$2 Million in the bank and he still gets food stamps

bobman1235

exalted512 wrote: »

I haven't put a whole lot of thought in it, but I don't see how.

Say I stopped putting money into a 'pool' today, and tomorrow, everything I pay in goes to my account. There's still money in the social security pool that could be divided amongst everyone proportionally, correct?

I don't have a grasp of how it really works, but there will be an entire generation WITHOUT social security...mine.
-Cody

If, to put it simplistically, every dollar you put into social security goes to someone ELSE who is COLLECTING social security, if you stopped paying THEM and started paying YOURSELF tomorrow, where are they getting money from tomorrow? Or for the next 40 years while you put money in the bank rather than in their hands? If everyone's money that was originally going to a retiree is no longer going to a retiree but rather to a bank account, then all current retirees are screwed.

Just saying it's not simple.

exalted512

Well I dont think thats entirely true, but maybe it is.

Example:

Im 62, social security started today (1935 or whenever it started). I'm going to retire in 3 years.

3 years later......Its 1938 and I'm 65 and retiring. Am I getting full social security benefits as if I had paid them all my life?

I guess if the answer is yes, then you're right.

I would think the answer is no. It's my understanding that social security paid out more than people were paying in. Coupled with the baby boomer generation that's much larger than current generations, it gets worse.
-Cody

shack

http://www.ssa.gov/OACT/ProgData/fundFAQ.html