I've been thinking about this, and I just don't think ordinary people like you and I can really analyze the fairness of the Social Security system. It really requires a lot of complicated input. Here's why: the rap goes, if only we'd been able to put the money into the stock market, rather than Social Security, we'd be better off. Or, if only we are able to put the money into the stock market in the future, we'd be better off. Well, no one knows what the future holds, of course. As for the past, that's knowable, but. What does it mean, to "invest in the stock market"? Does it mean, buy GE, Ford, GM? Well, that's a no-brainer. If we only posit that we invested in profitable companies, of course our rate of return would have been better. What about the OTHER companies? Radio is one of the famous ones. I can't remember what it's called now, but it's never returned to the level it was before the 1929 crash, even today.
I'm 47, and I've been paying into social security since 1967, I started working when I was 15, that's 32 years. I can tell you (with the help of Social Security) what I've paid in, but I have no idea what I would have done with the money otherwise. Spent it, more likely than not. If I couldn't have spent it, what would I have done with it? Hindsight is always 20-20, isn't it?
I know something will be there when I retire, but I don't know what. I don't know how long I'll live, either. |
