Social Security

[IHL]

Do you think you should be allowed to invest a portion of your social security account into private investments.

[DoubleU]

I think this will be an excellent idea. I get to do what I want, with my money, and my money gets returned to me. I think it is also important that they will have the option set up for people who may not be investment savay and it will be invested for them. This was something the left wanted, for people that are too stupid to think for themselves, they need the government to think for them.

[Patriot2005]

We should have freedom of choice. Especially if it's our money.

[tamuct]

Social Security is nothing but a government sponsored Ponzi scheme. Think about it: You pour a significant chunk of your paycheck into a program where your are guaranteed NOTHING! You can only expect to draw out as much money as the politicians let you when the politicians decide that enough of your peers have died to make the system viable. Your aires are guaranteed none of the money you have "invested." If any private company were to start up a retirement plan like Social Security they would be drug into court and prosecuted for fraud.

The Chilean government decided years ago to mirror Social Security in their own government sponsored retirement plan. Within 10 years they realized that the plan would never work, and they scrapped in in favor of private investment accounts. Galveston County, TX decided to setup their own private investment accounts instead of participating in Social Security back in the 80's and were shut down by the Imperial Federal Government.

Why can't we reform this system so that the younger generations can actually see some real benefits of a well-planned retirement system? The reason: If private individuals have control over their own retirement, the politicians can't use Social Security to pander to old folks. Every election cycle the liberals and democrats run around to every nursing home and retirement center hollering that if the Republicans are voted in that "they're going to take away your Social Security." I say: Good! Get rid of it! Let me invest my own money for retirement, and when I die, my children can have that money!

[DoubleU]

Democrats show their support for a stock market investment plan, and the media (http://edition.cnn.com/US/9812/09/social.security/index.html) likes it also!

[Argonath]

I'm all for partial investment, but there should be reserve funding, just in case the company rolls over and starts to smell like moldy cheese.

[Bumblebee]

Can anyone explain to me why members of congress have private accounts, which they have made available to themselves, but are not availabe to us?
Is it because they are a privileged class or do they consider us not qualified to managed our own money?

[Argonath]

It's probably both. some think that the general public isn too stupid to manage it themselfs, and some are just idiots and think they are gods among men.

[FKLBRLS]

It is a good idea because when your money goes to a government account, the government take money from it. Then when you try to withdraw money, it is either hard to withdraw OR you get it and then the system goes into debt. Moreover, when someone is working and having a percentage of their paycheck going to SS, if they die before retirement, then that money is gone, the person's family can't get it. But if part of SS goes into private accounts, then if someone dies before retirement, that person's family can get the money that was saved up. Sort of like a second, backup, bonus life insurance that is mandatory. Liberals don't like the plan because (a. they can't use SS money for other things like they do now, and (b. they might find out that people are actually smart enough to handle their own money. Oh wait that can't be true, the liberals are open-minded and want a government that puts ordinary people in control and the evil conservatives want to control everything and make everything illegal. (That sentence was sarcasm in case you didn't notice)

[Argonath]

Oh, ok.

Um. . . I need some filler. uh. . . . . yeah.