The crowd that hangs out at HN isn't really the main problem, you guys make more than enough to be able to retire on your own. But for the rest of the US... In

The crowd that hangs out at HN isn't really the main problem, you guys make more than enough to be able to retire on your own. But for the rest of the US... In Norway, which actually has a working health care and retirement system, that number somewhere in excess of 50%. (33%+ tax on income, 25% VAT on everything and any number of specialized taxes on most services people have to use). Social services are a lot more expensive than most people realize. What is the total tax level in the US? If it is even 30%, you shouldn't expect that the state will be able to cover everything. Your real problem is that wages are lower than in the rest of the industrialized world, and hence that the average worker is unable to save up enough money to retire comfortably in any way. The way I see it, the US has been living a dream for the last 30 years. It's going to hurt. The median wage has to double, and you need to save the excess. Or else you'll have a major poverty problem. When I say this in other forums, people always bring up the discussion of private vs. public social services. This is a red herring. A well-run public system doesn't waste more than half of the money we put into it - if that is the case, you have more than one problem.