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View Poll Results: Would you, if you had a Choice, Opt out of Social Security
Yes - only if there were no conditions 55 51.40%
Yes - only if I had to contribute to an approved retirement program 4 3.74%
No - I would not Opt Out 44 41.12%
Undecided at this time 4 3.74%
Voters: 107. You may not vote on this poll

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Old 10-28-2009, 01:24 PM
 
Location: Pinal County, Arizona
25,100 posts, read 39,112,923 times
Reputation: 4936

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If you were given a choice to opt out of Social Security, perhaps on the condition that you contribute to an approved retirement program, that you control what happens with your contributions, would you opt out of Social Security and Medicare?
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Old 10-28-2009, 01:54 PM
 
Location: Crossville, TN
1,327 posts, read 3,667,801 times
Reputation: 1017
Yes, I would opt out of SS. I think I could do a better job managing my money than the gov't, and I am not good at managing my money. Medicare is a tricky question, if health care prices weren't so high some people could manage. Unfortunately when we get older we are more likely to need more medical assistance.
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Old 10-28-2009, 02:00 PM
 
Location: Sierra Vista, AZ
17,531 posts, read 24,591,218 times
Reputation: 9975
No I thank the Lord for Social Security every day. What happens when you are disabled away from your job.
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Old 10-28-2009, 02:00 PM
 
Location: Eastern Washington
17,106 posts, read 56,712,890 times
Reputation: 18365
I would gladly opt out. I think the fair thing would be to be allowed to treat my payments to date as a theft loss - which is essentially what they are - for tax purposes.

I do not expect to see a dime of the money I have contributed to this Federal Ponzi scheme. I'll be astounded if it's not completely bankrupt before I can draw on it.
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Old 10-28-2009, 02:32 PM
 
14,300 posts, read 14,088,313 times
Reputation: 45411
It would have been interesting to ask this question before the stock market went downhill about eighteen months ago. I bet almost everyone at that time would have said they'd opt out of Social Security if they had a choice. Of course, everyone was salivating back than on returns in the Mutual Fund Industry that averaged 10-20% a year. How could Social Security compete with that?

Today, a defined benefit program like Social Security looks very good next to our 401K account. We followed all the rules investing and still were badly beaten up. I think we lost a third of the total value of the account. Its on its way back, but it will take alot of good months to get back what we lost.

I suppose anything is possible. Social Security could collapse. However, if it does, it will because of a general economic collapse meaning that all private investments (except maybe the Gold Krugerands you have in your drawer) are worthless too.

SS is a good program and needs to be buttressed. Offer people who want a better return on their investment options that are in addition to it. I think the IRA is a great idea when combined with SS. Let everyone keep their social security benefits as a "base" or a "floor" for retirement. That way we can hopefully make sure none of the elderly end up on the street.
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Old 10-28-2009, 02:40 PM
 
Location: Pinal County, Arizona
25,100 posts, read 39,112,923 times
Reputation: 4936
I am one of those who was lucky enough to be able to "opt out" of Social
Security when it was much easier to do - just sign a few documents and away you go. You can still Opt out today, but, it is much harder. I opted out over 30 years ago

For my part, I "contributed" the amount I would have contributed (if I were still on social security) into a separate group of investments (I also have/had other investments as well). I managed them. I try to become as educated as I could. I had some great investment advisor's over the years. And, there have been ups and downs.

What I do know is this: In my situation, the amount I am guaranteed every month is right at 5 times what I would have gotten from Social Security if I had stay with it - and this is from those separate investments I mentioned above.

I cannot, ever, get social security. Nor, can I get Medicare. But, that does not concern me - it keeps me on my toes though

So I have to admit - I'm biased. Nor am I suggesting that what I did is right for everyone. Far from it.

But, there are options.
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Old 10-28-2009, 03:08 PM
 
Location: A Nation Possessed
25,220 posts, read 18,382,119 times
Reputation: 22054
Maybe if I were 20, but not at this point. Couple things would prevent me from doing it now: #1) I've paid into it my whole life. #2) I hate dealing with money. It's a required evil, I know, but the less I have to screw with it, the better.
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Old 10-28-2009, 03:49 PM
 
Location: Victoria TX
42,618 posts, read 86,565,652 times
Reputation: 36637
Anybody who thought they could manage their money better, would now be living on less than one percent of their nest-egg per year. So, to have $1,000 a month, your portfolio would have to be in the neighborhood of a million. And if it was, and was managed the way most people's retirement investment is, it would have to have been two million a few years ago to still have a million left. Most retirees on SS now didn't even make a total of a million during their lifetime, much less save a million. Even if your private pension was not stolen., and if you were lucky enough to work all your life in a shop that had a pension plan.

I'm on SS now, I get more than enough to live on with a lifestyle that suits me, and without SS, my only income would be less than one percent of my savings/investment.
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Old 10-28-2009, 04:36 PM
 
Location: Pinal County, Arizona
25,100 posts, read 39,112,923 times
Reputation: 4936
Quote:
Originally Posted by jtur88 View Post
Anybody who thought they could manage their money better, would now be living on less than one percent of their nest-egg per year. So, to have $1,000 a month,.
I would have recieved around $1300 a month in Social Security. Plus Medicare. Let assume that the medical part would be valued at $1700 a month. So, the total value from Social Security would be about $3,000 a month.

I can get, right now, in excess of $5500 a month - but, I have to pay for my medical insurance which is, in fact, costing me $1,000 a month.

I'm way ahead than if I had stayed with Social Security.

BTW, I have never worked for anyone else but myself. Well, that is not completely true: I worked the soda fountain at a W.T. Grants when I was in High School. But, other than that, I have always worked for myself.

Again, I stress, not every can, or should, do what I did. But, it is possible
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Old 10-28-2009, 04:41 PM
 
Location: Sinking in the Great Salt Lake
13,139 posts, read 22,705,438 times
Reputation: 14115
Getting something would be much better than getting nothing. I won't be able to draw until after 2040, and by then the costs are forcasted to exceed the entire budget of the federal government. Needless to say, that is impossible to maintain, so I'm pretty sure I won't be getting a monthly check.
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