Fred the Red Shirt wrote:

SNIP


And that is a big part of the problem. Had the Governmnet invested it
prooperly (a PROPERLY managed student loan program is just one
possiblity) we'd not be having this discussion.


Had the government invested it *AT ALL* we'd be better off. SS
money more or less goes into the general fund. It is not "invested"
in any real sense. SS resembles a Ponzi Scheme in this regard -
today's "investors" are paying off yesterday's



b) The actual "average income" was far less than $22K for
the past 45 years. I'd guess (and that's all it is)
it is more like $10K. In that case, using the same
calculations as above, we get a break even at just over
4 years.


I think that is close to the 'official figure' but the official
figure only credits the typical pensioner with half (the deduction)
of their contribution and does not credit them with the employer's
matching contribution.


Look again - my calculation was done at the maximum level of contribution -
7.5% each for the employee and employer regardless of income level.

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Tim Daneliuk
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