08-26-2013, 04:49 AM
Actually, everyone is "confused" about the money thing, and government prefers it that way, makes their job easier.
The SS "trust fund" is actually held in Treasury bonds backed by "the full faith (and credit) of the people", while we are led to believe in some kind of "lock-box" that has real assets inside. It's really more like a Ponzi scheme, except that it's run by the government, which somehow magically makes it not "a scam". Armchair economists will disagree, entertaining discussions will ensue, in the end it does not really matter.
I have yet to retire: this means that for me, the promise of SS is purely theoretical, regardless of how it's "actually" funded. If my future self is able to collect SS checks, I will at that time not care where the money is actually coming from.
The SS "trust fund" is actually held in Treasury bonds backed by "the full faith (and credit) of the people", while we are led to believe in some kind of "lock-box" that has real assets inside. It's really more like a Ponzi scheme, except that it's run by the government, which somehow magically makes it not "a scam". Armchair economists will disagree, entertaining discussions will ensue, in the end it does not really matter.
I have yet to retire: this means that for me, the promise of SS is purely theoretical, regardless of how it's "actually" funded. If my future self is able to collect SS checks, I will at that time not care where the money is actually coming from.