"jim rozen" wrote in message
...
In article , Harold & Susan Vordos says...

I, for years, resented having to pay into SS. I've already made mention
of
the fact that I had to pay both halves, so I know and understand all too
well how you might have your feelings, which I also shared. I recall
all
too well having paid what I thought was a fair amount on my quarterly
estimates, only to be hit by a $5,000 tab when I filed my taxes one
particular year. For the most part, it was due to SS fees, which were
far
and away higher than my tax tab, and were rising rapidly. SS is a
stupid
idea that has gotten completely out of control, but I paid and paid
dearly,
so I expect to receive the benefits. The government was unwilling to
exempt
me when I hoped they would. I'm not too keen on the idea of letting
them
(us?) off the hook now. The money I may have put away for my living
expenses was taken from me by them (us?) without my permission. I had no
choice other than to face possible imprisonment for not paying. .

But that's like any other tax. They taxed you to pay for
somebody elses retirement - and now they're taxing me, to
pay for yours.

Thanks for the swell check, Jim!

Nothing prevented you from putting away more money for retirement,

Nothing except for a limited income, limited by my determination to work for
a fair wage, not to skin the sheep, choosing to cut the wool instead. I'm
not the typical "grab all you can" kind of guy, and I proved it through my
working years. I put my money where my mouth was. I bid fairly and was
even encouraged to raise my bids on several occasions when I came in a small
fraction of competing bids. My favorite customer (which will remain
nameless here) told me time and again that they didn't want to put me out of
business by buying low when they relied on me for difficult work. In spite
of the fact that there were occasions I raised my price, I never bid a job
at a losing price with this particular customer, so any increase simply gave
me more spending money. That was a rare happening, though, not routine.
I couldn't have put the few dollars away for retirement and made a
difference. :-)


and nothing prevents the government from telling me, you ain't
getting nothing back. But remember, nothing prevents them
from saying the same to you - sorry, but there's no more money
to give you, and seeing as we're gonna 'starve the beast' and
cut Jim's taxes, your benefit is going to be drastically reduced.

All this stuff that looks like cast in stone entitlement, really
isn't. I learned that when my pension was taken away by my
employer.

That, too, sucks. Sorry to hear it. Will you be OK in the future?

The way I see it, as long as there's a Democratic party, we don't have to
worry about any of these things being taken away from us. They'll see to
it. No, I do not vote the Democratic party, and not the Republican one,
either. My leanings are towards the Libertarians.

Don't think I'm not sympathetic, Jim. It's just that I'm now drawing the
things that I was forced to buy, and I expect to get them. I wanted to
opt out. I really did! And for likely all the reasons you've mentioned,
and maybe even more. I'm a fiercely independent type of person, who rarely,
if ever, calls for help. I'll struggle all day long with a board that's
too long to handle before I'll disturb a neighbor with whom I may not have a
great relationship, unlike some of the users I've known in my life.

Harold