re: Why should current seniors get a $1.00, or 100% of the loaf, and future seniors get zero?

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2008 was more than a challenge and significantly more impactful than anything you listed.

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Vietnam was more significant than any financial downturn. Everything isn’t finance.

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Why should current seniors get a $1.00, or 100% of the loaf, and future seniors get zero? It makes no sense to me.”

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That is because it is nonsense, and nonsense makes little sense to anyone.

e.g., with no cuts, and no adjustments, SS would be sustained and paid at an 80% rate for the next 100yrs. That's a cut, but it ain't zero. The problem for millennials is not "cuts." The problem is as SS is one of the US government's biggest and most reliable debt PURCHASERS, the feds will never push to cut the program. They will push to expand it.

SS is sold as a "Retirement Benefit". In reality Uncle Sam is forcing every US worker to give him a loan. In return he promises to pay workers back (if they live long enough), albeit at a poor (and taxable) ROI. Anyone on this board would be better off if SS did not exist.

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Millennials are ready to get fricked again, no doubt about it

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Millennials have enough time to recover and be fine.

Gen X will be trying to retire while being the first Gen that had to rely on their own savings….right in the timeframe that Medicare and SS are supposed to go belly up.

Don’t blame the boomers or anyone else that’s taking benefits. Blame the cowards in Congress and the people that vote them in. This issue has been known about for 40+ years and they’ve refused to do anything meaningful. Modest adjustments 20-30 years ago would have had compounding effects that would have minimized the problem.

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if it goes belly up...

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We should be so lucky ... but won't happen. As long as the US is in debt, Congress will expand SS collections at every opportunity. Incredibly, a very large swath of the population will thanks Congress for taking more of their money.

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lets fund retirement with a break on estate tax

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You might give that premise a second look, and then slap the shite out of whoever put it in your head. The government BADLY wants to get its hands on estate inheritance (aka the great wealth transfer). A break on estate tax doesn't benefit retirees ... obviously.

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the working younger gens to fund retirement.

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As long as there is a capitalized trustfund, younger gens are still funding their own SS.

When Fed jackasses refer to SS going "broke," it is capitalization of the TF they are specifically referring to.

Why, when EVERYTHING else is cash flow negative, is it so damn important for SS to run a surplus?

Because the resulting TF is a dipping pool for federal spending. The SSTF gets an IOU, while Congressmen use the money to fund their pet projects.

Treasury debt instrument auctions serve the same purpose. That's because SS is nothing but a law requiring workers to buy (and hold for 30-40-50yrs) low ROI US debt instruments +/- any payback.

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my post did feature some sarcasm.

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Just because you paid in doesn't mean you spent right for those 50 years.

Sad that personal responsibility does not exist in this country.

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That is because it is nonsense, and nonsense makes little sense to anyone.

e.g., with no cuts, and no adjustments, SS would be sustained and paid at an 80% rate for the next 100yrs. That's a cut, but it ain't zero. The problem for millennials is not "cuts." The problem is as SS is one of the US government's biggest and most reliable debt PURCHASERS, the feds will never push to cut the program. They will push to expand it.

SS is sold as a "Retirement Benefit". In reality Uncle Sam is forcing every US worker to give him a loan. In return he promises to pay workers back (if they live long enough), albeit at a poor (and taxable) ROI. Anyone on this board would be better off if SS did not exist.

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Imagine if that 15% of income had been invested for a lifetime into a legitimate pension plan. Even if it just tracked the stock index at 9% per year average gain, the first $1000 would now be $36,000.

SS's Trust Fund paying around 2% interest over the same time turns the initial $1000 in to $2000. However, in constant dollar terms, what you could buy for $1000 40 years ago would now cost over $3,000. That quite a swamp creature racket.