The Ponzi scheme personified

Anything MOM says, I believe the opposite.

This was from a “Rally Against the Doomsday Session” back in 2012 when MOM was in office and couldn’t balance a budget to save his life. So Joe Biden put him in charge of Social Security?

News story: “Social Security is not on a path toward bankruptcy, nor is it a ‘legal Ponzi scheme,’ according to former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley.”

When it comes to anything financial, I have learned to trust Martin O’Malley about as far as I can throw him.

I have railed about Social Security for much of my adult life, because while it may be social(ism) it’s definitely not secure. Since I took my first “real” job out of college in 1986, the government has been taking some percentage of my income and (supposedly) setting it aside for my retirement, with the proviso that I can’t touch it, except in some rare instances, until I turn 62.

I suppose what finally soured me on the subject was the death of my older brother at the age of 47.

He passed away with a significant other, but they weren’t married. My mom and dad were living, but insofar as I know they didn’t get survivor’s benefits either because they weren’t dependent on him for income. Basically, he worked his whole life for nothing, and the government got his money - not an heir of his choosing, which probably would have been the significant other.

Being married, at least my wife would get some portion of what I worked for (and vice versa.) But if it really were MY money, shouldn’t I have the ability to choose who gets it? Even better, on the day when I retire, shouldn’t it be MY option whether to parcel it out over the rest of my life or take it as one lump sum? If I knew my health wasn’t the best and I only had a few years left, why should I take the risk that I might not get everything I “invested” back?

For many years the government has sold us the fiction that we have a Social Security “lockbox” where our money is being stored. If that were the case, they do a pretty piss poor job of investing it because if I were to retire in two years I would have it parceled out back to me at the rate of roughly $1,700 a month - which barely covers my mortgage, let alone everything else. This out of about $160,000 they have “set aside” for me thanks to the tax my employers and I have paid. (The info I’m looking at is about 18 months old but I had it handy, so I am extrapolating a bit.)

Assuming those numbers are correct, it would be about 7 1/2 years until I exhaust that nest egg, without the benefit of interest. (This is why I say they did a piss poor job of investing, because even a 5% return over almost 40 years is a ton of interest.) The only thing the government did a good job of doing was to spend our national debt into oblivion, thus either Social Security will have to be cut, the age of eligibility increased, or taxes/tax limits raised - or, more likely, some combination of the three.

Several years ago, I came up with a manner of sunsetting Social Security, one which I still believe in today (aside from adding about 18 years to the specific dates.)

If I were to have the option of taking my Social Security contributions back as a lump sum in two years, you best believe I would take it, even without the interest. That would pay off my house, meaning I have something to pass to my heirs. (Plus, I would continue working as long as I have the health to do it.)

Since I don’t have that option, this is how I know it’s not really my money - just another tax the government makes us pay so they can spend it. Too bad not enough people have woken up to the bull being told by people like Martin O’Malley.

Yes, it is a Ponzi scheme - and poor Generation Z is going to be the ones holding the bag.

Until next time, don’t just remember you can Buy Me a Coffee since I have a page there - be aware I’m having a sale on paid subscriptions for a limited time. Just follow this link for 50% off!