It’s insurance, fer cryin’ out loud; a basic floor
so people aren’t forced out into the streets
because of their advanced age or disability
(and thus their inability to continue working).

If you wanna retire rich, there are plenty of scams and
scam-artists more than willing to take your money.

But social security is freaking insurance for a worst-case
scenario. Nothing more.

Jeesh.

So quit trying to sell me the roses and universal happiness at the end of the tunnel. I abhor the current system. Tell me how you get from here to there.

You probably believe the only way to fund government is to tax the rich. You probably believe there is no way to solve poverty. Then answer this question why do we tax every worker 15.3% of his lifetime income and give him no investment at retirement? Do you deny the mathemetics that an average $40,000 a year worker having $6,000 sent to Washington for Social Security, Disability and Medicare every year would have $240,000 invested after 40 years at no return on investment? That if he had a 7% real return on stock and a 3% price inflation he would at a 10% ROI have $3.2 million nest egg at the end of a 40-year working life? If you don’t please explain your mathematics and how the table on my website is flawed?

Then if you agree with the math accept the reality that this $40,000 a year worker will retire on 800% of his last annual salary or $320,000 a year or 10% of his $3.2 million nest egg.

Then upset yourself further with the $27,000 a month retirement check he gets ($320,000/12 months)

Now considering existing SS pays $1,122 a month tell me about the fact there is no “perfect” solution. A $3.2 million nest egg to will his kids and $27,000 a month to retire on.

First we have a country worth $400 trillion

Ok, stop it right there. The “country” is worth $400t? Last I checked the “country” is divvied up between a few hundred million people. Are you going to tax us $6t?

Or did you mean the “government” is worth $400t? I know they don’t have $6t in cash on hand, so are you suggesting they should sell off $6t in assets?

We just spent $100 trillion solving our potential depression by the off budget reduction in interest rates

Come again? The money supply is not even close to $100t no matter which aggregate you use.

What is a mere $6 trillion when the the poor are getting rich and we are dumping $1.2 trillion into the capital markets every year?

I support the endgame, but your transition plan doesn’t even make sense. Where are you going to get the $6t? I already stated that I would support most any plan; I just want you to man-up and state the source of the transition money. Tax? Debt? Inflation? Santa?

I did start reading, Dick, but I got just a wee bit skeptical when I got to the part where you were going to quickly raise $4 trillion in bonds and then cause an economic boom by dropping the newfound riches into various investments.

He just has to stop whining and start reading and all his concerns will disappear. There is an answer and its time has come.

Now we can cash the fictional bonds and reduce the $9 trillion to $5 trillion and go into the market and borrow the first $4 trillion needed to cover the transition w/o causing Americans an extra beat of their heart – they think their national debt is really $9 trillion.

I figure the cost of transition would be $6 trillion. The next $2 trillion would come from increased income tax receipts.

As you no doubt recall it took 7 years after trickle down was introduced in the Revenue Act of 1982 (70% tax rate dropped to 28%)for actual governmental income tax receipts to double.

Trickle down was voluntary – the rich bought their chalets and aairplanes before they put the extra money in the capital markets.

Under Rise Up the annual infusion of $1.2 trillion into the capital markets is not voluntary – the amounts going into personal accounts is not voluntary just like payroll taxes for existing SS & MC plans are not voluntary.

I believe that we can double “income” tax receipts from $1.5 trillion to $3 trillion in 4 years and pay for all additional transition costs.

NOW THAT WAS ONLY ONE OF 20 WAYS I HAVE IN MY BOOK TO PAY FOR THE TRANSITION.

My preference to pay for the transition is to do it off budget just like we solved the last potential depression. We lowered interest rates at a cost of $100 trillion in value and a 33% drop in the value of the follar. Now I don’t think taking a $6 trillion hit would even cause a ripple especially when the country would be booming with a savings rate of 15% eclipsong the 1 and 1/2% negative rate we have now AND THE POOR WOULD BECOMING RICH.

Jeff had you noticed the stock market has rebounded from 7,000 on the Dow. That the devaluation of our currency hasn’t caused the market to falter?

Did you realize we have a $400 trillion country and only owe foreigners $2.3 trillion.

Most people whine and moan because the front page never consults the financial pages. America can pay for the transition out of petty cash – don’t listen to politicians or their comrades in crime in the media.

If you or others reading this are Thompson supporters I would recommend you diect him to my website. Rise Up is the pocketbook issue he and all other politicians are missing that the people want so badly.

Rise Up -
makes the poor rich -
cuts national budget in half – generates the biggest tax cut in history – extinguishes $77 trillion of the potential unfunded entitlement liabilities – creates million-dollar nest eggs for everyone – allows workers to retire at 800% of their last annual salary – increases their monthly retirement check over 20 times that which SS pays – it economically emancipate women through sharing of the personal account wherein she can stay home and raise the kids, not work a day in her life and still retire a millionaire – eliminates millions of pension plans and replaces them with one simple powerful personal account – reduces crime and financial hardship – it may even empty prisons and many more benefits you can read on the site and in the free e-book. You can review the mathematics and rates of return there too.

Now if Fred can’t win on that platform he should just retire.

Dick McDonald

We’ve been postpaying retirement benefits for decades. In a few more decades, the demographic shift will make the impossible. We’ll need to either switch to a prepayment system or get out of the business completely. If we switch a prepayment system, there will be a period of time where we have to pay yesterday’s bill and tomorrow’s bill simultaneously. Or we can renege on our promises by cutting benefits, raising the retirement age and/or inflating the currency.

The SS transition will require a ton of cash and/or unkept promises. I honestly don’t care which details we settle on, but I’m tired of hearing this David Copperfield crap.

The solution to SS is right here.