Reply #13: you are being sold a pig in a poke [View All]

in order to fund this fraudulent scheme, your gains in a good year are limited to 6-8%. The rest of the gains are to be used to fund transition costs -- there's a trillion dollar shortfall to be made up. So in the down years, you wont have that extra to cover for a loss of return.

Second of all, the fact that you can buy a security with a good rate of return means that someone lost the opportunity to make money on it. There are winners and there are losers. As a finance instructor of mine said, "there's no such thing as a free lunch".

Third of all, where's your generosity towards the needy. Remember there are going to be losers in the marketplace. I tell ya, a sandwich a money from your church just doesn't replace the thousands of dollars of Social Security. Boy, I'd really hate to be dependent on my church ... for a wealthy parish, we just aint that compassionate to give thousands of dollars a year to even one needy person.

Fourth of all, my husband and I are eligible, under current rules, to receive $30K a year from Social Security. Let's say we live to be 85. That's a $600K shortfall that needs to be made up somehow. Got any ideas how someone can make up that kind of money in a 20 year time frame. And I mean a zero risk, highly conservative strategy, guaranteed investment that will be there for us even in a down market. Not junk bonds or commodities.

What's so darn wrong with extending payroll taxes to people making up to $300K. Why not a nice progressive tax so that the people who got us into this mess are paying for getting us out of it?

Ah, yes, you are part of the "I got mine" crowd. A Pharisee. Compassion is not one of your moral values. Real compassion is forking over thousands of dollars of your income for someone else in need. I guess if someone in your family is in real need, you wont be forking out say, $10K a year needed to make up for a decrease in government benefits. You will let your relative rot in degradation.