On Sun, 09 Jan 2005 19:41:52 -0700, Newps wrote:



Gene Kearns wrote:


Yada, yada. yada.... fine. Not a problem... Return the last 41 years
of investments in my name plus 12% interest and I'm outta here....

That's funny. That's exactly what people are proposing, gradually over
a very long term. And what you paid in to SS is no different than any
other tax. There's no pot with your name on it. Your money was spent a
long tme ago. And what's this about 12%?

Oh, so the money you invest is put into a pot for you? Something
about SS guaranteeing any return is the key.

BS. The fact is that the SS fund has been raided by the party in
control since it's inception.

It's not relavant if the fund was raided or not, all the money that
should be there is taken into consideration. The simple fact is the
baby boomers are starting to retire and this ponzi scheme is being
revealed for what it is. The SS money today returns exactly zero. You
let me simply put it in the bank and I am miles ahead.

Ponzi scheme to those who can benefit from its unraveling so that
people with the intelligence to elect the current president can think
they'll be rich if they go at it all alone, Godsend to millions upon
millions who (lets face it) don't have the education or spare change
to sock it away.


WHAT? Tell me, again, WHO, is making the judgment? YOU?

Yes, what's so hard to understand about that?

Not a problem. If one opts to not participate, they should never be
able to reap any of the benefits.

What if the person(s) make(s) a poor
investment? What if they are a(re) victim(s) of economic reality such
as the dot.bombs of the 1990s? Shall we just let them starve (as they
surely deserve to do, having made a wrong choice) or can we assume
they will be bailed out by a "faith based initiative"?


Oh the sky is falling...blah blah blah. The choices for investment
would be the same as all Federal workers have right now for their 401K.
There are three stock funds, all of which are index funds. One bond
fund, also an index fund and one government securities fund. These are
securities sold only to this fund and they always return 3-4% above
inflation. So there's no chance of people getting sucked into the dot
com boom/bust. If you simply put your money into the government
securities fund you would be far ahead of the guy who has a regular SS
account. Put it all in the S&P 500 fund and you will return, on
average, 11% per year.

I guess that doesn't happen in your world, Nirvana. Wow, I just can't
understand why all the fuss about the crash of a few years back when I
lost about 1/4 million. What the hell was all the ENRON stuff, b.s.?
But you know what, I did it and I took it on the chin. My SS will
provide me with some dog food money if I lose the rest of it. Problem
is that no one trusts big corps any more with t heir money. The
people need a safety net, as little as it may seem to you.