Making social security contributions voluntary

ratAphooey said: "Does anyone here support the idea of making social security payments optional? I have heard people say it should be this way so people could control their own retirement savings. I think people would spend the money. Anyone have an opinion?"

cwms said: "There are millions of people who only have social security to look forward to. Of course some are just basically poor people who can barely scrape by but most are middle class who spend more money than they make. Yes, many will only spend their money and not invest into any kind of retirement program. I wish there were other options regarding SS withholding, but unfortunately, it would have to be mandatory as too many people will not step up to the plate and set money aside for retirement."

AlfredSokol said: "I could see allowing some of the money to be diverted to other investments but imagine how many people will get ripped off looking for "too good to be true investments". I imagine the number would be pretty high."

cwms said: "[QUOTE=AlfredSokol;67868]I could see allowing some of the money to be diverted to other investments but imagine how many people will get ripped off looking for "too good to be true investments". I imagine the number would be pretty high.[/QUOTE] I would love to see other investments available, but there would have to be some kind of standards or accredidations set. Only a limited number of investments available as opposed to the many thousands of stocks and mutual funds."

AlfredSokol said: "There would also need to be safeguards against people who opt out and don't save on their own. I could see some sort of incentive plan working easily."

kasra007 said: "[QUOTE=ratAphooey;67853]Does anyone here support the idea of making social security payments optional? I have heard people say it should be this way so people could control their own retirement savings. I think people would spend the money. Anyone have an opinion?[/QUOTE] i can see what your saying, but the money thats taken off your payroll every month doesn't go straight to "your" bank. the amount deducted goes towards the SS fund. then when your retired you'll be able to use that fund. if it was made optional i am sure lots of people would drop out and it would cause lots of problems, effecting the "retirees". it will never happen =o atleast from my point of view. Social security is going to vanish before our generation retires. 401k and pension plans are already taking over, i mean if you start a 401k account at age of 18 you'll be set when you retire."

StockHunter said: "SS should be destroyed, it's the biggest rip off our country has ever come up with. When it was 1st made the age to be able to receive benefits was above the average age of the time. If you do the math you'd be better off taking that money and putting it in a hole. Give me my money back to do what I want with it, if I want to spend it on beer then that’s my choice. It's called personal responsibility. And thats my 2 cents lol :D"

tomtat1 said: "Social security is an idea that sounds good, but in reality is bad. The promise of a secure retirement without having to make the sacrifices in life to achieve it is one of the reasons we are in the state we are in this country. Every one has this sense that the government should step in and solve all there problems. And this leads to irresponsible behavior time and time again. Read all the posts about the government assuring that people are not scammed. Whatever happened to personal responsibility? If you didn’t count on the government to make sure you weren’t scammed, you might try to educate yourself, or be more careful. I don’t believe that the American people are that dumb, or that basic personal finance is that hard. I believe that this is what the government wants everyone to think so that they can have the power (don’t educate yourself and decide what to do with your own money, just give it to us and we will decide). It also has contributed to the erosion of the American family. In countries that don’t have programs like this many generations of a family live together and help each other through life. But why bother now that we have the government to take care of us."

StockHunter said: "[QUOTE=tomtat1;68594]Social security is an idea that sounds good, but in reality is bad. The promise of a secure retirement without having to make the sacrifices in life to achieve it is one of the reasons we are in the state we are in this country. Every one has this sense that the government should step in and solve all there problems. And this leads to irresponsible behavior time and time again. Read all the posts about the government assuring that people are not scammed. Whatever happened to personal responsibility? If you didn’t count on the government to make sure you weren’t scammed, you might try to educate yourself, or be more careful. I don’t believe that the American people are that dumb, or that basic personal finance is that hard. I believe that this is what the government wants everyone to think so that they can have the power (don’t educate yourself and decide what to do with your own money, just give it to us and we will decide). It also has contributed to the erosion of the American family. In countries that don’t have programs like this many generations of a family live together and help each other through life. But why bother now that we have the government to take care of us.[/QUOTE] :not_worthy::signs013::verystupid:"