re: #223 TampaKnight

People know from the minute they start working at age 15, 18, or 20 that someday that will indeed want to retire, and to do so will require money.

Why our government feels that 40 years of saving is not enough time for it’s citizens to provide for their own retirement is beyond me.

The real answer to why it exists today is that people would rather have others provide for what they are unwilling to provide for themselves.

If the average person paying into social security invested or saved the same amount over the same period, they would have at most 2 months worth of retirement paid for. Most people just don’t make enough to pay in enough to retire on. It’s damn near impossible to save money while working at just above minimum wage. The idea is supposed to be that more people pay in than get paid and that the people getting the payout will not live long beyond the retirement age. And at one time, that was true. But those darned old timers are living longer and longer. So, it doesn’t work as predicted. Still, its better than directly supporting those old folks right now at street value. Here’s hoping some smart person figures out a better way before we are old enough to collect…some of us ar getting close! But I aint holding my breath.