those of us that paid the maximum during our earning years, had that money, forcibly taken from our paychecks, so regardless of what they say, it is OUR money
Why don't you feel that way about the income taxes you paid, then?
What would you propose as a fair solution, given where we are? The government could up the benefit level to give you back something approaching what you'd have earned in safe investments over that time period, then you'd be made whole, but where would the money come from?
People who retired in the 1970s and 1980s got a better-than-market deal out of the system, the cost of which was pushed on to later generations. At some point, some group of retirees is going to have to pay the piper. We can keep ignoring the problem and make some still later generation bear the entire burden of a collapsed system, with tax rates approaching total confiscation of their earnings. Of course, they might retaliate by refusing to work for nothing! Or we can all recognise that there's a problem, and spread the pain around to those who can handle it.
I, too, paid the maximum in during my best earning years. I have a nice statement from the SS admin documenting my contributions. I've made my peace with the idea that I'll never see a dime. But then, we're wealthy. My sister, on the other hand, teaches school in a small rural area. She earns very little, and has almost no savings besides her house. She's convinced that SS won't be there for her, either. I think she's wrong.
P.S. It's uncharitable to say that SS is a "scam". The system was well-intentioned, and made sense as designed. Its architects couldn't know that medical advances would dramatically increase lifespans, nor did they anticipate that later generations would greatly expand the benefits beyond the level of being a modest income supplement. At worst, they fibbed about what they were really doing (trying to reduce poverty among seniors) in order to sell the program politically. |
