Social Security is a lousy investment

Social Security is no longer a good deal. Actually it never was because inflation made the dollars you took out worth far less than the dollars you put in. And the interest you earned on your investment was pitiful.

Social Security needs to be reformed

What to do about our broken Social Security model? Let workers direct their payroll taxes to their own personal retirement accounts. It's your money, use it when you need it.

Social Security is cash negative

Social Security went "cash negative" last year. Instead of loaning money to the government, it is sucking money out of the treasury. The cost of benefits exceeds tax collections. Sure, there's the $2.6 trillion trust fund, but the government has already borrowed every cent of it. Despite what politicians tell you, the program is not flush. Nor can the fix wait for years.

Social Security COLA

Social Security recipients will received a 3.5 percent increase in their COLA next year. 
UPDATE: A new report says the increase will be 3.6 percent, but Medicare is going up too. So it's a wash. 

Social Security shock

What Social Security won't tell you.

The Social Security Ponzi

The Daily Caller has a good discussion on Social Security as a Ponzi scheme. Here are a couple of quotes:

“It is a Ponzi scheme for these young people,” [Rick] Perry said. “The idea that they’re working and paying into Social Security today, that the current program is going to be there for them, is a lie. It is a monstrous lie on this generation, and we can’t do that to them.”

Jeff Berkowitz, a communications consultant and former research director at the Republican National Committee, said statements like Perry’s — accurate though they may be — rub Americans the wrong way because they call that guarantee into question.

“The reason it’s so controversial is because it’s so exactly true,” Berkowitz said. “The more you expose the uncertainty, the more people become concerned about the safety of their investment.”

It's the elderly, stupid

Robert Samuelson: The main problem that makes the budget so intractable? "It's the elderly, stupid." This is a very good article that deserves a close reading. We as a country have to face some hard choices and harder truths.

TaxProf Blog: Scaring Seniors With Social Security

TaxProf Blog argues that Social Security checks could be issued regardless of any debt deal that may or may not be worked out. Well, good, but I had always heard that the Social Security reserve was just an IOU and in a practical sense uncollectable.

SS checks not at risk

This statement from the Stanford's Hoover Institution argues that your Social Security check is not at risk even if Congress does not raise the debt limit, and explains what is going to happen, or at least what is supposed to happen. So Obama's recent statement (“I cannot guarantee that those [Social Security] checks go out on August 3rd if we haven’t resolved this issue. Because there may simply not be the money in the coffers to do it.") is merely a scare tactic.

Social Security's big lie

Obama exposes Social Security's big lie:

In trying to score political points against the GOP by warning that retirement checks were in jeopardy if the debt ceiling isn't raised, President Obama exposed the fraud at the heart of Social Security...
Wait! What happened to Social Security's "guarantee"? You know, the iron-clad assurance of Social Security benefits in exchange for paying into the program your whole working life? It's something Democrats constantly talk about, particularly when attacking Republicans who propose privatizing the program.

So Social Security is not so secure after all. Did anyone think it was?

Who decides to put your SS check in the mail?

Update on whether Social Security checks will go out on August 3: It's a political decision. But don't worry, you're in the best of hands.

Obama threatens Social Security

Obama threatens to hold up Social Scurity checks if he doesn't get a debt deal by August 2.
Is that pure politics or what?

Social Security's bad news

Three things you can't say about Social Security. 

1. You can't say any more that it does not increase the deficit. The red ink in permanent.
2. You can't blame its problems on the boomers. Their kids are not having enough kids themselves.
3. You can't say that the recent 2 percentage point cut in SS taxes is temporary.

AARP Pivots on Social Security Benefit Cuts

AARP has reversed itself and now favors Social Security cuts.

SS wastes billions of dollars

Social Security makes $8B in improper payments. Could this be part of the problem?

Coming meltdowns

How to get ready for the coming Social Security and Medicare meltdowns.

Reassuring news

The Social Security trust fund may actually be worth less than zero.

Where's my money?

CNNMoney: Social Security checks are safe in a government shutdown. You will get your check, according to some authorities. In 1995 there was no interruption. So, I thought you'd want to know.

Social Security is now officially broke.

Want to know the truth about Social Security, it's trust fund, and long-term solvency? See here.