>> I imagine the second person had almost the same deal. It's a lot different when you start putting in at age 18 or 20, like most of us do..
That's true, but the point of that remark was to show that it is possible in certain circumstances for it to be a welfare program. The reality is that one need only work 40 quarters (10 years) at minimum wage to qualify for a full benefit.
>> " given that millions of people have paid into the system for decades, yet there are only funds sufficient to pay benefits for three years, "
Wrong.
Well, this is NOT wrong. The ~2.8 Trillion dollars current in the so-called "surplus" are sufficient to pay benefits required for less than 4 years (yes, more than 3).
Monthly payout: 80.1 Billion.
Amount in trust: 2.8 Trillion.
Number of months = 2.8 Trillion / 80.1 Billion = 35.95 months.
If this trust were properly funded, you should be able to go through those 36 months and still have money left to fund all current retirees until their deaths.
>> No. Are people with union or corporate pensions welfare recipients?
NO. THESE PLANS ARE HELD TO ENTIRELY DIFFERENT, ACCRUAL BASIS ACCOUNTING STANDARDS. My point entirely in your one question. Good job!
(I caution you, I wrote my senior paper on APB 8, Accounting for the Cost of Pension Plans, and my knowledge was deadly back in the day. That it has long since been superseded, well, that's their loss...) |
