dscott:
Exactly. Being in my 20′s, I consider all the payroll taxes I pay in lost. What it really means is that I make 6% less than what I think I do. Meanwhile 20% goes into a 401k account that should be relatively safe, as long as our economy remains some sort of shape. Personally, I would be willing to take a deal that would go along these lines. I’ll keep paying 6% of my income just so that every person who is over 50 now will continue to receive benefits. After the last of them dies off, I stop paying. Everyone under 50 is responsible for their own savings. Sure put some safeguards in place to protect people from themselves, like no one is allowed to touch the account until retirement, borrow against it, and they can only receive benefits in monthly payments instead of a large sum. Only “qualified” brokers are allowed to manage these accounts (As long as there is more than one broker, so that there is some competition). Will we see a deal like that? Doubt it.
And please guys; let’s keep the risks in perspective. Our economy may shrink, even considerably. But even multiple acts of nuclear terror acts are not enough to unleash hyperinflation like what we see in Zimbabwe.
