Many Americans believe Social Security will die before they retire

Time to raise the retirement age and take the limits off what Americans can invest in a Roth IRA. Right now it is only $5500/year ($6500 if you are over 50.) It is ironic that the young and incredibly uneducated masses have cut their own throats.

I thank my college students everyday for getting a education so they can have the honor of paying for my Social Security. Will they see the same type of benefits? Don't count on it.

Lets see,

the government takes your money forcible away form you,

makes empty promises,

then hopes you die so they do not have to pay it back.

That is social security.

I like individual responsibility better.

The sad thing about this article is the fact that the same group of young adults that believe that SS will die before they retire are the same ones who support Obamacare.

What makes them think that Obamacare will do any better than SS? Both programs are being run by the Federal Government.

Mountanman

Absolutely correct. And that is why it would be such a great thing for the American government to begin a program where individules could "choose" to ween themselves off of the forced SS train. It would and should be an easy sell to young people when they see how much more money and control they could have with their retirement funds. However Democrats don't trust people to make smart decisions like that. I remember when Bill Clinton was talking about giving people more money back and he responded that they probably would not do the right thing with it. Hence, Democrats have taken it upon themselves to protect us from ourselves. Because a few would not be smart, we all have to be dumbed down the the lowest common citizen. Nanny government.

We will reach a tipping point soon. Young people will wake up to the fact that their parents and grandparents have spent trillions on themselves and are sending the bill to their grandchildren who get get absolutely nothing except higher taxes. Unfortunately, the U.S. economy will have to be dragged through the mud (like Greece's is today) before people wake up to the truth.

We hear a lot of talk about Social Security running out of money but I never hear about Welfare running out of money.

Count me in that it will be dead in the next decade. We have little chance of saving it when we now have Obamacare to fund. Good luck to us, we're headed down a horrible path.

Mr Mac,
It is the unfortunate nature of government to be greedy and inefficient with available money. Consider US socialized welfare programs: Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid for example. They're all running out of money and consuming an ever increasing percent of the Federal budget. This is a precursor of what we can expect with Obamacare, too.

ute alumni,
Young adults hitting the age of 25 will be those who will feel much of the greatest impact of their votes for Obama. Of all age demographics, young adults will see some of the greatest relative increases in insurance premiums under Obamacare. They will face much of the increasing burden for financing Social Security. They are entering the workforce at a time when it is increasingly hamstrung by government policies. Sadly, it will be too late for them when they realize their mistake, and we will all suffer with them.

People were never supposed to get this old, and live so long, in such large numbers.
Many of our hard working grandparents would not have been able to survive without Social Security.
Depression era people were grateful for anything and everything.

younger folks voted en masse for obama and his liberal cronies. guess they get what they voted for

Many Americans KNOW Social Security will die when republicans are voted into power...

And the voters who put them there, as a result, will earn the just rewards of their vote.

The promise of social security is, arguably, the biggest lie perpetrated by our government this century.

1. Shane 333 is right. Social Security meets the definition of a classic Ponzi Scheme.
2. Seniors today are not steeling from the young. The government is steeling from everyone because congressman can't control themselves.
3. In the beginning the seniors were steeling from the young. They took in far more than they paid.
4. The best thing that could happen to SS is for it to be converted into a 401K plan, out of the reach of anyone in Washington DC.

The tone of this article completely masks the truth. Their attempt to appear balanced masks the fraud that Social Security is.

I have heard this same bull since I was a kid. If the government would stop robbing from it for
their own needs all would be fine.

Fortunately, some of the younger folks are catching on to the unsustainable nature of the Ponzi scheme that is "Social Security."

The skeptics should be prudently preparing to support themselves in old age because they correctly understand that there will not be any money in the SS program by the time they retire. Or, if there is, the value of the dollar will have so totally collapsed that any SS payments (and likely their own savings and investments) will be valueless.

The percentage of people who think there will be SS money coming to them in old age is roughly the same number who believe in the Easter Bunny, and that Space aliens abducted Elvis. No amount of data or education will convince them otherwise, so they can continue to live in a fantasy world. As long as they do not have the power to take the savings from those who understand SS is bankrupt.

@Shane333

You are right, and it's depressing.

I have to admit, it wouldn't bother me if they were up front about it. "We don't have money for you but you still need to pay." I prefer being straight forward instead of implying I might get it back one day, which I won't.

Try this. Take your last paycheck and note the FICA deduction amount that the government confiscated for your S.S. Now double that for what your employer paid in matching payments on your behalf. Now multiply that amount by the number of paychecks you receive in one year. Now multiply that by the number of years you work or plan to work. Now multiply that amount by 3.5% simple passbook interest any bank would pay! That's what you could have for your retirement if the government would have let you keep your own money! Mine is 7 figures and I am very depressed.

The failure of elected government to rationally address the demographics of Social Security is a disgrace. At the time of its inception life expectancy was about 2 years more than retirement age. Not it is more than 12 years. One need not be sophisticated in mathematics to see the discrepancy and looming insolvency. As current politicians do nothing they are only hoping that it doesn't crash on their watch.

The whole idea of social security is embarrassing.

Americans aren't disciplined enough to save their money, so we tell the government to save it for us. But in the process, enormous expenses are incurred and we receive only a portion of what we earned.

I want to emphasize that to some degree we are all victims of Social Security. Just as my money is being taken and given to someone else, today's recipients were once taxed and their money was given to someone else before them.

Sadly, Social Security creates a form of generational warfare. The interests of grandparents are pitted against the interests of their children and grandchildren. As a demographic group retirees will, with their votes, effectively crucify anyone who threatens their SS payments...ensuring that their own children and grandchildren remain shackled to a grievous tax. In their defense, these same retirees have been sold on a lie by the government for pretty much their entire life and now it is generally too late to make different preparations for retirement.

Nobody has "paid into" any retirement account with Social Security taxes. The "paid into" talk is part of the government's lie.

Some facts:
Social Security payments are a TAX, not an investment. The SS taxes you pay are being given immediately to those who are recipients. Thus SS is a Ponzi scheme managed by the government and forced on us all. It is all redistribution of wealth.

The first SS recipient, Ida Mae Fuller, paid $24 and change in SS taxes, then received over $22,800 in payments. So SS has ALWAYS been a Ponzi scheme and never a retirement account.

SS was originally meant to help those who live beyond the median life expectancy. This means that as life expectancy increased beyond the age of 65, the burden on the system has increased.

Also, as fertility rates decreased, we have less workers paying SS taxes relative to those receiving payments. Currently there are only 1.7 full time workers paying for each recipient receiving payments. When you add part time workers it climbs to about 3 workers per recipient. In the 1960's there were about 5 or 6 workers per recipient. The demographic trend to support the program is unsustainable.