John Boehner R-Ohio, says use Social Security funds to pay for war

[Riot]

Originally Posted by Antitrust32

its not the rules changing.. its the government not securing the SS in a "lock box" they pull out of SS to pay for other shiznit that doesnt work.. depleting the funds.

I'm screwed and my generations children are even worse off when it comes to SS.. I'm in favor of eliminating it completely and letting myself invest in my 401k or whatever else retirement plan others want.. instead of paying 6-12% and being lucky to get 1-2% back.

Social Security came into existence as people - even those who lived through the Depression and two world wars - didn't invest and plan for their own retirement. It came into being to save people's lives from starvation and homelessness.

That mindset - live for today, don't save - hasn't changed in the US, it's worsened (judging by amount of savings, bankruptcies, overspending and credit debt, etc)

Social Security in the government's hands cannot be invested as private funds can - a good thing, as 1/3 of the fund would probably be gone right now.

You (the general you, not you specifically) don't have to eliminate SS completely to invest in your own retirement. You should be able to take 10% out of your takehome no matter how small an income one makes (and can invest it so it becomes tax free, which markedly increases it's value). Depending upon social security to fund one's retirement is foolish, as even if you max out yearly on your contribution for 20 years, the amount you receive monthly isn't much.

If you don't already have a retirement account you currently pay into, you are way behind already, as the little bit of money you squirrel away in the low income early years of your career has the most growth upside just sitting there compounding for decades.

And if you think you are truly screwed then not already having retirement plans in place and actively being funded makes no sense at all to me.