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Originally Posted by xoxoxoBruce
Just like that? Pay in your whole fucking life and because you have a $12k pension you don't get a dime? Remember $12k is $490 BELOW the god damn poverty level for 2 people.
Remember after you make your Grannie a bag lady she's not going to put a little something in your birthday cards anymore. :p
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OK, Bruce, I'll admit that I was just answering off the top of my head. The payment amount should be set to place people just above the current poverty line. You'd also have to make the change a bit more gradual - say everyone who is now 40 or 45 would get their social security benefit, regardless, but the younger members of the work force should not plan on getting social security except under the extreme contingency of being thrown below the poverty line by a disability or retirement without an adequate pension plan. If we were to stop giving social security benefits to everyone, regardless of income, this would lower the cost of the plan, along with the chunk now taken out in taxes. That difference could then be used to invest in the retirement plan of your choice.
I don't think such a plan would be a disincentive for people to save - after all, few of us want to live just above or at the poverty line in our remaining years. Sure, the majority of people would be paying into an insurance plan that they got no money back from, but how is that different than paying car insurance? Maybe you're a safe driver who will never have an accident or become involved in one with a careless driver - still it's good to know that the insurance is there if worst comes to worst.
I generally put somthing in my grandma's birthday card and not the other way around, and she's not even a bag lady, although I know her income is limited.