insomniac -
Social Security, like most social programs in the US, were founded on good intentions. But have gone horribly awry, and has given the government more control than it deserves, and needs.
A mandatory pension system is a fine thing, and may be needed (personally, I don't agree with it, but I understand how stupid many people are about retirement). However, it's a different story on who controls it.
If the government decided that they were going to hand over the entire social security system over to Citibank, and let them collect the payments from everyone's income, set their own interest rate, and pay it back when they feel like it, would you mind such a system? Yet we've done the exact same thing by allowing the government to have such a system. There's no competition, everyone is forced to join (well, everyone but the government and self employed people), and any option outside of SS is paid above & beyond your current SS contributions.
For example, I was a public employee of Ohio for about 2 years. I waived my rights to Social Security during those times. Had I of stayed with the job, I would have retired at age 48, and earned roughly $4,000 every month for the rest of my life. Now back on Social Security, I earn more money per year, but will only make around $2,000-$2,500 at age 60. How is that fair, or competitive? The fact is, I (like many other Americans) could easily find a more effective program than Social Security, yet we are forced to do it on our own dime, continuing to throw money into a program I may never, ever get my money out of, according to Mafoo.
My opinion is that the government needs to allow all US citizens an individual pension account - one that is tied to them, and only them (with designated beneficiaries). Whatever they put in is what they get back, plus interest. Allow for directed investment options that allow the end user to choose how they want to invest - mutual funds, high-growth investments, stocks, T-Bills, or a government-led traditional program. It's similar to what OPERs does, and earns almost 10 times the interest rate. Yet we can't have that because SS is a sacred cow, and God forbid we have a better system that risks some people's savings.
Back from the dead, I'm afraid.
