If you haven’t been to LOLCats, you must go and look at the kitties. They inspired my headline.
Let me sum this CNN Money article. Social Security needs reformation during the next administration or you will need to boost what you are saving for retirement.
I’m already planning on Social Security failing. My retirement savings are bolstered an anticipation of this. If some how some way I’m able to actually get some social security checks, I’ll just give it away or something.
So what’s the problem with social security? I’ll have a COW segment on social security someday, but for now just skim the article. Something I always forget about is the Social Security surplus. Remember how I said Weakonomics is partly based on the government setting a bad example?
If you haven’t heard, after WWII people started making babies, lots of babies. We call them the baby boomers. My parents are in the group. Since the 70′s these boomers have been in the workforce and are just now starting to retire. They are a disproportionate part of the population, representing a larger population than generation X and Y. Because there were so many of them working, Social Security taxes collected were higher than originally expected, creating a surplus. No biggie right? The government would be conservative and just sit on the money until it was time to pay out. WRONG!!
The government said, “Hey, cheap money! Can I bum a few billion and pay you back?”. The Social Security Administration of course agreed since they didn’t need the money at the time. As I said before, the boomers are ready to take their cut. Since the government has not started paying back these loans yet, the pot has gotten smaller. How would you feel if I borrowed from your IRA and didn’t pay you back when you turned 65? Exactly.
Now President Bush will not go down in history as the greatest guy on the list, but I will give him credit with social security. He tried to push reform and no one listened. This is going to be a huge issue in a few years if we don’t address it now.
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 By The Weakonomist |
The Weakonomist is the founder of Weakonomics. Clicking the picture of the puppy will tell you more about him. If you like what you're reading consider subscribing to the blog, following him on Twitter, and checking out the related posts below. Please consider a donation if you really enjoy Weakonomics. Also keep in mind that nothing I say can be construed as financial advice. |
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