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I would agree with everything you said. It's more of me being a terrible worker, than bad career choice.
I went to college for 3 years to learn to be a computer programmer. I failed out. I went back to college to learn how to work on cars, and failed. I went back to do engineering, and failed.
Failed out of college 3 times. Keep in mind, that's failed out, not dropped out. Drop outs end up tech company CEOs. Fail outs, just fail. And I worked my butt off too. I can remember staying at the college until 2 AM for days, even weeks, and still failing out.
Simply not smart enough I guess.
I tired a number of different fields. Hated retail completely. Hated dealing with customers.
Got a job at a Cadillac dealership, and broke every car I touched. End up washing cars, instead of fixing them.
Tried to work phone-tech support, but I couldn't understand over the phone, what people were doing. If I can see the computer, I can generally fix it. But over the phone sucked.
Tried to drive a truck. Went 18-wheeler up to Maine, over to Oregon, down to California, and back to Ohio. I couldn't sleep in the truck. After 3 days of not being able to sleep, I fell asleep at the wheel of a truck doing 65 on the highway, figured I needed to get off the road before I killed someone.
Did a dozen other jobs, and about a dozen more I don't even remember anymore. Wendy's, delivery driver, low-end sales, cell phone repair, warehouse worker, and on and on.
Eventually I realized life is hopeless for me, and just accepted where I am. Right now I work for a computer company. I pull a computer out of the box. Turn it on. Hit F12. Wait until it finishes. Put it back in the box. The company is trash, but I have a good manager, and I'm double minimum wage. Can expect more given the lack of skills and education.
It this point, I have no future plans or dreams. Just trying to get to the end of this race now. And my pass time is... well... this. I talk to people about political garbage. I know I likely will never convince anyone of anything, but at least it passes the time.
That is sad. You of all people need to be contributing to SS. I sense that you are angry (as I was) that money you need now is being withheld from you.
Manhattan bagel and some start up movie. Burned up 40k on the former in one night.
I do. I want to do that. In fact, I want to do that even if I didn't get paid. I'd love to convince as many people as possible to save for retirement as I can.You should be a financial advisor then. You'll certainly make more than $20,000 per year.
It might be a very good deal for you if you remain a low wage earner.
"Social Security favors very low wage earners by "front loading" the benefits formula to provide a higher level of benefits on the lowest amount of wages."
Are your Social Security taxes a good investment?
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Presently, at an annual salary of US$20,000, you and your employer are paying a FICA tax of about US$200 monthly. When you retire at 67, you will be getting about US$800 monthly in SS benefits. I think that's quite fair and not horrible.
If you don't mind me saying, ... if you were instead earning US$40,000 annually today, you would have retired with about US$1600 monthly in SS benefits. So, it is you yourself who have "doomed" yourself to "poverty" when you retire, not the US government.
....... But it seems, at 40 yo, you are already all set for a comfortable retirement, ie you have already paid off your house mortgage, have a nice nest-egg in private investments, should have some cash savings, etc.
Of course, getting married and having kids or getting scammed by others through greed or being hospitalized for a serious condition(= becoming disabled) will likely put paid to your plans for a comfortable retirement.
....... To prevent such misfortune, a Christian should keep God's Law, either partially or fully, as per ACTS.15:24-29 = a Gentile Christian only needs to keep non-burdensome laws of Moses, especially morality laws, eg the Ten Commandments(EXODUS.20). He/she is exempted from the law of circumcision, kosher food laws, etc.
It is not guaranteed that everyone earning US$20,000 annually will end up retiring as millionaires through self-conducted private investments, instead of through Social Security. Some workers won't save and invest. Some invest but may end up with nothing upon retirement, eg their Mutual Fund investment company goes bankrupt - Bernie Madoff. The SSTF prevents this from happening. Christians are told to be considerate of their weaker or less smart brethren = smart Christian workers should tolerate SS for the sake of not-so-smart workers.
....... Since 1935, the SS has not defaulted on paying out monthly benefits to retirees, and will likely not.
I'm glad you mentioned 1970. That's when our trade deficits, and our financial problems, began. Of course people stopped saving then, the money was leaving the country. Then the oil prices went through the roof and the biggest transfer of wealth in history took place, from us to the middle east. SS had nothing to do with it.
The basis of SS is that many wouldn't live to collect, just like any insurance plan. With extended longevity more is being paid out than was anticipated. Lot's of moving part to SS.
All wages and benefits are paid out of company profits, paid for by their customers, either directly or indirectly. As you rightly pointed out most companies have a wage 'formula' that they must adhere to, so it makes little difference if I pay 1/2 or all of my SS contribution; my total compensation package will be the same.
Also just because many don't live to collect very much in SS doesn't mean everyone gets screwed. I and many others have made out very well. I used to chafe at anything taken from my paycheck as I needed it at the time. But now that I'm older I see the necessity of it.
That's just splitting hairs.The Civil war ended in May of 1865. Abolition of slavery was not part of the war, nor the end of the war.
The abolition of slavery passed with the 13th amendment in December of 1865.
With your income it's hard to save much. That's why SS is a good deal for you. You'll appreciate it when you retire. I'm glad that you have a 401K and Roth IRA. You should be ok.
.If I put that $200 a month, into a mutual fund earning just 8%, I'd have almost a million dollars by age 67.
After the 2010 financial crisis was over, the government of Greece has resumed paying out pension benefits to her workers, albeit at a reduced rate. In comparison, a mutual fund company can go bankrupt and completely disappear with all of the investors' money. ...They said the same thing in Greece, and Venezuela. In 1985, people said the Soviet Union had been around since the 1920s, and was never going to fail.
I'll be "ok". I'm not worried about it.
It just makes me mad, that I could be better than "ok". I could be a millionaire.... easily.
Instead I'll have.... $800 a month.
I'm not worried about it. But honestly.... try and switch positions for a moment.
Pretend.... just for a moment, that you knew.... you knew that you knew.... that you could right now be retiring with $8 Million dollars. Pretend that you are like me, and you are looking at your investments right now, and seeing that you have already doubled your money in 8 years.
And you knew for a fact, that if you had been able to put in the money you wanted to put in.... that you could retire with $8 Million dollars.
But instead of getting $8 Million, you are now looking to a future of getting about $1,600 a month, because someone decided that they knew better than you, and that you were too dumb to be allowed to have control of your own future.
Would that no make you mad? You are going to survive either way. But you could be wealthy, but thanks to the endless arrogance of others, you are instead going to be poor.
Yeah I'll survive. No problem. That's not the issue. The issue is, I could be extremely wealthy, even with my low income. But instead.... thanks to 'do-gooders' I'll be poor. That's what ticks me off.
Oil prices really didn't go through the roof either. In fact, if you calculate inflation of money over time, and compare today to the 1930s, gasoline is actually cheaper today, than it has been in the past. 25¢ in the 1930s, is roughly equal to $3.40 today. Well, I just filled up for $2.20. So in reality, we're paying a heck of a lot less for gas, than people did in the 30s and 40s, and even the 50s.
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The Mutual Fund Equivalent of Bankruptcy
Mutual funds are not insured or guaranteed = can go bankrupt, especially during a Stock Market crash.
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After the 2010 financial crisis was over, the government of Greece has resumed paying out pension benefits to her workers, albeit at a reduced rate. In comparison, a mutual fund company can go bankrupt and completely disappear with all of the investors' money. ...
Harvard-Trained Mutual Fund Manager Convicted of Securities Fraud and Obstruction of Justice
You don't put all your money into one single investment, ever.
Unless it's your home. Home ownership is the way to security for the common person. Between SS and recovering the equity in a paid-for home through a 'reverse mortgage' a retiree can live pretty well, and still leave something to their heirs.
Unless it's your home. Home ownership is the way to security for the common person. Between SS and recovering the equity in a paid-for home through a 'reverse mortgage' a retiree can live pretty well, and still leave something to their heirs.
In Singapore, they don't have a social security system. Instead they have forced savings for retirement, but it's in whatever investment you the individual choose, and the default option.... is your home.
How is anyone with a reverse mortgage leaving anything to their heirs?
It's an oversimplification of the Singapore system, but I agree using these funds for home ownership is a good idea, so long as there are regulations in place to prevent you from selling said home then squandering the money.
Not until you reach retirement age. Once you reach retirement age, you can do whatever you want with your own money.
Again, I'm a bit offended when people get into this "I have to dictate the lives of everyone else, for their benefit". Every tyrannical maniac, has the same mind set. Every cruel dictator, believes they are controlling everyone else.... for their benefit.
Right.
Except there's the other end of that stick. The person that made the selfish/bad/lazy choices, do we turf them out onto the street to die? Deny them medical?
Whilst the US SS system is clearly sub optimal some kind of mandatory retirement scheme, like the Singapore one you were championing a few posts ago, is essential. People should not be given the option of making the poor choices.
No we don't. That's my whole point.
Health care is a perfect example. Do you know why premiums have doubled and more, since we introduced Obama Care?
All of the problems in our society, are directly because of your ideology being played out.
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