On Mon, 3 Aug 2015 11:29:22 -0700, "azotic"
wrote:





"Ed Huntress" wrote in message
.. .
On Mon, 3 Aug 2015 05:26:17 -0700 (PDT), "
wrote:

On Sunday, August 2, 2015 at 10:51:23 PM UTC-4, Ed Huntress wrote:

What "money" are you talking about? SS has ALWAYS been a "pay as you
go" program. There never was any money stored up like nuts for winter.

The "Trust fund" is an accounting device. There is not, and never was,
any actual money there.

--
Ed Huntress

But the trust fund was publicized as having money stored up in it.

I don't recall anyone ever telling me that. Anyone who followed the
extensive news coverage of the adjustments made in '83, or Greenspan's
controversial comments about it in the years since, would know better.

--
Ed Huntress

It's really very simple. My SS payments are issued by the US treasury
not some trust fund. The talking heads don't know what they are talking
about. The SSA does the accounting as to who gets what based on
how much they paid in FICA taxes and what age they begin to collect
SS payments. Remember FICA is a tax not a savings account. The
government can spend taxes as soon as it gets the money no mater
what the source.

Best Regards
Tom.

There are good explanations of how it works in various places,
including the SSA. Basically, it's never changed. It's the way most
pensions work, too, whether they're government or private-industry
accounts.

Congress changed the system for the U.S. Postal Service, and damned
near drove them broke. Nobody can pay for a whole generation ahead.

--
Ed Huntress