How Much Do You Have? Send It In

I got my annual Social Security statement yesterday and I got to thinking about how much of my money the government has taken over the past 40 years. A bunch, about $170,000 counting what my employer matched. My statement says that I am in line to get a cool $1492 per month at 62, in 6 short years. I started to fooling around with how much I would have in a private account if the President's plan to let me invest 2% had been effect these past 40 years. I assumed that I would have earned 10% on average over the 40 years. Pretty close to the historical average for the stock market. My measly 2% would have grown to about $318,000. If I began to draw on that money at 62 and continued for 25 years, intending to spend it all, I would be able to take about $2050 per month, just from my 2%. The Feds could still keep the remaining 10.4% to fund the various disability and survivor programs for all I care, I would still be ahead. Kinda makes you wonder how bad they are at managing the thing doesn't it? Well, this is how bad they are. I can do better on 2% than they can on the whole enchilada. You have to ask the question, where did all the money go? It didn’t go into Al Gore’s lockbox and the Social Security Trust Fund is a bunch of IOUs. No folks the Congress of the United States spent every last dime on stuff. Republicans, Democrats and Independents since Lyndon Johnson cooked up the scheme to keep the Social Security surplus in the government's general fund, have blown the whole sheebang. Don’t let these weasels blame one another, because they have all participated. So what's the lesson boys and girls? Take a few bucks each payday and pay youself first. Not GMAC or Capital One or anybody else. The future you insure is yours. Financial security is not being dependent upon bozos running up a $500 bil per year deficit. Tag: Rants