Presidential race 2016

[HairOfTheDog]

Truth is, fuck social security. It's only for idiots that can't save/invest their money anyway. I'm pretty sure we could do a lot better than the government with the dollars we're contributing to SS. It's all a rip off to help the stupid.

A lot of people work hard their whole lives and never attain wealth or have much extra to put away.

They just want to care adequately for their families and have counted on using the Social Security they paid into as income when they're old and retired. That doesn't make them all stupid, you rich elitist! And, not all disabled people who rely on Social Security are stupid either.

I think Bernie Sanders' idea, or something like it, is worth considering. He says lift the SS taxable earnings ceiling from $118.5k to $250k; don't change the tax percentage; don't raise the eligibility age; don't disqualify anyone who paid into it from collecting benefits upon retirement. I can see how that would result in a huge increase in the SS fund (though I imagine those making over the current ceiling would bitch about being penalized for being successful, and I get why).

Alternatively, I would like to see an analysis of how Social Security solvency would fare if there was no earnings ceiling, no age eligibility change, but the percentage tax for earnings over say $125k was cut from 6.2% to like 1.5% (just thinking out loud). I bet that would solve the problem, though I'm sure the rich would bitch.

I also understand Christie's point and Tiki's too. Social Security is a tax which was initiated to prevent the elderly and disabled from poverty. If you've got over $200k in retirement income annually and over $4 million in liquid assets, you are already "socially secure" by reasonable standards. Should you really qualify for benefits in that case? It's a reasonable question, IMO.