Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Technology Stocks : Cisco Systems, Inc. (CSCO) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: RetiredNow who wrote (60060)	6/28/2002 2:18:48 PM
From: GVTucker	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 77400

mindmeld, RE: Hey GV, yeah I know that, but consider this. The Opt Out plan would work as follows. Let's say a guy who's 42 years old has put in around $200,000 of money into social security through ss taxes taken out of his paycheck since he was 21. If that person is allowed to opt out, then under my proposal, he would no longer have to pay taxes on social security ever again. The penalty for opting out is that he would forfeit all future social security benefits and also forfeit all the $200K he has already put into the system. That money would be used to pay the folks who have opted to stay in the system. So the real question to answer in my research is what percentage of each age category has to opt out to be able to continue funding for a social security system that is using current taxes to pay for current retirees. It's just math. I'm sure if we can get enough people to opt out of future benefits, while forfeiting money already paid in, we could bring the social security system back into equilibrium such that one day the money you put in is tagged to your social security number only. Anyway, obviously there is a lot of research that would have to be done to prove out a plan like this, but at first glance the theory is viable. But again, this misses the point. There is no $200,000 to forfeit. That $200,000 has already been paid to existing beneficiaries. It is a tax. If everyone was given the Opt Out option, most everyone would take it. And the Social Security system would immediately collapse, because there would be no more money to pay out to existing beneficiaries. The government would have to either raise income taxes or stop paying Social Security.