Fact check on Social Security plan

[stevebeilgard]

Re: Fact check on Social Security plan

one of the many great things about our nation is freedom. bushes plan is voluntary. so, if you choose, you may leave your money in the ss system. or, you may invest it in cd's, i bonds, etc. more power to you. see, i don't, and never did, have that option with my ss plan. in fact, my ss plan is to not ever use it. i'll take care of me. but, i do like options, such as bush is presenting for younger people.

[slugshooter]

Re: Fact check on Social Security plan

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SS, you had better get a job that pays you MILLIONS because if you invest in those, you are really going to have a very skimpy retirement!!

Good luck to you!!!

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It all depends on what you consider skimpy. Here's a little facts for you using the Treasury Departments growth calculator on bonds, which, I bonds are paying 3.69% if you buy right now but for the calculator we'll say 3%

With a $100 dollar investment and $100/month for 30 years, you'll have 52,241.95

with $200 you wind up with $104,483.90

with $500 you end up with $261,209.74

with $1000 you'll end up with $522,419.48

The question is, how much do you need to live comfortably in retirement, what is comfortably, it's different for everyone, now right now I certainly can't afford 500 or 1000 dollars a month, but 100 or 200 would be manageable and I am sure there are many here that could afford more. It's a lot less risky than the stock market, and besides, if I had a career that paid millions, I wouldn't even be worrying about social security or I bonds.

[OJR]

Re: Fact check on Social Security plan

When you start having medical bills and insurance doesn't cover them, $200 or $300,000 doesn't last any time at all.

One trip to the hospital cost me over $125,000.00. Your safe bonds and investing that way is great if you never get sick or if you have plenty of insurance to cover it!

If it was just for living expenses, great! There is more to life than that when you get older!

I have been there and done that several times! 2004, my medical bills are going to run me over $75,000.00. Lots of good hunting trips went down the drain real quick!

Am I complaining. NO!! I am just trying to tell you the way it is!!!

I will make it and pay my bills without the help of the government!!

I am doing a little investing in the stock market and right now one of my stocks is up a little over 35% and I have been in it for about 8 months. I have a few more that are also on the plus side. Your bonds surely haven't done that in the last 8 months!!

By the way, I am going to take my profit and look for something else to get into!

[wtnhunt]

Re: Fact check on Social Security plan

You know, I can remember going back to the 70's when my grandfather retired and got called out of retirtement several times. He worked for alcoa and had a pretty nice retirement. SS was diddly for him. He ended up with lung cancer as a result of exposure to asbestos when he worked back in his younger years. In the mid 80's before I graduated high school I can remember him suggesting that putting back for retirement was something you absolutely had to do. At that time little did he know he would end up with the fight for his life and would end up losing a huge portion of his savings. His life savings was a pretty nice chunk put into bonds and invested very well for his retirement, but he was no longer able to go back when alcoa called him for special projects, and after he passed my grandmother was no longer able to care for herself and she ended up in a home which pretty well polished off just about all of the remainder of his life savings. Think my mother and her 4 sisters ended up sharing a little over $100,000 after insurance paid out and what was left of his investments, that is not much.

My point is had he not saved and invested wisely, even with SS at the time he would have been in huge trouble,and he retired in the 70's. My grandparents were not rich by any means, but they were pretty comfortable. If SS was not enough to live on then, you know it is not enough to live on now. You never know what kind of circumstances might arise in your future. Dont count on the government to support you, if you do, dont complain when you get to that point and it is not enough to live on.

SS reform in my opinion needs to begin with getting those who are using and abusing the system off the benefits. Those who have not earned the right to draw should not be drawing, but I just dont see that happening anytime soon. Bush acknowledging something has to be done now is a step in the right direction if you ask me. Nothing about a plan from what I have heard is set in stone, however the ideas of letting people invest a portion of their own SS money to go directly to their own savings rather than having the government invest it does sound pretty good to me.

[ParrotHead]

Re: Fact check on Social Security plan

[ QUOTE ]

Calm down Parrothead, if you have a problem with the post e-mail the non-partisan factcheck.com people, I didn't write it, all they do is clarify the spin that both parties put out regarding whatever is going on. I for one don't and won't put my money in the stock market, or a 401K, there is no guarantee on return but "historically" it has shown a good return, well, "historically" people lost everything and threw themselves out of windows when the stock market crashed 70 years ago. I would rather put my money in something that is guaranteed to gain interest ( CD's, I Bonds or EE Bonds) than put it in the stock market and hope everything goes well.

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All I asked was "why". Why some out there think it's a bad idea to give citizens a little more freedom to plan for themselves instead of having/relying on the governmnent to do ti for you.