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Investing for Retirement – Only for the Strong of Mind

While we listen to news commentary about how the economy will perform this year, next year, etc. with worries about inflation, high mortgage rates, the national debt interest payment nightmare etc. we are unhappily being nagged again by questions about Social Security, its viability and doubtful future.

Social Security was conjured up back in the 1930s – Depression, Roosevelt and all that Trouble – with the sales pitch that it would provide ‘dignity’ for old-timers when they could not work full time any longer. Back then there were a few Representatives and Senators who stood up and told the truth out loud – it can only lead to ever increasing expansion and burden on taxpayers, to some unknown unhappy ending. The ‘dignity’ contraption was voted in with a fabulous notion that ALL those working people could easily take care of the few people who would get S.S.

But – Conservative Principle # 9 – Reality Always Wins. 90 years later we have been through several ‘rescues’ and ‘adjustments’ to Social Security always promising a sunshine day ahead for the behemoth. That sunshine day seems to always fade away before us no matter how we try to catch up to it. Politicians continually try to ‘fix’ the problem with S.S. boosterism comments about being team players and stick with it to see our way through to – ? As this has been going on our ‘experiment’ with deficit spending to fund ‘vital’ programs has gotten us to 35 trillion bucks in debt and 800 Billion annual payments for THE INTEREST on the debt – which will ruin us eventually, probably sooner, not later. And there is a question haunting America. What happens if Social Security goes under?

Correct Answer.  Let those people who think they can help themselves to a happy retirement by investing their money SIGN OUT of Social Security and stop having money swiped from their paychecks. Everyone does not have to do that, but the young people who want to go ahead with it will set up an interesting comparison situation between those who Sign Out and those who stay with Social Security.

Several points must be considered:

1 The smart guys (or gals) who sign out of Social Security to invest their money will be helping companies improve products, personnel and procedures. This is the crucial Money Point. Unlike ALL the people who get nicked for Social Security every paycheck those who invest their money will be CONTRIBUTING to a stronger economy.

2. Well, a person who signs out, spends forty years investing money and ends up at 62 years old with No Money for retirement will just start moaning and groaning about my bad back and how it is so hard to have No Money for retirement so… No Problem – all he has to do is work for twenty years and put money into Social Security and then when he is 82 years old he can get Social Security.

3. The money taken out of the paycheck each week to put into a retirement fund investment plan – WILL NOT BE TAXED. And when the senior citizen is retired the money he draws from his investment account for retirement – WILL NOT BE TAXED. Now that was easy. If the politicians don’t like it, they can get a job somewhere else.

But what happens to those investment geniuses who get destroyed by the stock market? They will have to size up their situation, consider their options and decide whether to hang tough or bail out and get back into Social Security. They are betting on, I mean investing in, themselves.

Doing this will provide an immediate boost to investment in American businesses and a long term stability to financial security for some sizeable fraction of senior citizens. It will also build a determined group of voters who want to see the Federal Legislature – Congress – STOP playing idiot games with the federal budget every year and get a long view attitude about supporting a solid, steady economic growth policy for Our Country. If we try it and it does not work – we can always go back to the D.C. idiot game, with zero enthusiasm.

People can overthink this, and overtalk this but I think it is actually no big deal. We should have done this FROM THE BEGINNING when a few courageous Representatives and Senators did step forward and delivered some plain talking about the reality of shoving Big Government down the throats of We the People who have better things to do with our lives and our money. Why isn’t there a monument in D.C. for those people?