Social Security For Suckers
A few days ago I walked down to my mailbox. As I opened the little door, I was shocked by all the mail crammed in there! Magazines, junk mail, bills… and a letter from the Social Security Administration.
That’s strange… I’m not planning on retiring for a few decades!
I ripped open the envelope and found my annual update from the Social Security Administration (SSA). Every year they send it out. It highlights your past earnings, what you paid Social Security taxes on… It even estimates what you should expect to receive at retirement.
It’s amazing what this little document contains. And it’s all a lie!
According to this statement, I’m scheduled to receive a monthly payout when I retire. It’s not a small amount… though it’s a far cry from what I’d need to live the high life in Europe.
As of right now, I haven’t been planning on retiring any time soon. As a matter of fact, I still have several decades of work before I become eligible for retirement benefits. Regardless, I still studied the statement.
That’s when it hit me. Social Security is for suckers.
Now don’t get mad. I’m not knocking those of you already receiving social security checks. My grandparents are on social security. Along with the additional money they saved, they’re living quite a nice life in retirement.
I know my parents are looking forward to getting their hard earned money back as well.
But, I’m not expecting a single penny. And any person under the age of 50 is a sucker if they expect to get their money back. It’s just a fact of life.
The federal government isn’t going to be able to pay. And that means if you’re receiving a payout when they run out of money, your check is going to get cut way back.
How do I know this? I’d like to say I read the fine print, but the SSA doesn’t hide the details there. Nope, they put it on the first page in big bold letters for everyone to see.
Their info pamphlet asks a simple question… “Will Social Security be around when I retire?”
Talk about a loaded question.
The response is a simple “Yes”.
Yes, the Social Security system will be around years from now when I retire. We all know how hard it is to get rid of a huge bureaucratic government institution. Yes, the SSA will be around.
What won’t be around is the money needed to pay benefits.
Let me quote from the SSA’s own document. “…in 2037 the Trust Funds will be depleted.”
Scary, right? Keep reading.
“Therefore, the taxes that are paid by workers will not be enough to pay the full benefit amounts scheduled.”
In other words, we’re promising to pay you. But we already know there won’t be enough money to pay you what we’re promising. The SSA is going bankrupt. That’s what happens when you owe people more money than you have. (It’s simply the truth.)
That’s why Social Security is for suckers.
Right now the government estimates having only 76 cents to pay out for every $1.00 they’ve promised. Something tells me this isn’t the worst case estimate. What happens if fewer people are working? What happens if more people retire early? What happens if people start living longer? What happens if the economy is in bad shape?
Social Security is a time bomb… and everyone hears it ticking… yet Congress (and the rest of government) is doing nothing to stop it from exploding in our faces.
That’s why I’m not relying on the government for a single stinking penny.
I’ve paid more money into the system than I care to think about. I’ve been contributing to Social Security for decades now… and I’m not expecting the government to return one red cent.
And neither should you.
You can’t rely on the government to support you when you’re older. You can only rely on yourself. And that means saving money for retirement. Put something away from each and every pay check. Start small. Even $10 or $20 dollars a month will make a big difference years from now.
Do it now. Start saving today.
Put your money away and invest it wisely. Decades from now, suckers who trusted the government won’t be able to eat dinner at a nice restaurant. You’ll be living high on the hog and enjoying retirement.
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