]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Animorph The SS Trust Fund currently holds $2.7 trillion, representing the amount we have saved for our retirement benefits, beyond what was required to fund past benefits. Not paygo, but also dependent on how Congress decides to set contributions and benefits. If Congress decides it never wants to pay the $2.7 trillion, it could increase payments or decrease benefits so that the net result is paygo or even continues to provide revenue to spend elsewhere.

This is all true. I tried to sum it up with the words "in the long run" and "system".

By "system" I meant a program that is fully funded by a dedicated tax. The SS system currently has more accumulated taxes than benefits, but everybody's projection says that situation eventually ends.

[Independent]

Quote:

Originally Posted by bo_knows Great link. While I'm still at least 3 decades away from collecting SS, I still don't quite grasp why there is an cap on the income that SS tax is taken from. Removing that cap seems like it would solve all the problems.

As others have mentioned, the "why" is mostly about voters' perceptions of "fair".

The SS actuaries don't provide an opinion on that, but they do provide numbers regarding how many additional dollars would come from eliminating the cap.

You an see their results in options E2.1, E2.2, etc here: Long Range Solvency Provisions
I'd suggest clicking on the "Detailed single year tables".

My interpretation of their numbers is that eliminating the cap makes a substantial dent in the shortfall, but doesn't completely close it.

[Independent]

Bringing back an old thread. The OP was about a NYT op-ed that questioned the SS actuaries mortality projections.

The actuaries' reply:

http://www.ssa.gov/oact/NOTES/pdf_notes/note150.pdf

[Badger]

Not too long ago the concern was that baby boomers were all going to retire and suck the life out of SS. Then later it was determined that most people don't have enough saved to live on SS during retirement and will have to continue to work longer thereby contributing to the system.

I don't think anyone really knows enough to predict with any certainty what will happen with SS and if they do they are'nt telling the whole story.

All I know is I probably don't have more than 20 years (maybe 25 if I'm lucky) and I have saved enough to see me through. I've done all I can and based on my income and type of work I chose I contributed more (proportionately) than most to society in both time and money. If SS doesn't last for my children I hope they have enough sense to save for their old age too. If lucky they will also have an inheritance to add to that. Not much more I can do.

Cheers!

[ejman]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Independent Bringing back an old thread. The OP was about a NYT op-ed that questioned the SS actuaries mortality projections. The actuaries' reply: http://www.ssa.gov/oact/NOTES/pdf_notes/note150.pdf

Thank you for that update. Not being a statistician I'm not certain but it sure sounds like the SS actuaries are on top of things!

[Katsmeow]

Krugman's blog post about the SS response (with a link to one of my favorite movie scenes ever):

You Know Nothing Of Our Work - NYTimes.com