Revisiting Social Security Solutions

[dellinger63]

Despite predictions based simply on hope as in I hope we have the tax base to pay future benefactors, the fact is Social Security is unsustainable under its present structure and needs to be tweaked.

With the average life expectancy increasing, and seniors able to work into their late 60’s and 70’s, mainly due to healthcare advancements and the superior care provided in the US, so should the minimum retirement age. Seventy would seem acceptable. Seniors with resources would still retire, only un-supplemented until reaching 70. Seniors with portfolios exceeding say $10 million would be exempted from receiving benefits. The explanation to any complaints they waged would be the vast majority of those exempted under the new plan were also exempted from FICA payroll deductions once they reached the threshold set for any particular year. Monies collected above the threshold, exempt from FICA tax, have contributed to the portfolio, thus a benefit has already be received.

Future FICA payments made would not enter the General Fund and instead be used exclusively for Medicare and SS payments. Any excess money would be put in a fully invested account, paying interest, as opposed to IOU’s, contributing to the National Debt.

A ten-year plan would be devised where the General Fund would pay the outstanding IOU’s held and owed to the SS fund, currently in excess of $2.5 trillion. Completing such a plan would both reduce the National Debt and interest incurred while insuring and creating interest for our seniors. Imagine a Federal Government willing to pay up IOU’s owed to its seniors before sending checks to countries like Egypt and Pakistan. Imagine one that put the obligations owed to its seniors above bailing out banks, Fannie and Freddie and investing in solar, automotive companies or for that matter participate in a war.

Fixing Social Security is easy. It simply has to be funded with real money and not IOU’s. It no longer should act as a major depositor for the General Fund and instead should act as it was intended to and solely in the interest of its contributors/benefactors. Co-mingling its funds with the General Fund is equivalent to a private fund manager investing the fund’s assets in a Gulfstream Rainbow Six ticket. Actually even worse, it would be like handing out free vouchers, beer and hotdogs all on behalf of the fund’s investors with only a promise to pay it back.

Paying down the debt instead of increasing it should rank among this country’s top goals. Funding Social Security and designating all future FICA taxes to it and Medicare be used exclusively for their benefit should be a cinch, will cost the country zero, and will knock in excess of $2.5 trillion off the debt.

The majority of politicians will never, ever give up their desire to spend, earmark and pork. The only way to control them is to control their funds and segregating SS and Medicare from the General Fund is a start.

[Danzig]

Originally Posted by dellinger63

Despite predictions based simply on hope as in I hope we have the tax base to pay future benefactors, the fact is Social Security is unsustainable under its present structure and needs to be tweaked.

With the average life expectancy increasing, and seniors able to work into their late 60’s and 70’s, mainly due to healthcare advancements and the superior care provided in the US, so should the minimum retirement age. Seventy would seem acceptable. Seniors with resources would still retire, only un-supplemented until reaching 70. Seniors with portfolios exceeding say $10 million would be exempted from receiving benefits. The explanation to any complaints they waged would be the vast majority of those exempted under the new plan were also exempted from FICA payroll deductions once they reached the threshold set for any particular year. Monies collected above the threshold, exempt from FICA tax, have contributed to the portfolio, thus a benefit has already be received.

Future FICA payments made would not enter the General Fund and instead be used exclusively for Medicare and SS payments. Any excess money would be put in a fully invested account, paying interest, as opposed to IOU’s, contributing to the National Debt.

A ten-year plan would be devised where the General Fund would pay the outstanding IOU’s held and owed to the SS fund, currently in excess of $2.5 trillion. Completing such a plan would both reduce the National Debt and interest incurred while insuring and creating interest for our seniors. Imagine a Federal Government willing to pay up IOU’s owed to its seniors before sending checks to countries like Egypt and Pakistan. Imagine one that put the obligations owed to its seniors above bailing out banks, Fannie and Freddie and investing in solar, automotive companies or for that matter participate in a war.

Fixing Social Security is easy. It simply has to be funded with real money and not IOU’s. It no longer should act as a major depositor for the General Fund and instead should act as it was intended to and solely in the interest of its contributors/benefactors. Co-mingling its funds with the General Fund is equivalent to a private fund manager investing the fund’s assets in a Gulfstream Rainbow Six ticket. Actually even worse, it would be like handing out free vouchers, beer and hotdogs all on behalf of the fund’s investors with only a promise to pay it back.

Paying down the debt instead of increasing it should rank among this country’s top goals. Funding Social Security and designating all future FICA taxes to it and Medicare be used exclusively for their benefit should be a cinch, will cost the country zero, and will knock in excess of $2.5 trillion off the debt.

The majority of politicians will never, ever give up their desire to spend, earmark and pork. The only way to control them is to control their funds and segregating SS and Medicare from the General Fund is a start.

good luck with that.

[geeker2]

Can't we just raise taxes on all those rich people?