Quote from: MoonShadow on June 29, 2011, 08:13:20 PM

Tell that to the retired in another 10 years, after the social security and medicare system that they were taxed to pay into for their entire working lives is ended because there is no money in the trusts.

The Social Security trust fund is projected to remain solvent until 2037, and thereafter, incoming receipts are projected to pay out about 3/4 of the projected benefits: http://www.ssa.gov/oact/solvency/index.html. Quoting MoonShadow: "Where did you get this crap from?"

The retired 10 years from now has very few qualms. Unlikely things that may reduce his projected pay 10 years from now are: (a) hyperinflation leading to a much faster depletion of the trust fund than projected (the actual payments are indexed to inflation, so losing purchasing power that way is not one of the worries); (b) changes in legislation that may affect his retirement age / benefits (most countries implementing these changes apply them progressively based on proximity to retirement, so that a person close to retiring doesn't have the rug swept from under his/her feet). [those are the main two things I can think of, perhaps someone can contribute a few more]

Someone retiring 30 years from now has much more valid concerns about the *amount* of Social Security that they'll get. Will it be 3/4 of what he expected? Maybe things turn out badly and it's only 1/2 of what he expected?

However, saying that no one will get anything 10 years out from now is just sensationalist. My impression is that it's truthiness spread to build support for dismantling the system (why should I pay for something that won't be there for me?)

Medicare's a different beast, that's in more serious trouble unless something gives relatively soon. Of course, Medicare's cost increases are essentially in line with the increases in medical costs all around, so the underlying problem is that the cost of medical care is getting out of control. Blaming Medicare for the predicted insolvency is just shooting the messenger.