Social Security might have been a good idea in theory (like so many government programs) but in practice, not so much. It was rolled into the general fund in 1981, so you don't get what you pay into it. Since then it has been on a path to bankruptcy. It's a way of trying to protect people from themselves, but most people are capable of investing better on their own. It's never enough money for a retiree to live on, but the rules about continuing to work are stifling. Roosevelt was a brilliant politician, but we are paying the price for a lot of his programs to this day.
Social Security's larger problem is that it is based on the premise that there will always be many more people working than retired. As the balance between workers and retirees shifts, the promises become harder and harder to keep.
— more retirees who also live longer.
(I respectfully disagree with Bossypants’s notion that “most people are capable of investing on their own”… That assumes assets and discipline.)
Social Security might have been a good idea in theory (like so many government programs) but in practice, not so much. It was rolled into the general fund in 1981, so you don't get what you pay into it. Since then it has been on a path to bankruptcy. It's a way of trying to protect people from themselves, but most people are capable of investing better on their own. It's never enough money for a retiree to live on, but the rules about continuing to work are stifling. Roosevelt was a brilliant politician, but we are paying the price for a lot of his programs to this day.
Social Security's larger problem is that it is based on the premise that there will always be many more people working than retired. As the balance between workers and retirees shifts, the promises become harder and harder to keep.
Wow! Thank you so much for helping understand something that has always escaped my comprehension. Bill Rusen