tubetimes

Social Security For Us?

By: Bouvier Rous

With this Presidential rat race that has the whole country watching, it is hard to ignore the issues that our country faces. Although there are many, you sometimes have to pick and choose your battles and find out which issues are of true importance to you. After giving it much thought, what really gets me hot and bothered is the issue that our generation will have to face decades from now, Social Security.

The other day my father received a letter in the mail from the Social Security Department showing how much he would be able to collect if he were to retire at the age of 65. The amount made him laugh, knowing that there is no possible way a person living in Los Angeles can live off of such a small and limited monthly income. I looked at him and laughed myself and said, “Well, at least you are getting something.” Everyone knows that for the younger generation today, Social Security will be completely unreliable, if non- existent.

The majority of the senior citizens today can’t live on social security alone, but at least it is extra monthly income. Our generation on the other hand must rely only on our own 401K’s and IRA accounts if we ever want to retire. I have no problem investing in my future, but the other day I looked at my paycheck and realized that 8% of my weekly paycheck goes into Social Security when I am only able to put in 3% into my 401k. Why is it that the government is taking so much money from my paycheck that I may or may not ever see?

There has been plenty of political talk lately about the privatization of Social Security, although it does not sound like a bad idea, it is still currently inconclusive on how it will actually work. We have the Democrats and Republicans on two polar opposites on the issue and I just do not understand why they cannot come up with a resolution to meet in the middle so people in our generation don’t get the short end of the stick.

I believe that as a society, we have a duty to take care of our elders as we too would like to be taken care of, but at the same time we shouldn’t have to rely on the government and the people to have to take care of us. I truly believe that Social Security was one of the best policies that our country had come up with, but I do not think this is how Franklin D. Roosevelt truly intended it to be.

My ideal situation would be this, depending on your age would depend on how much you would have to contribute to Social Security. If you still have forty years or longer to retire then only 3% of your pay should go to social security and the 8% to a private account, then as you get closer and closer to retirement your contribution to social security increases. With a plan like this, we are still able to help the senior citizens of our country and be able to save enough money for ourselves.

So since the Presidential Race’s theme is “Change”, we shall see who is all talk and who will actually make, “Change.” I understand that there are issues that need to be dealt with right away, but the longer they keep the Social Security program the way it is now, the more screwed we will be in the future.