re: #257 Escaped Hillbilly

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.

Good points. Especially about living on minimum wage. Anything like this would effectively require a “public option” to the replacement of Social Security.