By J.J. Jackson
You think federal government ponzi schemes like Social Security and Medicare are in trouble now? Just you wait! Mark my words.
To all of you out there who are banking on getting nice checks every month from Washington DC or having your health care paid for in your old age, I have one suggestion for you. Start making alternate plans now.
And if, unfortunately, you are currently receiving such a benefit? For you I have a warning. Start kissing up to your children. Because you might need them sooner than you think to help you make ends meet. And if you did not take your own retirement planning seriously you may be moving in with one of them in the near future.
Right now every American worker has their paychecks garnished. This garnishment is going to pay for the benefits of senior citizens in America who are certain they are entitled to that money because one, they paid into the system and two, politicians have promised it to them.
But the problem is the same for seniors, those near retirement and foolish politicians who keep making promises of future retirement benefits. This problem is how to convince workers, generally younger Americans, to keep paying into a system that is quickly headed towards insolvency and which they will not themselves ever hope to benefit from.
The scam was simple in that if you paid into Social Security and Medicare when you were in your 20’s you would have checks sent your way in your 60’s. Now however it is not looking like if you are in your 20’s that you will ever see a dime of what you pay in.
In 2009, the Social Security and Medicare Boards of Trustees pegged the arrival of insolvency for Social Security in the year 2037[1]. As a 39 year old, hard working American myself that would have me at just hitting the age of 65 when this happens. Think I will see anything in my pocket with this prediction? I certainly do not count on it. All my money which government took from my paychecks, essentially at the point of a gun, will be spent and long gone to have helped some current retiree buy a nice condo in Florida and trinkets for their grandchildren.
It gets worse. In 2010 Social Security officially began paying out more in benefits than it brought in [2]. Just an FYI, back in 2005 it was predicted that this ominous benchmark was not supposed to be reached until 2017 [3]. In a mere five years that point of revenues falling behind expenditures moved up a horrifying six years.
See a pattern here? If you do not, let me help you out and clean the fog off your rose-colored glasses. The government keeps telling us that everything is ok when it comes to Social Security. But every prediction they make about how much is left in the coffers and how much time we have until all Hell breaks loose keeps getting accelerated. The point at which old people will start marching in the streets and hitting police officers with their canes comes closer and closer to the present all the time.
These politicians stand at the podium and tell us one thing. But behind closed doors they know the truth is something else. They just hope that you will not notice. Considering however that this is the United States of America in the 21st century and not the Soviet Union in the 1960’s, the truth has a tendency to get leaked out every now and again.
Oh, and then there is Medicare. I hope you are in good health all you seniors! Because while Social Security may last another twenty to thirty years, Medicare’s fund for hospitalization care is slated to be depleted by 2017 [4]. In case you need a little reality check, this is just six years from now.
Now, think about all this from the perspective of someone like myself or someone that is even younger. Exactly what incentive do we have to continue paying thousands of dollars every year in taxes to specifically cover programs that we will never benefit from? I am not even addressing the whole, obvious, unconstitutionality of these programs of course. I am just talking about this from a logical and financial standpoint as one who is looking out for my own, rational self interest.
How long until people 40 years of age and younger say enough? How long until people 40 years of age and younger realize en masse that if they were allowed to keep those hundreds of dollars every month right now going to pay benefits to seniors that they could be investing that money themselves and providing for their own quite comfortable retirements? And what will they do once they awaken to such a reality? Oh, there will be a push to end these sorts of wealth redistribution schemes quicker than a laxative laced cupcake can clear out Grandpa Frank’s colon.
Thank God you put your faith in the federal government right seniors?
[1] http://www.forbes.com/2009/07/29/board-of-trustees-personal-finance-retirement-saving-social-security.html
[2] http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/25/business/economy/25social.html
[3] http://www.michigandaily.com/content/social-security-insolvent-2017-trustees-say
[4] http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124212734686110365.html
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J.J. Jackson is a libertarian conservative author from Pittsburgh, PA who has been writing and promoting individual liberty since 1993 and is President of Land of the Free Studios, Inc. He is the Pittsburgh Conservative Examiner for Examiner.com. He is also the owner of The Right Things - Conservative T-shirts & Gifts The Right Things. His weekly commentary along with exclusives not available anywhere else can be found at Liberty Reborn.
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