OT: Social Security

Seems to me, just to save it all they would have to do is lift the contribution limit and also stop giving it to those who already have hundreds of thousands and don't actually need it. Isn't that common sense?

Reply to
Reasoned Insanity
Loading thread data ...

Solution? Use the confiscatory powers of the IRS.

Mandate that a similar percentage be put into a personal retirement account, with punitive withdrawal penalties at a level high enough to make it impractical to do so.

Reply to
witfal

Somehow that just doesn't seem fair to me. What you're asking, are those who have more money, and we don't know yet what the limit would be between "rich" and "poor", to forget about their own retirement which they have contributed too for many years, and donate it to someone who has less income than they do. Even though I most likely wouldn't fit into that group, I don't like that idea one bit. It once again places one group against another. Not my way of building cooperation.

Reply to
dbu

I'm afraid that truly defining rich and poor is impossible due to cost of living differences across the nation. Here in the Midwest, someone could live pretty nicely off of $50K a year.

Reply to
Reasoned Insanity

But Chicago is higher than the rest of the Midwest, for instance.

Charles the Curmudgeon

Reply to
<n5hsr

That depends if you live in the city or some far corner of the country. I know of places you can live like a king on 50 K, but in the major metro, you would be classed low middle class or borderline poor. If you look East to NY or NJ, you would be in the poor house. You couldn't even support your property tax and utilities.

Reply to
dbu

The availability of information does NOT equate to these people knowing it exists.

Then a modification: If you don't choose an investment method along the lines of one I mentioned previously, it will be done for you.

Simple.

Reply to
witfal

Return on "investment" is what percent in the average lifetime?

I thought ALL incomes were taxed. ;-)

Reply to
witfal

Hyperbole. Even here - where housing costs are low, one can make it okay on $50K - pay bills, own a (modest) home, be able to save some $, etc., but certainly not live like a king. Would still need to keep to a fairly strict budget to avoid being in debt - other than carrying a mortgage & (a) car loan(s).

in the major

See above. Your general idea is on the right track, but a bit too sweeping of a generalization; COL depends on exact area within broader areas.

Cathy

Reply to
Cathy F.

Wichita KS, population, somewhere around 400K. You could live comfortably here in a safe area for 50K a year and still invest in retirement.

Reply to
Reasoned Insanity

I hope that after you hit the send button, you gave that comment more thought, and got a good laugh out of it. If not, think harder, or let me know.

Reply to
JoeSpareBedroom

I know what you're getting at, but your logic was essentially flawed.

You said, "...more than enough advice available." My contention is that said information doesn't mean it can always be found, or heeded.

IOW, teach 'em how. If they can't grasp it ("...will not help certain types..."), then mandate the alternative.

Reply to
witfal

Describe for me what kind of American would not know that investment information exists in so many different media formats.

I'll help you: dbu

But, tell me in your words.

Reply to
JoeSpareBedroom

Actually, the information is quite readily available both online (you can find out about it at finance.yahoo.com, finance.google.com, and the web sites of many brokers), on the radio (marketplace money on public radio has this info) and in print (Money, Kiplinger's Personal Finance and newspapers all have the information).

However, your original comment ("The availability of information does NOT equate to these people knowing it exists.") is absolutely correct. Just because the information is readily available (when I had Fidelity as the company that had my 401k, I could go for free to a Fidelity office for more info - I did this a couple of times). However, a surprisingly large percent of people who have the information available don't take advantage of it.

So your original comment is 100% right on.

Jeff

Reply to
Jeff

Dbu? Why do I need to elaborate? You've illustrated the perfect example.

Ignorance.

Reply to
witfal

Yes, but if we do the former, we won't have to do the latter.

Reply to
beerspill

Imagine a population where everybody is above average!

Reply to
beerspill

Then why has it been so hard to sue employers who've offered 401k plans with nothing but load funds with high expenses? 5.5% S&P 500 index fund with 0.78% expense ratio -- what a bargain!

Reply to
beerspill

Jeff has a point, and you do need to put up some numbers, such as the average interest over the past 45 years (and why you assume simple, not compound, interest) and the average payouts from such a savings/ investment plan versus the current Social Security system, for people of different incomes. Otherwise you can't prove one system is better than the other.

Reply to
beerspill

This is interesting...

formatting link

Reply to
Reasoned Insanity

MotorsForum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.