Will anyone under 40 ever see Social Security?

[fudion14]

If the govt stops paying they'd have to stop collecting, no?

[animikokala]

They won't stop collecting.  They'll just rename it something else, like the "I'm stupid and can't manage money but I'm responsible for an entire nation of people" fund. Or perhaps the "All hard working people must pay extra to cover all the lazy deadbeats in this country" tax.  Yes, I'm talking to you, Welfare-Mom-With-6-Kids-and-Has-One-Every-2-Years-to-Stay-on-Welfare. (And they're all from different men, to boot.)

[Annella]

They won't stop collecting.  They'll just rename it something else, like the "I'm stupid and can't manage money but I'm responsible for an entire nation of people" fund. Or perhaps the "All hard working people must pay extra to cover all the lazy deadbeats in this country" tax.  Yes, I'm talking to you, Welfare-Mom-With-6-Kids-and-Has-One-Every-2-Years-to-Stay-on-Welfare. (And they're all from different men, to boot.)

I don't know where you live, but here they're cracking down on the welfare moms.  They have so much time to get trained (government paid of course), and then they have to find a job.  There's a time limit no matter what now.

SSI used to be solvent and flush, but with all the governmental wasteful spending, and dipping into it with the intent of paying it back (never happens), they've just about got it bankrupt. 

[lvstephanie]

Yeah, this year marked the first year where they paid out more than they took in. They're projecting it to go bankrupt before I reach 65. Thanks older generation... Now instead of just having to worry about my own retirement, I'm having to pay for yours too! This used to be a country of self-reliant people, but now we expect the government to care for us cradle to grave. If we don't change this mentality, pretty soon it won't just be Social Security that'll go bankrupt. And what will later generations do then?

[animikokala]

I don't know where you live, but here they're cracking down on the welfare moms.  They have so much time to get trained (government paid of course), and then they have to find a job.  There's a time limit no matter what now.

SSI used to be solvent and flush, but with all the governmental wasteful spending, and dipping into it with the intent of paying it back (never happens), they've just about got it bankrupt.  

Lived in TN till this year.  They have 5 years to find a job!  That's an awful long time to waste on "training".  Trust me, I grew up in these poor neighborhoods.  Lived right next door to one of these women.  Every 18 months-2 years she'd have another child.  (You got extra benefits for children under 2)  Never saw any father figure for any of these kids in the 8 years I lived there. If these women wanted to work, they'd stop popping out kids and go find a job at walmart!  Or have all their baby daddies pay child support, in which case they wouldn't need to really work.

To be fair, nowadays it's tougher to find a job, but if you care about your kids you'd work at a Mcdonalds if it lets you bring food home to them.  And I think I may be a bit bitter about it, really, because my step-mom had to work long hours at basic jobs that didn't require a degree, just to make ends meet.  We, of course, were not eligible for the benefits of welfare; her making about $800/month was too much money to qualify.   (with 4 of us kids at the time, to boot)

[amyrouse]

They won't stop collecting.  They'll just rename it something else, like the "I'm stupid and can't manage money but I'm responsible for an entire nation of people" fund. Or perhaps the "All hard working people must pay extra to cover all the lazy deadbeats in this country" tax.  Yes, I'm talking to you, Welfare-Mom-With-6-Kids-and-Has-One-Every-2-Years-to-Stay-on-Welfare. (And they're all from different men, to boot.)

Anyone who has ever had any type of government assistance can tell you...its not that easy...at least not for the honest people.  Take a family of three with the parents working minimum wage.  They would qualify for less than $200 a month in food stamps in my state, the child would be the only one qualified for medicaid, and their government housing would be set at the maximum amount, which is close to half of the monthly income.  Plus, they would have to pay for daycare, which would eat up just one of the minimum wage checks.  What is the motivation here to get off government assistance, when doing so would only make life even that much more difficult for this family struggling to get by?

Things aren't always as black and white as they seem.

[Annella]

Yeah, this year marked the first year where they paid out more than they took in. They're projecting it to go bankrupt before I reach 65. Thanks older generation... Now instead of just having to worry about my own retirement, I'm having to pay for yours too! This used to be a country of self-reliant people, but now we expect the government to care for us cradle to grave. If we don't change this mentality, pretty soon it won't just be Social Security that'll go bankrupt. And what will later generations do then?

Whoa!  Wait a minute.  The older generation has nothing to do with why the system is going broke.  In fact, the older generation put more than enough money in it working 25-40 years, and the interest generated on it alone would have carried it for centuries.  The Government has "dipped" into it time and time again for their bad mismanagement of funds, and their extravagant spending habits.

A lot of people would not even file for SSI, because they've been putting their money into IRA's, 401K's, etc. However, thanks to the economy, because of the pork barrel spending of our government, our economy is in the toilet.  Every person who has worked for years, and put away for retirement in order not to take from SSI, many of them have lost their life savings because of the Market drop, and the trickle down effect of the economy through no fault of their own.

Do you think they have a right to SSI?  Sure they do.  They've worked their tails off, only to realize they won't have enough to retire the way they had planned.  Many of the elder generation are going back to work, or they are putting off retirement until later because they're trying to make up for what the Government has lost for them.  Do you think the economy is the older generations fault?  If you do, your misinformed.

[tee1265]

I really don't think so!!  That's not to say that  they will stop collecting it!!  If they stop spending our money on things that don't even matter, then maybe people under 40 will see social security.

[Shahrukhlover]

I highly doubt it.  Just because they discontinue the program doesn't mean that the government won't find other thinggs to take our money for.

[animikokala]

Anyone who has ever had any type of government assistance can tell you...its not that easy...at least not for the honest people.  Take a family of three with the parents working minimum wage.  They would qualify for less than $200 a month in food stamps in my state, the child would be the only one qualified for medicaid, and their government housing would be set at the maximum amount, which is close to half of the monthly income.  Plus, they would have to pay for daycare, which would eat up just one of the minimum wage checks.  What is the motivation here to get off government assistance, when doing so would only make life even that much more difficult for this family struggling to get by?

Things aren't always as black and white as they seem.

Please see my post directly above yours.  Believe me, I KNOW what it's like to grow up like that, watching other kids get all the brand new toys and clothes that were IN.  Making do with Goodwill clothing and toys in the meanwhile.  By the age of 8, we were spending our days after school (and homework) cleaning the house/cooking supper, and helping care for our little brothers, since Mom was too exausted to do much when she got home.  Although it wasn't until my older sister and I were grown, but my Mom was finally able to go to college for a degree (my fiance and I paid all the bills, we let them and my 4 little brothers live with us in our house.)  Now, she makes just enough to do okay, although we've got her paying a reduced rent on the house she's using, since we moved for my fiance's new job and can't afford 2 full home payments (otherwise we would have had to sell the house, and they'd have had to move).

[lvstephanie]

Yeah, this year marked the first year where they paid out more than they took in. They're projecting it to go bankrupt before I reach 65. Thanks older generation... Now instead of just having to worry about my own retirement, I'm having to pay for yours too! This used to be a country of self-reliant people, but now we expect the government to care for us cradle to grave. If we don't change this mentality, pretty soon it won't just be Social Security that'll go bankrupt. And what will later generations do then?

Whoa!  Wait a minute.  The older generation has nothing to do with why the system is going broke.  In fact, the older generation put more than enough money in it working 25-40 years, and the interest generated on it alone would have carried it for centuries.  The Government has "dipped" into it time and time again for their bad mismanagement of funds, and their extravagant spending habits.

A lot of people would not even file for SSI, because they've been putting their money into IRA's, 401K's, etc. However, thanks to the economy, because of the pork barrel spending of our government, our economy is in the toilet.  Every person who has worked for years, and put away for retirement in order not to take from SSI, many of them have lost their life savings because of the Market drop, and the trickle down effect of the economy through no fault of their own.

Do you think they have a right to SSI?  Sure they do.  They've worked their tails off, only to realize they won't have enough to retire the way they had planned.  Many of the elder generation are going back to work, or they are putting off retirement until later because they're trying to make up for what the Government has lost for them.  Do you think the economy is the older generations fault?  If you do, your misinformed.

I agree that the problem with Social Security failing is due mostly to government's mismanagement of it, but the government is made up of people and were voted into office by people. If the government of the past is responsible for social security failing, then by extension it is also the fault of that generation that made up the governement or voted them in. The first time government dipped into the trust fund, they should have immediately been voted out of office. Instead, they left it getting ransacked and never bothered to try to come up with a solution to fix it.

You ask if they have a right to SSI, but don't I have a right to it too when I retire? I'll have worked my tail off too, diligently paying into it year after year, but right now I won't have ANYTHING when I retire. People complained when Madoff's ponzi scheme left a bunch of investors high and dry, imagine how people feel about the US's ponzi scheme where we are forced into paying into it even though we know it's going to collapse before we see any return on our investment.

Don't get me wrong; I'm very sick about how our current generation is hosing up the country too. These huge deficits that we're making now will probably be paid for by later generations. Our children are going to be faced with the problems caused by a power-hungry government, corporate greed unbridled by moral discipline, and generations of people thinking that the government is the solution to all of our ills.

[monnee]

No because of the way the govt is pork spending taxpayers $$$$$ and America is already trillions in debt.

[amyrouse]

Anyone who has ever had any type of government assistance can tell you...its not that easy...at least not for the honest people.  Take a family of three with the parents working minimum wage.  They would qualify for less than $200 a month in food stamps in my state, the child would be the only one qualified for medicaid, and their government housing would be set at the maximum amount, which is close to half of the monthly income.  Plus, they would have to pay for daycare, which would eat up just one of the minimum wage checks.  What is the motivation here to get off government assistance, when doing so would only make life even that much more difficult for this family struggling to get by?

Things aren't always as black and white as they seem.

Please see my post directly above yours.  Believe me, I KNOW what it's like to grow up like that, watching other kids get all the brand new toys and clothes that were IN.  Making do with Goodwill clothing and toys in the meanwhile.  By the age of 8, we were spending our days after school (and homework) cleaning the house/cooking supper, and helping care for our little brothers, since Mom was too exausted to do much when she got home.  Although it wasn't until my older sister and I were grown, but my Mom was finally able to go to college for a degree (my fiance and I paid all the bills, we let them and my 4 little brothers live with us in our house.)  Now, she makes just enough to do okay, although we've got her paying a reduced rent on the house she's using, since we moved for my fiance's new job and can't afford 2 full home payments (otherwise we would have had to sell the house, and they'd have had to move).

Ok...you were poor.  Point given.  I take issue with the statement you made here, though:

They won't stop collecting.  They'll just rename it something else, like the "I'm stupid and can't manage money but I'm responsible for an entire nation of people" fund. Or perhaps the "All hard working people must pay extra to cover all the lazy deadbeats in this country" tax.  Yes, I'm talking to you, Welfare-Mom-With-6-Kids-and-Has-One-Every-2-Years-to-Stay-on-Welfare. (And they're all from different men, to boot.)

All hard working people must pay extra to cover all the lazy deadbeats in this country?  Sounds like you don't have much sympathy for anyone else who may really be struggling to get by...because if anyone is accepting any assistance from the government, they must be a lazy deadbeat.  Instead of railing over how unfair it is for people to be on welfare, why not protest the fact that cost of living and minimum wage are wholly disproportionate?  Without assistance, many honest, hardworking families would be homeless, and it offends me that anyone would insinuate that everyone utilizing assistance is a lazy deadbeat.

[animikokala]

All hard working people must pay extra to cover all the lazy deadbeats in this country?  Sounds like you don't have much sympathy for anyone else who may really be struggling to get by...because if anyone is accepting any assistance from the government, they must be a lazy deadbeat.  Instead of railing over how unfair it is for people to be on welfare, why not protest the fact that cost of living and minimum wage are wholly disproportionate?  Without assistance, many honest, hardworking families would be homeless, and it offends me that anyone would insinuate that everyone utilizing assistance is a lazy deadbeat.

Hardly the case.  I apologize if I've offended anyone, but I specifically stated lazy deadbeats.  I did not state "people who are hard on their luck/work hard to make ends meet but can't".  When I say lazy deadbeats, I mean exactly that.  I'm talking about the jerks who just want a free handout, and refuse to look for a job until they are FORCED to (as in they will lose benefits if they don't).  Or the people who defraud the system for that free money.  It's those people who drag the system down, and make it harder for those who need the help to actually get it. 

[fudion14]

Yeah, that's a good point.   They would never want to give up that source of revenue but yeah they'd probably call it something else .. or maybe people won't notice.  Like they don't notice that their banks are paying them .1% and raising their interest rates.

If the govt stops paying they'd have to stop collecting, no?