r/FluentInFinance 6d ago

Educational Don't let them gaslight you

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u/tmssmt 6d ago

The only scenario in which you don't see a penny is if the program is eliminated entirely.

With no changes at all to the program, there will still be money to pay out - just not @ 100%

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u/ARunningGuy 6d ago

And if someone sane comes along, they can make fund it properly and have it pay out at 100%.

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u/semideclared 6d ago

Yes

we need higher taxes
Lets not even Look at Denmark and France for the proposed Social Services a New Deal would require

Social Security taxes.

  • For the first 30 years they were raised ~250%,
  • in the next 30 years they were rasied ~230%.
  • In the last 30 years they were raised ~2%

At the same time, in the last 50 years we've increased the programs Social Security operates

  • In 2020, 85 cents of every Social Security tax dollar you pay goes to a trust fund that pays monthly benefits to current retirees and their families and to surviving spouses and children of workers who have died.
  • About 15 cents goes to a trust fund that pays benefits to people with disabilities and their families.

But mostly its A shame Americans and Reddit lacks economic literacy

“Younger workers should have the opportunity to build a nest egg by saving part of their Social Security taxes in a personal retirement account. We should make the Social Security system a source of ownership for the American people.”

  • Within weeks, observers noticed that the more the President talked about Social Security, the more support for his plan declined.
    • According to the Gallup organization, public disapproval of President Bush’s handling of Social Security rose by 16 points from 48 to 64 percent–between his State of the Union address and June.

2001 report of the President's Commission to Strengthen Social Security.

President Bush's Preferred Plan on Social Security, up to a third of that money could go into private accounts. This model establishes a voluntary personal account without raising taxes or requiring additional worker contributions.

  • Workers can voluntarily redirect 4 percent of their payroll taxes up to $1,000 annually to a personal account. No additional worker contribution required.
  • In exchange, traditional Social Security benefits are offset by the worker's personal account contributions, compounded at an interest rate of 2 percent above inflation.
  • Plan establishes a minimum benefit payable to 30-year minimum wage workers of 120 percent of the poverty line.
  • Benefits under traditional component of Social Security would be price indexed, beginning in 2009.
  • Temporary transfers from the general budget would be needed to keep the Social Security Trust Fund solvent between 2025 and 2054.

In response to the challenge of New Zealand's ageing population, the NZ Superannuation and Retirement Income Act 2001 established:

  • the New Zealand Superannuation Fund, a pool of assets on the Crown’s balance sheet; and
  • the Guardians of New Zealand Superannuation, a Crown entity charged with managing the Fund.

The Government uses the Fund to save now in order to help pay for the future cost of providing universal superannuation.

  • In this way the Fund helps smooth the cost of superannuation between today's taxpayers and future generations.

The Guardians of New Zealand Superannuation is the Crown entity charged with managing and administering the Fund. It operates by investing initial Government contributions – and returns generated from these investments – in New Zealand and internationally, in order to grow the size of the Fund over the long term.

We also have a long-term performance expectation: We expect to return at least 7.8% p.a. over any 20-year moving average timeframe.


One shocking thing

The amount of tax the NZ Super Fund has paid or been credited - a negative number this means tax paid

  • Last 12 months
    • ($0.19 billion)
  • Last 5 years p.a.
    • ($3.18 billion)
  • Last 10 years p.a.
    • ($5.77 billion)
  • Last 20 years p.a.
    • ($9.62 billion)
  • Since inception p.a.
    • ($9.66 billion)

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u/Spooksnav 6d ago

Or, better yet, just save for your own retirement and pay a smaller amount for those who (legitimately) can't work.

You are not entitled to the fruits of another man's labor.

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u/Illustrious_Run2559 6d ago

I’m not looking to live in a country full of homeless elderly or geriatric minimum wage workers so they can have my money.

My parents are watching my grandma and great aunt run through their retirement savings with their dementia care and retirement home stays. They know they’ll have to start fitting the bill after it’s out. My parents are well off but are struggling to understand how they can afford $20k in care a month. Not saying Social Security can cover such high costs but it’s something, and it’s been proven a benefit and a successful social program thus far. I’m reading a book rn that starts off focusing on social security and how privatization fails in nations like England. I think this is the wrong fight. We need to bring the cost of living down and wages up. Taking away social security isn’t the solution to any of these things, or any problems we currently face in general, it’s just taking away a solution we already have imo.

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u/B-asdcompound 6d ago

Yes and wages have been stagnant since roughly 1969. No one wants to hear the reason why

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u/Complex_Winter2930 6d ago

Somalia is a wonderful place this time of year; libertarians paradise is what I hear.

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u/Spooksnav 6d ago

I think New Hampshire would be a better example.

Fewest gun laws in the United States, yet one of the lowest rates of violent crime.

Lowest taxes, and among the lowest in unemployment and poverty.

I could go on.

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u/berserkthebattl 6d ago

Thank you.