That's one way of looking at it. Unfortunately, the 2.5 trillion is gone. Borrowed by the federal government. Undoubtedly SS would have worked much longer had the coffers not been raided but now it will drag on the country. It basically turned into a giant piggy bank that Washington had to get its hands on. So now what. It whether the money is being paid back by the government or the shortfall in revenues is covered by the government is semantics. There's a 2.5 trillion dollar paper surplus but the only way to get that money is to take it from taxes that were not meant for SS. You can't look at SS as it's own program to determine its solvency. At this point, it's a government program that loses money and that's what's important.
Not exactly. The trust funds run surpluses in that the amount paid in by current workers is more than the amount paid out to current beneficiaries. These surpluses are given to the U.S. Treasury (and thus become part of the general federal budget) in exchange for special U.S. government securities, which are deposited into the trust funds. If the trust funds begin running deficits, meaning more in benefits are paid out than contributions paid in, the Social Security Administration is empowered to redeem the securities and use those funds to cover the deficit. Government securities are alway honored, whether you own them or social security does, so it's not a paper surplus. Not until 2037 will there be a shortfall that there are no securities to cover. That's when it will take new taxes to cover SS.
IMO there is no logical argument to "mandate" that every citizen put into SS. Have an opt-out clause and you solve the problem. If the program goes bust then those that opt-in have to deal with it. The end.
The simple fact is that SS is paying out more than it is taking in. That cannot continue. And, if you think the politicians are going to quit "borrowing" from the fund, you are naive. I am not "worried". I paid it and I want it back. If I was depending on SS to retire, I would kill myself.
oops i should pay closer attention. i am a fan, i want to help you stop having this simplistic non-thinking "i watched jon stewart 4 times so i know how politics works" attitude. as of now you are a less pretentious version of contained chaos. but you can do better.
How do you know that I will "really need" those benefits when I get to retirement age? Have you seen the future? Are you trying to say that no matter how well I manage my money that when I reach that age I will have to depend on the government payments to survive no matter what?
