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31 sats \ 49 replies \ @Cje95 7 May \ parent \ on: US Treasury issues 125 billion dollars worth of new bonds this week econ
It was sustainable as long as the population kept increasing... ironically illegal immigration is really great at helping social security stay afloat since those individuals can never draw down from it
Just like how pyramid schemes are sustainable.
What I mean is analogous to how defined contribution retirement plans are sustainable, but defined benefit plans are not. There was never a social security trust fund that mechanically contained all of the money or assets that would eventually get paid out. It was always organized like an unfunded liability, even if there was occasionally money somewhere that someone claimed was for social security payments.
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I just dont understand why they would sell the concept and then ruin it for the people in need.
I just leaves a bad taste in your mouth.
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They didn't ruin anything. They still make all the payments.
All that's happened is that the accounting (which was always fake) looks different now.
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Right now they are able to.
Isnt it in a few years, next 10 years, when stuff will get difficult and they will only give 60% benefits or something?
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Kinda... what they are going to do is raise the age to start off with because that is they easiest. Humans live longer and with social security, the idea was people only lied 3-5 years on it and died... not 20+
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Do you think raising the age is easier than means testing? I would have assumed the opposite.
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Sometimes you'll hear people propose things like "no social security for people with more than $X in assets."
That seems like the most politically viable strategy to me. You're the one rubbing elbows with congressmen though, so maybe that's not really being considered.
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You had me engaged until that... as someone who has survived 3 neurosurgeries but is now immunocompromised during the height when the shot first came out it was worth it and saved millions of lives. Unless you don't think someone like myself deserves to live.
Which if you do then yikes I will pray for you because that's an awful way of not only thinking but living your life.
what?
They were only supposed to live 3 to 5 years on it?
I thought it was a pension plan for the old.
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Eligibility was initially set at the same age as average life expectancy, so on average people weren't eligible for long before they died.
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So there should be a huge amount that is unclaimed?
I hope my parents are able to draw from it forever lol
I know that is the wrong way of thinking, but I told them to invest their social security money because they have a simple lifestyle.
There's nothing in the law that currently allows that. As it stands, they will keep paying out the full benefits by running huge deficits.
There are some emerging political frictions along generational lines that make me wonder how long it will be before the Boomers get their entitlements cut, though.