re: I see people on here say that the social security trust fund was “raided”. That’s false

quote:

---

Holy shite…..are you aware of what a forecast is? Are you f’n aware that demographic changes such as retirement population shifts, working population, etc are highly trackable?

---

Wait a minute, are you telling me the govt had all this information when they set it up?????????? Its as if they thought their projections included interest or something?????? And the surpluses would stay in the fund?????

quote:

---

and retired people see a 23% benefit cut

---

If only that BS worked with the rest of our budget!
We'd be in a FAR better place.

Our 2023 budget ran a 38% deficit. Meanwhile you are focused on the one program NOT in deficit. Let's make a deal. Plan on cutting SS 23% in 10yrs, and use the same blade right now on the rest of our budget deficits. 23% would only put a 60% dent in it, but would at least be a start.

That kind of sets perspective though.

quote:

---

WHY CANT YOU UNDERSTAND

---

I do understand.

The program you described as in current shambles will eventually run a deficit proportionately 40% less than our current general budget deficit.
I do understand.

SS will eventually run a 23% deficit. The rest of our budget is 38% in deficit NOW.
I do understand.

What is it that YOU don't understand?

The reason your sources are soooooo concerned about SS is they know the Feds are heavily reliant on the cheap borrow SS allows to finance the rest of our debt.

Fiscal dominance is far easier to ward off if the SSTF is a competitive bidder at auction.

It was written by conservative economist brian riedl less than one month ago, a man imminently more qualified to write about entitlement finances than you are.

Calling Brian riedl an idiot when it comes to entitlement financing is like calling Einstein an idiot at physics

I’ll be off the grid by 2033 if social security is not reformed

Don’t want to deal with the widespread violence when tens of millions of Americans see a 23% benefit cut

quote:

---

What is intragovernmental debt? How big is it?

Intragovernmental debt is debt that one part of the government owes to another part. In almost all cases, it is debt held in government trust funds, such as the Social Security trust funds. These debts represent assets to the part of the federal government that owns them (i.e., Social Security), but liabilities to the parts of the government that issue them (the Treasury Department). Therefore, they have no net effect on the government's overall finances.

As of today, intragovernmental debt totals $6.8 trillion, up from $4.8 trillion a decade ago. However, it is projected to fall to $5.6 trillion by the end of FY 2033, as some major trust funds will soon be forced to begin selling off the debt they hold in order to continue covering their expenses.

---

I'm sure there will be buyers lined up to buy those low-rate bearing treasuries in a (normal) interest rate envrionment. Ask SVB how that works out.

quote:

---

Calling Brian riedl an idiot when it comes to entitlement financing is like calling Einstein an idiot at physics

---

Dude, I call a spade a spade.

The quote you provided (without a link/citing btw), you attributed to Brian Riedl. If he actually said that, it would be the equivalent to Einstein warning that Climate Change would leave the North Pole ice free by 2013, and Miami submerged by 2030. If Einstein made such a claim, I'd absolutely call him on it.

The statement you quoted about SS is false. It is made by someone who is either (a) Lying, or (b) Has no clue WTF he's talking about. There is no third option.

Given our current catastrophic operating Budget Deficit levels, you should shred, forget, destroy, or abandon whatever manipulative source(s) you've encountered leading you to single out Social Security as being in "shambles." We should be so lucky as to have the rest of our budget in those shambles. Doesa that register? If the rest of our budget were in such "shambles" we'd SAVE >$2T/yr for the next 8-10yrs, followed by $.8T/yr for the next century thereafter.

Let's explore that further. You posted then reposted a graph depicting a $5.1T revenue shortfall in SS over a 22yr span. Applying the same percentage shortfall to our national budget per year would SAVE us nearly $1T per year.

Further, if we could apply the current SS "shambles" situation to our general budget over the next 22yrs, we'd SAVE about $20TRILLION over the first 10yrs, and about $10TRILLION over the next 12yrs.

So while you show a 5.1T shortfall in your SS graph, were we so lucky to have the same SS shambles budgeting applied to our entire US budget, we would SAVE $30TRILLION over the next 22yrs!!

Yet, someone has you focused on SS. You should ask yourself why.

To be clear, SS will need to be addressed. Personally, I'd just as soon see 23% cuts in outlays (which would basically amount to freezing COLAs over time). Because IMO SS has ripped enough from its contributors already. Forcing young workers to contribute 12.4% (not 6.2%) of what should be their income into a low yield federal bond fund is basically federal defalcation.

If a financial advisor recommended a 20yr old loan him 12.4% of her paycheck for the next 50yrs in exchange for finally receiving incremental payouts at the equivalent of a 3% ROI (assuming she didn't die prior to retirement) once she approached 70yrs of age, he'd have his credentials revoked. Yet, when the US government does the same, you call it entitlement, wellfare, etc. It is bizarre someone as well read as yourself could be so easily bamboozled.

quote:

---

It stops being your money the minute you earn. They get their's first, you get whats left.

---

And it is not like the taxes that are withheld go to a separate account. The SS taxes are funneled right into the U.S. Treasury each pay period. Social Security gets the withholding information from the IRS on your W-2 so they know how much you contributed.

One way to solve the middle aged out there is to create a government backed IRA that is free from end user costs and cannot lose value and grows at minimum the rate of inflation. It can also be pre taxed dollars to cut your income tax liability. It could be a 10/10 match up to 50k a year that goes into new Social Security IRA that will be used to fill in mandatory cuts to the program that would reduce your benefits. Non participants would see the cuts to benefits. It is also cash value program, to where it pays out to the beneficiaries the full amount of the cash put in plus any earnings if the participant dies before the funds are exhausted.