Originally Posted by
scambo1
Perspective from one of those chain emails:
* U.S. Tax revenue: $2,170,000,000,000
* Fed budget: $3,820,000,000,000
* New debt: $ 1,650,000,000,000
* National debt: $14,271,000,000,000
* Recent budget cuts: $ 38,500,000,000
Let's now remove 8 zeros and pretend it's a household budget:
* Annual family income: $21,700
* Money the family spent: $38,200
* New debt on the credit card: $16,500
* Outstanding balance on the credit card: $142,710
* Total budget cuts: $385
Here's another one:
Remember, not only did you contribute to Social Security but your
employer did too. It totaled 15% of your income before taxes. If you
averaged only $30K over your working life, that's close to $220,500.
If you calculate the future value of $4,500 per year (yours & your
employer's contribution) at a simple 5% (less than what the govt. pays
on the money that it borrows), after 49 years of working you'd have
$892,919.98.
If you took out only 3% per year, you'd receive $26,787.60 per year and
it would last better than 30 years (until you're 95 if you retire at age 65)
and that's with no interest paid on that final amount on deposit! If youbought an annuity and it paid 4% per year, you'd have a lifetime income
of $2,976.40 per month.
Let's not forget that many folks die before receiving any payment, not to mention
that your SS payments are added to your ordinary income and taxed accordingly,
contrary to the Government pledge made when SS was introduced in 1936.
The folks in Washington have pulled off a bigger Ponzi scheme than
Bernie Madhoff ever had.