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I think there are two fundamental problems with social security 1. People think its a lockbox where there's some account with your name on it that your money g
by bko 2y ago
I think there are two fundamental problems with social security
1. People think its a lockbox where there's some account with your name on it that your money goes into that's managed and when you retire you get some annuity based off that. When in actuality today's contributors are paying off past contributors that are now drawing. There's a name for this that I can't remember
2. The rate of return is significantly lower than could be achieved in the market. The expected return throughout your life is 5%. However, for such a long time horizon, an investment into the stock market would make sense, and the long term yield there is around 10%. It's a huge difference.
If you work from 22 to 65 and contribute 5k per year, by the end you put in 220k. 5% return would be $755k while 10% return would be $3.2m
I can't understand why anyone would be opposed to re-thinking the system and moving it to private accounts that actually belong to you. Pay off the people grandfathered, but for people still contributing, let them choose. The only reason I see this not happening is that it would be a big up-front cost as we're now coming to reality that the old system was poorly structured and politicians would have egg on their face.
- techorange 2y agoWouldn’t this increase the risk, for say people who were retiring in 2008-ish?
- bko 2y agoNo. Suppose you retire in 2008. That means you were likely investing since 1970 so your total return since then has been or 9% per year. Realistically you're weighted in the middle of that, so over the last 20 years the return was 177% (log) or also close to 9% per year. And note you're not liquidating your savings in 2008. And also note there is a yield that adds a bit more return.
- Tadpole9181 2y agoSocial security is not an investment vehicle designed to earn profit at any level of risk. It's designed to prevent tens of millions of homeless elderly crumbling our nation because Americans proved the obvious fact that humans have poor long-term risk assessment and planning and cannot or will not do it themselves. This argument is why people who have VC / business mindsets need to stay the hell away from government. Its not a business, it's not a stock, it's not a profit generator: it's about keeping a stable society and taking care of its people.
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]