re: Ben Shapiro's plan for fixing SS is for everyone to work until they die

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Social Security is dead broke. There was never a trust fund, it all goes into the general funds to be spent by the Treasury.

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None of this is true

* SS is actually more sound today than ever

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As in last year's report, the DI Trust Fund is projected to be able to pay full benefits through the end of the 75-year projection period (2097 in this year's report).

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* The money doesnt go into the general fund

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The Social Security Trust Fund was created in 1939 as part of the Amendments enacted in that year. From its inception, the Trust Fund has always worked the same way. The Social Security Trust Fund has never been "put into the general fund of the government."

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* Ending SS doesnt solve the debt crisis. Once SS goes away, the money taken from your paycheck will no longer be collected, and will not be used to pay down debt

* I've heard that future generations won’t see a penny since 1980. And yet he we are going on 3 generations later, still receiving full benefits

Thats just a marketing tool. Theres no way you believe the average 99 yer old has about 3 more years of life expectancy

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99 2.25 2.63

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the Old-Age and Survivors Insurance (OASI)

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This fund is fully funded for the next decade. Then after that its just guesses. Because over the next decade their will be millions of jobs created. Adding to the trust fund

During this time the last of the baby boomers will retire (75M), meaning there will be less stress on the retirement system because succeeding US citizen generations arent as large by percentage: Gen X (66M), Millennials (72M), Gen Z (70M). And several million of these generations wont qualify for retirement because of their citizenship status. You cant qualify for what you havent paid into

I have no problem working: growing a garden, remodeling my house, volunteering at church, etc. Working at any one of my three jobs until I die would defeat the purpose of living a lot longer.

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I know some very successful people who will never retire. They believe if you aren't working then you aren't serving a purpose. While I personally don't agree with that notion, it is not a point without merit.

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That's fine in an office environment and I know that Shapiro did say that this isn't for blue collar workers so much. What about the guy who pours concrete or asphalt for 35 years and is broken down at 50, much less at 67. He paid in for 35-40 years into a system that doesn't want to give him shite. It's not fair. And I know that life isn't fair, but you are currently paying into SS with the promise of a back end retirement to an extent.

If you want to cancel SS, im down for it but you better come up with a system to off ramp it and pay me back what I put in. I would be good if they gave me the money that I put in with no interest and I won't worry about it in 20 years. I am 45 and have been paying in for 33 years, yep, been on a payroll paying taxes since I was 12. I have close to a 250k paid in so far and have another 20 years to go making more than I ever have. What does an off ramp look like for me with this?

Just a few points.

I want to retire while I can still do things I like to do, i.e. fishing, hunting, play softball, golf, hiking, some volunteering...

I see elderly folks who can barely walk, living in pain, sitting in 'retirement' homes...I think to myself that is going to be me someday. Its going to be all us one day if we make it that long.

In the bigger picture, our goobermint has let in 8-10 million illegals into this country just over the last 3 years. Our tax money is feeding them, housing them, providing medical care for them.

Not including the millions that have come in over the last 30 years, yeah thanks Dubya, obama...

We have people who have worked all their life's, paying taxes, living in peace, who are good salt of the Earth folks who are getting screwed by a bunch of corrupt slimy politicians, corruptcrats who are living like kings and queens while the Average baw and bawette are getting screwed.

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Exactly, I'm not asking that government take care of me but if that's the case, then they should pay me back whatever I paid into it and I'll be on my way.

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I don't think the majority of people get back what they pay into it. SS doesn't work that way. It has ways of paying back a significantly smaller percentage back the more you pay in. And the income levels paid in are not very high when those restrictors kick in.

SS is wealth redistribution. And like all socialist programs, you can't put the toothpaste back into the tube.

Shapiro acknowledges that.
Just as he acknowledges that broken blue collar workers need to sit down amd turn the alarm clock off at retirement.

Shapiro's point is that "life's purpose" is healthy. And for a lot of people, they find purpose and community with a job or part time job.

I don't know why so many panties get wadded up when someone says something that is practical.