# What privatization of SS means to you



## Bobm (Aug 26, 2003)

Read my post in Roberts thread " where do we go from here" that what got me to post this. This is an article explaining how much better off we would all be if social security was out of the hands of our thieving politicians. Read it and you will realize how badly the people that fight privatization are screwing you for their own power and pork! THIS IS AN ACTUAL CASE STUDY NOT SOME POINTY HEADED MORONS THEORY

*A Private Retirement Plan That Works. *

The initial Social Security Act permitted municipal governments to opt out of the system - *a loophole that Congress closed in 1983*. In 1981, employees of Galveston County, Texas, chose by a vote of 78 percent to 22 percent to leave Social Security for a private alternative. Brazoria and Matagorda counties soon followed, swelling the private plan to more than 5,000 participants today. *In the private plan, contributions are similar to those for Social Security but returns are quite different. *

Initially, employees and their employer were each required to contribute 6.13 percent of income; recently, the counties increased their contribution to 7.65 percent - for a total contribution of 13.78 percent.

Of that 13.78 percent, 9.737 percent goes to the employee's individual retirement account, which pays a 6.5 percent average interest rate, compounded daily.

The remainder pays for disability and life insurance premiums to cover the employee in case of an accident or death.

Workers continue to pay their Medicare payroll taxes and to receive Medicare benefits upon retirement. 
*But while the cost of the private program, known as the Alternate Plan, is virtually the same to the employee and employer as Social Security, the benefits are far greater.* According to First Financial Benefits, Inc., which created and administers the plans:

A person retiring today at age 65 with 40 years of deposits and an annual salary of $20,000 would retire with $383,032 in a personal account.

Someone with a $30,000 salary for 40 years would retire with $573,782.

And a person with a $50,000 salary for 40 years would retire with $956,303. 
*A personal retirement account this size provides a much larger postretirement income than does Social Security.* Moreover, retirees under the Alternate Plan have a number of options not available to retirees under Social Security. For example, *those with the Alternate Plan can choose among several annuities or take their money in a lump sum.* As the figure shows, under one option:

A retired $20,000-per-year worker with the personal retirement account would receive $2,740 each month at current interest rates, while Social Security benefits would be about $775 per month.   *Read that again folks and ask yor self the obvious question would you rather retire at $2700 a month or $775, and this is with a smal average income of only 20 thou/year* Why don't you hear about this in the mainstream media?????????????????

*A $50,000 per year worker would receive $6,843 a month  from the private plan, compared to $1,302 from Social Security. *     
In addition, the employer's contribution pays for much more generous benefits than those provided by Social Security.

The *life insurance benefit *is three times the worker's salary (with a *minimum benefit of $50,000 and a maximum of $150,000*);
Social Security, by contrast, *pays a one-time death benefit of $255 *to a surviving spouse. :eyeroll: :eyeroll:

Disability insurance under the Alternate Plan pays 60 percent of an individual's salary until age 65 or until the individual returns to work and is relatively easy to qualify for, while Social Security disability benefits can be very difficult to qualify for and are unavailable to young workers who have not yet worked the required amount of time. 
Is the Program Safe? One of the biggest challenges to privatizing Social Security is to ensure the safety of the contributors' investments. Workers under the Alternate Plan are required to make their payroll contributions, and the money is invested in annuities with a highly rated insurance company. Though the interest rate can fluctuate from year to year, the financial institution that invests the money must pay a guaranteed interest rate for that year.

Conclusion. Employees of three Texas counties are enjoying rapid growth in their retirement incomes, better benefits than those offered by Social Security and the satisfaction of knowing that the money deposited in their accounts belongs to them and will be there when they retire. Privatizing Social Security is not a distant dream; for some Americans it is a present reality. Fairness and true social security demand that all Americans have the same opportunity.

NOW WHEN YOU HEAR A POLITICIAN TALKING ABOUT THE EVILS OF PRIVATIZATION OF SS YOU KNOW WHAT A LYING BASTARD THEY ARE< AND YOU KNOW WHY I LEFT THE DEMOCRAT PARTY


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## Robert A. Langager (Feb 22, 2002)

Bobm said:


> THIS IS AN ACTUAL CASE STUDY NOT SOME POINTY HEADED MORONS THEORY.......................NOW WHEN YOU HEAR A POLITICIAN TALKING ABOUT THE EVILS OF PRIVATIZATION OF SS YOU KNOW WHAT A LYING BASTARD THEY ARE< AND YOU KNOW WHY I LEFT THE DEMOCRAT PARTY


ARGGH! I am BOBM! Hear me roar! Anyone who has a differing idea than me is a lying bastard.

It is a good article. Where are your sources though? How am I supposed to get the whole strory? You tell me one side and swear it is the absolute truth. So I should just buy your side and go with the flow?

Am I not supposed to make an informed decision by getting both sides of the story?

Isn't that the same as the uniformed ignorance that you rally so strongly against?

Bobm, you really don't help the situation much.

:eyeroll:

RC


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## Bobm (Aug 26, 2003)

> ARGGH! I am BOBM! Hear me roar! Anyone who has a differing idea than me is a lying bastard.


*First *its not my "Idea" 
*Second *you could google it and find it, nobody found it for me. Thats my point no one cares enough to research this stuff on their own they just accept what some politician says as fact and it really ****** me off, can you tell.
*Third *if its true then anyone you have heard demagogueing it is a lying bastard thats costing all of us a lot of money so they could stay in power. In this particular case that anyone is the Democrats, and this issue is one of the big reasons why I left their party, and yes I was a dem once when you were trying to learn to spell :lol: .

for you my friend I'll get the link http://www.ncpa.org/ba/ba215.html

if you study this issue you will be a republican to when you realize the degree that you are getting screwed an that is all for their chance to keep power and screw the good of the country


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## Robert A. Langager (Feb 22, 2002)

Bobm, 
It may not be YOUR idea, but it is one you support. I appreciate the research you do. The whole thing is this, you need to research your side and present your ideas, while citing your sources, and I'll research my side and cite my sources. That way we can get both sides of the issue and make informed decisions.

If we just blindly accepted what you or I state without doing our own research then we would be just as bad as those who blindly accept the politicians. Right?

I haven't made up my mind on the SS issue, or many issues for that matter, I do not know enough about it yet. BUT when you state your side and put your qualifying partisan BLANKET statements in there then I get pretty much turned off.

You are playing the dividing game and don't even know it. Maybe you have been butting heads with MT too long and play the game his way? I can see how he would bring that out of anyone.

Can't you see this is what I am trying to get away from? The partisan BS sucks.

Why did you push to start this forum? To trumpet your ideas only or to have informed discussion?

RC


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## pointer99 (Jan 16, 2004)

i say.....good job bobm

let's take it one step further.......

all those who want to keep their current system where you pay and pay and pay and your employer matches and matches and matches and then you get $775 a month in the end. let them do so.

all those who want to invest for themselves for higher returns then in turn let them have at it. i think this would be an issue that would resovle itself.
unless you are too stupid to understand or too lazy to work.

bobm for president :beer: :beer: :beer:

pointer


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## sdeprie (May 1, 2004)

I, for one, have never trusted the government to manage my retirement money. Yes, I pay into SS, but I have no intention of depending on it for my retirement. I have been contributing for about 16 years into a private plan, only $30/month. Provides life insurance (no, it's not a whole life program) and is built up to about $75,000 cash value and continues to gain interest significantly higher than savings accounts, etc. Do I believe in privatization? You betcha.


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## Buckshot (Nov 5, 2003)

I'll even raise the bar. The government can keep all of my contributions to SS as long as I never have to pay in again.



> I haven't made up my mind on the SS issue, or many issues for that matter,


Not trying to pick on you, just your train of thought. One suggestion to success "Be decisive, even if it means you'll sometimes be wrong." H. Jackson Brown.


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## adokken (Jan 28, 2003)

Bob just in case you are interested, there is a good book out about partial privatizing Social Security written by my son. The Name of the book is (New Century NEW DEAL By Wade Dokken. It could still be in book stores and of course Amazon. Adokken :beer:


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## Bobm (Aug 26, 2003)

Thnks I'll read it this is a subject I'm real interested in. We all should be working together to solve it.


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