4 ms·

Under current laws of social security “defaults” it will still pay out something like 70-80% of authorized benefits. There is no reason to believe it will ever

Under current laws of social security “defaults” it will still pay out something like 70-80% of authorized benefits. There is no reason to believe it will ever be 0% as the benefits are paid out of taxes that are continually collected from current workers.

AngryData 4y ago
The only reason to believe it will still exist in the future is because people believe it should exist and should pay out from the government pocket even if it technically doesn't have the money. The problem is many millennials and Gen Z have already given up on social security, do not believe in it in the future, and will not vote to keep a dead or dieing SS program alive when they themselves had abandoned it long ago. And once they hit critical mass the SS can actually die without voters to backup it up and along with it all the terrible old precedences of that program will disappear. That will leave a huge hole for retirement funds, but it also means a new program can be implimented into its place, something like a basic income that has become more popular or just another social security model that has different specifics and rules. Current social security is relying heavily on population rising or at the least not falling, but even that is very questionable at this point and could end up being the nails in its coffin.
- infamouscow 4y ago
  > The problem is many millennials and Gen Z have already given up on social security, do not believe in it in the future, and will not vote to keep a dead or dieing SS program alive when they themselves had abandoned it long ago. Good. Let's be brutally honest and ask who's really to blame for this.
  - pessimizer 4y ago
    All the people who say that Social Security is in danger usually then elaborately explain that it's in danger because they themselves are going to try their best to dismantle and defund it.
    - infamouscow 4y ago
      I don't think Gen Z is against SS. I think Gen Z is against a government riddled with incompetent clowns that mismanage SS. Until all of those idiots are gone, Gen Z doesn't care.
      - charcircuit 4y ago
        I'm a part of gen Z and am against SS. Being forced to give old people a percentage of my income is literally slavery and is extremely unethical.
        heartbreak 4y ago
        > is literally slavery I recommend a refresher on “literal slavery.”
  - triceratops 4y ago
    > Let's be brutally honest and ask who's really to blame for this. The people who designed SS to be funded out of payroll taxes instead of corporate taxes, buybacks, and dividends. No seriously, hear me out. As the economy became more efficient, fewer and fewer highly-paid workers are needed to work in it. This leads to overall lower SS tax per head being collected as the economy becomes more productive. What you really want is for the growth of the economy to be captured in supporting seniors - so tax the indicators of that growth. Unfortunately they had real, political reasons for setting it up that way. Funding it with payroll taxes was the only way to get the bill passed, and ensure it wouldn't be gutted. (I'm paraphrasing from books I've read). And the people who paid into the program would feel morally entitled to receive benefits, and thus would always support the program.
- gilbetron 4y ago
  The only way it is disappearing is if millennials, when they are eligible to receive benefits, decide not to receive them. As of 2019, there 69.1 million people received benefits from programs administered by the Social Security Administration ( https://www.ssa.gov/policy/docs/chartbooks/fast_facts/2020/fast_facts20.html https://www.ssa.gov/policy/docs/chartbooks/fast_facts/2020/f... ). Those people are not going to vote against Social Security, no way. And the people that care about those people will not vote against it either, for many reasons (for instance: they don't want to see those people suffer or die, or even they don't want to take care of them themselves). Once Millennials are the majority getting the benefits, they should feel free to refuse them and shut down the program.
- pclmulqdq 4y ago
  Even without millennials and Gen Z, there are a lot of Gen X-ers who are skeptical of SS despite being only 10-20 years from receiving it. Even when they do get money from it, many of them will likely still believe that it is unjust given how much they paid for it. Everyone but the boomers has had a 401k for most of their working lives, and comparing 401k payout to social security, the "trust fund" looks like it has a terrible ROI.

AngryData 4y ago

The only reason to believe it will still exist in the future is because people believe it should exist and should pay out from the government pocket even if it technically doesn't have the money. The problem is many millennials and Gen Z have already given up on social security, do not believe in it in the future, and will not vote to keep a dead or dieing SS program alive when they themselves had abandoned it long ago. And once they hit critical mass the SS can actually die without voters to backup it up and along with it all the terrible old precedences of that program will disappear. That will leave a huge hole for retirement funds, but it also means a new program can be implimented into its place, something like a basic income that has become more popular or just another social security model that has different specifics and rules. Current social security is relying heavily on population rising or at the least not falling, but even that is very questionable at this point and could end up being the nails in its coffin.

infamouscow 4y ago
> The problem is many millennials and Gen Z have already given up on social security, do not believe in it in the future, and will not vote to keep a dead or dieing SS program alive when they themselves had abandoned it long ago. Good. Let's be brutally honest and ask who's really to blame for this.
- pessimizer 4y ago
  All the people who say that Social Security is in danger usually then elaborately explain that it's in danger because they themselves are going to try their best to dismantle and defund it.
  - infamouscow 4y ago
    I don't think Gen Z is against SS. I think Gen Z is against a government riddled with incompetent clowns that mismanage SS. Until all of those idiots are gone, Gen Z doesn't care.
    - charcircuit 4y ago
      I'm a part of gen Z and am against SS. Being forced to give old people a percentage of my income is literally slavery and is extremely unethical.
      - heartbreak 4y ago
        > is literally slavery I recommend a refresher on “literal slavery.”
- triceratops 4y ago
  > Let's be brutally honest and ask who's really to blame for this. The people who designed SS to be funded out of payroll taxes instead of corporate taxes, buybacks, and dividends. No seriously, hear me out. As the economy became more efficient, fewer and fewer highly-paid workers are needed to work in it. This leads to overall lower SS tax per head being collected as the economy becomes more productive. What you really want is for the growth of the economy to be captured in supporting seniors - so tax the indicators of that growth. Unfortunately they had real, political reasons for setting it up that way. Funding it with payroll taxes was the only way to get the bill passed, and ensure it wouldn't be gutted. (I'm paraphrasing from books I've read). And the people who paid into the program would feel morally entitled to receive benefits, and thus would always support the program.
gilbetron 4y ago
The only way it is disappearing is if millennials, when they are eligible to receive benefits, decide not to receive them. As of 2019, there 69.1 million people received benefits from programs administered by the Social Security Administration ( https://www.ssa.gov/policy/docs/chartbooks/fast_facts/2020/fast_facts20.html https://www.ssa.gov/policy/docs/chartbooks/fast_facts/2020/f... ). Those people are not going to vote against Social Security, no way. And the people that care about those people will not vote against it either, for many reasons (for instance: they don't want to see those people suffer or die, or even they don't want to take care of them themselves). Once Millennials are the majority getting the benefits, they should feel free to refuse them and shut down the program.
pclmulqdq 4y ago
Even without millennials and Gen Z, there are a lot of Gen X-ers who are skeptical of SS despite being only 10-20 years from receiving it. Even when they do get money from it, many of them will likely still believe that it is unjust given how much they paid for it. Everyone but the boomers has had a 401k for most of their working lives, and comparing 401k payout to social security, the "trust fund" looks like it has a terrible ROI.