<p>The system can be set up so everybody gets the same amount per month. Do you think that would end the complaining about SS? </p>
<p>Not a chance.</p>
<p>Dstark, do you think any changes to social security are warranted?</p>
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No, there would actually be more complaining, because that makes it obvious SS is just taking money from group A and giving it to group B.</p>
<p>But it would be more honest than selling it as some sort of pension system.</p>
<p>Changes to social security have happened in the past and will happen in the future. I do not believe that makes it a Ponzi scheme or that anyone thinks there should not be changes. The debate is about what those changes should be.</p>
<p>I would slowly raise the retirement age and I would lower the tax rate to 5% but apply it to all income with no cap.</p>
<p>Zoosermom,</p>
<p>“Changes to social security have happened in the past and will happen in the future. I do not believe that makes it a Ponzi scheme or that anyone thinks there should not be changes. The debate is about what those changes should be.”</p>
<p>I agree with tom1944.</p>
<p>While I am not relying entirely on social security to fund my retirement, it is a crucial component. Wife and I can (easily) make it to age 70 on our combined retirement/non retirement assets, but removing SS from the projections changes our lifestyle completely and if we should be “lucky” enough to live a long time, risk running out of money. I didn’t know it at the time, but I effectively retired in 2007. If you add in an annual combined benefit of over $50k starting at age 70, it looks relatively comfortable. So if they incorporate a means test that considers “wealth” as opposed to income, I could end up as just another poor starving old person.</p>
<p>^^Using the old 4% rule, if I lost ss, I would need to save almost another million over the next few years. SS for me is a big deal.</p>
<p>I sent my son an email this morning asking him to send me a list of all of his retirement options - 401K and 403B including match information. He’s probably leaving money on the table by not being in a plan other than the default MA plan. He also has a lot of cash in his savings accounts and it might be worthwhile looking into opening a Roth and conventional IRAs. We’ll have to figure out the investment selections. I find this easy to do with my own accounts but have been leery making recommendations for other people.</p>
<p>I’m also going to look at doing Roth and conventional IRAs - I have a ton of cash in savings/money market accounts that were reserved for college expenses and our college expenses were a lot lower than expected so I should start doing something with that cash instead of just renting it to the Fed for free.</p>
<p>How are you planning on using a ton of cash for a Roth or an IRA?</p>
<p>^ You could use it to pay the taxes on a conversion.</p>
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<p>I have a ton of cash. I didn’t say that I could put that much of it into a Roth or Conventional IRA. But that I should look into putting in some of it.</p>
<p>^^^^</p>
<p>Make sure that you meet income limitations for IRA contributions.</p>
<p>P.S. With all the talk about how people should be saving for retirement, I am surprised how little one is allowed contribute to IRA per year. I also don’t like limits on 401K contributions and limits on income for IRA contributions.</p>
<p>With wealthier posters talking about their need of SS, what does this say about the vast population that isn’t wealthy and their needs?</p>
<p>I don’t like the 4 percent rule. Too many variables. Too many assumptions. You have to die within 30 years of retirement. :)</p>
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<p>Crap. Oh well. It seemed like a good idea.</p>
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<p>More tax-deferred and tax-free stuff has to be paid for and I doubt that it’s a priority item in budget discussions. It appears that IRAs are there to help those that don’t have retirement plans at work, even though the deduction amounts seem miniscule. I think that they limits are the same as what they were when I started working. The Roth is a bit more generous but still pretty small compared to what you can contribute in a 401K.</p>
<p>The feeling that I get with retirement is that the people that worry about limits are the ones that don’t need to worry and the people that don’t worry at all are the ones that do need to worry.</p>
<p>“The feeling that I get with retirement is that the people that worry about limits are the ones that don’t need to worry and the people that don’t worry at all are the ones that do need to worry.”</p>
<p>:)</p>
<p>BCEagle91, you can roll iras into roths and I think there are no income limits. You pay the tax. You might be able to roll other retirement plans into roths. You can google roth rollovers. I am not planning on doing this right now and I am too lazy to google. :)</p>
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<p>My rule: just make as much as you can for retirement.</p>
<p>That’s a better rule. </p>
<p>I don’t know where that fits for those that don’t want to work that much.
We should have our own rules.</p>
<p>The 4 percent rule is dangerous…</p>
<p>I have an IRA with $100 that I got ages ago. It makes a penny or two a year. I also love my 401K program (Fidelity Brokeragelink is wonderful). I guess that I’ll look at this stuff later.</p>
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<p>I find it unfair that those without 401Ks can contribute less into their retirement than those with 401Ks. I just don’t get the discrepancy between contributions into 401K vs. traditional and Roth IRAs vs. Sep-IRA. How come people are not treated equally? </p>
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<p>It’s too bad CC got away with the greenies.</p>
<p>“Make sure that you meet income limitations for IRA contributions.”</p>
<p>This is why if you’re older this is pretty useless and I was questioning BCeagle91 about what he was going to do.</p>