In the United States, We Do Not Need to Plan for Retirement

Thesis: In the United States, we do not need to plan for retirement. Social Security will cover our needs when we are retired.

I truly and honestly disagree with this statement. With the baby boomer generation reaching retirement age, there will be a lot more people retiring and less people working than there were when the Social Security system was put in place. [ What happens when America runs out of money? Lots of people who solely rely on SS are going to be in trouble.Because they have nothing else in place to help them out. This is soley in part of how the government is run. We would be in a better place, if the people that's supposed to help us, actually helped us. But they can help others before they help there own people. I think it's good to have an IRA (Individual Retirement Account) opened as soon as possible after joining the workforce, as well as other retirement plans like 401Ks. It's never too early to plan for the future. Social Security at this point, in my opinion, should be used as a supplement only, or as a last resort. It's better to rely on yourself when it comes to your security than to rely on someone else. President Obama recently warned that Social Security checks were not guaranteed to be paid in the event the debt ceiling does not get raised before August 3. Regardless of whether he meant it -- or if it was mere political posturing -- it underscores yet another problem with the Social Security system: It's not your money.

When all is said and done, what you worked for your entire life , is really not yours. It's almost like slavery reared its ugly head again.Your projected Social Security benefits are simply not your property. The Supreme Court has twice ruled that, in fact. You're simply assessed a tax based on your income and then may get something back in the form of a payment, should you live long enough and/or otherwise qualify -- and if funding remains available.

So now, not only do you have to worry about:

* tax rates that have more than quintupled since the program started,

* Social Security's overall Ponzi-scheme-like design, and

* its accelerating collapse,

... but you also need to worry about whether your benefits will be cut simply because of politics. The lesson in this is abundantly clear: Don't count on Social Security. Absent significant changes, its own trustees doubt its long-term solvency, and as the President warned, the benefits may be at risk as soon as next month.

Ross Perot put out graphs 19 years ago, showing Social Security could NOT mathematically survive long when baby-boomers reached retirement age.

The Social Security "surplus"