Whose money is Social Security?

[Christians4LessGvt]

Is Social Security our money or the government's money?

Who actually owns the money we get from Social Security?

[Xavier_Onassis]

It is theirs until we are eligible for them to send it out.
As soon as it appears in my bank account, it is mine.

The Courts have ruled that you must provide the needed information to apply for benefits.
It is not a difficult process.

[Christians4LessGvt]

It is theirs until we are eligible for them to send it out.

Ok so they take it out of your paycheck, but it's their money.
I honestly thought it was your money, but they were keeping it for you until retirement.
Thanks XO

[Xavier_Onassis]

It is a Social Security TAX.
Not everyone who pays in will get the same out.
Some will only get a death benefit, because they die before retiring or becoming disabled.

Others could receive benefits for 40 years.

I do not know why you ask this question. The information is not a secret.

It is an insurance annuity, not an investment.

[Plane]

  It is unfortunately involuntary , and poorly run.

    If an insurance annuity were run exactly this way , we would be locking its officers up.

[Xavier_Onassis]

It is NOT poorly run. The peope at my local office and courteous, friendly and helpful. There are no errors on my SS records. It has served the people for over 70 years. It is not a private company and should not be compared with one. Private capitalistic companies would be incapable of  doing what SS does for so many people.

The GOP has hated it since day one. There is nothing they would like better than to destroy it.

[Plane]

  It is run by congress.

   The receipts have been spent by the general fund at the same rate that they have been collected.

    It has been rescued from shortfall in the past by expanding the base of payments, pushing back the age of retirement and decreasing the COLA.

    The base already cannot be expanded more, if the age of retirement and the COLA continue to be reduced the whole thing will gradually cease to be relevant for retirement though it will probably still be an important tax.

[Plane]

Is Social Security our money or the government's money?

Who actually owns the money we get from Social Security?

  You know that there is no lock box , right?

    If you are getting a payment  , it was taken out of someone's wages earlier that day.

[Xavier_Onassis]

Just as my wages paid for someone else for 50 years.

Big deal!

[Christians4LessGvt]

Just as my wages paid for someone else for 50 years. Big deal!

It will be a become big deal when there are more old folks than workers!
The fraud collapses at that point.

[Plane]

Just as my wages paid for someone else for 50 years.

Big deal!

   It is unstoppable trends that we are talking about, when you first began to contribute each retiree had more than twenty workers contributing.

    That situation cannot be recreated.

     The number of recipients is going to rise against the number of contributors as the baby boom continues to age.

      It is just a simple changing ratio, it takes strong powers of denial to see the Social Security system continuing forever.


      To my mind the denial is the real root of the problem, it will prevent all realistic mitigation or repair until collapse  , and the collapse will be all the more catastrophic for the delay.

[Xavier_Onassis]

It is not a fraud, Ir was devised in 1936 and based on a growing population and a much shorter average lifespan. That does not make it a fraud. This is a very, very wealthy country.  It will not be difficult to finance Social Security.

[Plane]

   Why did you use the word fraud when I didn't?

     I used the word "Ratio" which is a real problem even if it is not intentional.

      I can't fault Roosevelt and his cabinet for not devising a system that could outlast the pyramids.  That just cannot be easy.

[kimba1]

Wouldn't cancelling cause a bigger problem. It would mean the government will immediately owe massive amount of money to us.

[Plane]

  Could we just cancel mine?

    That would be a lot of money to me , and I feel confident that I could invest it better.

     I am likely to work another 15 years before retirement , but the potential for never retiring at all is there for me either way.

     I would allow the 40 years of contribution I have already given to be forgot and call it even , what do you say?