Name:	lucky67 -	Reply
Subject:	Income INequality
Date:	10/13/2015 9:36:03 AM

So Social Security recipients will other a raise next year but some want to lecture us on Income Inequality !! My social security works out to$12 an hour but some are getting $15 an hour flipping burgers

Name:	Talullahhound -	Reply
Subject:	Income INequality
Date:	10/13/2015 10:37:35 AM

Maybe it's time for you to go get a job.

Name:	MartiniMan -	Reply
Subject:	Income INequality
Date:	10/13/2015 11:25:50 AM

If a private company ran a retirement fund the way government has run SS they would be in prison.  Take heart in the fact that despite it being a piddly amount of money, most likely you will take out more than you put in.  Those of us still a ways from retirement that have actually made the sacrifices to plan for it will likely not see a dime.  It is not sustainable in its current form.

Name:	architect -	Reply
Subject:	MM, Soc Security is NOT a retirement fund
Date:	10/13/2015 9:11:18 PM (updated 10/13/2015 9:15:19 PM)

and never has been.  It is an insurance fund...there is a difference...the money being received by retirees is not money from funds they have invested but from the FICA payments being paid by those still working just as those same retirees, while still working, paid in for SS payments to their parents.  Social Security was designed during the Great Depression that way to make it as safe and sustainable as possible.  Sure, a private system investing in the markets usually does well, but occasionally it results in disaster.

MM and all of us are free to invest our own funds to the extent we are comfortable and able, but FICA is NOT an investment fund and should never be treated as such.

Now, it is true that is is not sustainable in it's current ''form''.  It can be fixed without major surgery by gradually raising the retirement age and raising the amount of income subject to the FICA.

Name:	au67 -	Reply
Subject:	MM, Soc Security is NOT a retirement fund
Date:	10/14/2015 8:44:20 AM

From SEC.gov:

In the classic "pyramid" scheme, participants attempt to make money solely by recruiting new participants into the program. The hallmark of these schemes is the promise of sky-high returns in a short period of time for doing nothing other than handing over your money and getting others to do the same.

The fraudsters behind a pyramid scheme may go to great lengths to make the program look like a legitimate multi-level marketing program. But despite their claims to have legitimate products or services to sell, these fraudsters simply use money coming in from new recruits to pay off early stage investors. But eventually the pyramid will collapse. At some point the schemes get too big, the promoter cannot raise enough money from new investors to pay earlier investors, and many people lose their money. 

Name:	Talullahhound -	Reply
Subject:	So
Date:	10/14/2015 11:16:34 AM

I guess you won't be taking your SS payments anymore, right?  Since a person of your integrity and highmindedness would NEVER participate in what is effectively a pyramid scheme (in your view).

Name:	au67 -	Reply
Subject:	So
Date:	10/14/2015 3:04:13 PM

You certainly concluded a lot from my post.  But then, I would not have expected anything less from someone who is obviously clairvoyant.

Name:	Talullahhound -	Reply
Subject:	So
Date:	10/14/2015 6:50:04 PM

Funny thing, sometimes I am clairvoyant. 

Name:	au67 -	Reply
Subject:	So
Date:	10/14/2015 8:23:57 PM

Bless your heart.  And I do appreciate all the nice things you had to say about me.