Friday, January 16, 2009

The Ponzi Scheme That You're Falling For

13.58

That's the number of years it'll take Social Security just to pay me back the principal that I'll have been forced to hand over for decades.

In other words, when I'm eligible for retirement benefits at age 67, I will have to live past the age of 80 just to get back the exact same amount of money that I started paying them when I was a teenager. I won't see the first penny of interest until I'm well past the actuarial charts. I'd be better off stuffing the cash in my mattress, because at least then I'd get all the principal on the day I retire.

I did the math. When you get your annual Social Security statement, you should do it too. Here's the formula I used. And of course, this is assuming the system's still afloat in a few more decades.

We've all been hearing about Bernard Madoff's $50 billion dollar fraud, but that's dwarfed by the $40 trilion scam our federal government is running with Social Security and Medicare. John Stossel lays out all the details in this article at Townhall.com. Don't read it unless you're in the mood to be infuriated.

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