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As a nation, we are the worst "savers" in the world. In fact, we have more personal debt than any other nation. What happens if those who choose to opt out of Social Security do not invest wisely? Who bails them out? As we've seen with the housing crisis, things don't always continue to go "up". Social Security was never meant to be an investment vehicle. It is a little bit of "Security" if all else fails, you'll have at least something when you get too old to work anymore. If you are able to invest and save in addition to that, fine. Before Social Security was implemented, many elderly people were homeless and eating dogfood for dinner. Ask the Seniors you know on Social Security whether they feel that's it's been a successful program or not.
As a nation, we are the worst "savers" in the world. In fact, we have more personal debt than any other nation. What happens if those who choose to opt out of Social Security do not invest wisely? Who bails them out?
Frankly none of the candidates want to talk about social security. They had a commission for some years lead by Sen Braeux (D) and they got nowhere becuase bacically it came down to two solutions. Raise payroll tax or reduce benefits. No politican wanted to face that.There will probaly be another commission to keep it off the congesses back again. Commission equals all talk;no action.Those under 40 are going to get screwed big time.But then medicare and medicaid are in worse shape.
If we were truly a free society in the sense that everyone is truly on his own and should take care of themselves, there would not be subsidies for farmers and airlines, etc. to keep them going, and we would not bail out bankrupt businesses (and people, investors, and speculators who made poor choices during the real estate bubble) like we do. We would not reward CEO's who bleed the life out of companies, and then walk away with million dollar bonuses when the business fails, putting people out of work. We seem to be told over and over "Let the free market work by itself", and that we should be "self-sufficient", and not rely on Government for help, except when it applies to big corporations, defense contractors, and the top 1% who own 40% of this nation's wealth.
Average working people are getting screwed by companies that continue to outsource jobs, taking people's livelihood (and retirement plans) away, freeze pensions, while commodities like housing, gas, and food are being priced higher and higher. Add to that the outrageous cost of most medical premiums, who's got much money left to save for retirement? If we don't have Social Security, many people will just end up on welfare anyway. We can't all take our "portfolios" and go hide in gated communities so we don't have to deal with those less fortunate. We need Social Security to remain.
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