So, Social Security is an "entitlement" these days, eh? I'll make a deal with you.?

I understand where you are coming from, believe me, I do.

But let's say your investments tank. There you are, living in a box on the street, pissing into the nearby sewer.

You mean to tell me you * really * won't ask for a handout?

Again, read my first sentence. It's not like I trust the government to watch my money, either, but I cannot see most people investing their money wisely, were it all handed over to them.

The individuals who failed to invest wisely will, despite their promises to the contrary, come knocking on doors for help when they're sleeping on a steel grate.

Ugh .. I sound like a liberal, but I just know I'll get hosed , bailing out the twits who invested poorly.

Actually I agree with you... Give me back my money and I'll go away. That being said, Social Security is an entitlement program because you (currently) are guaranteed a set amount for the rest of your life, regardless of how much you put in.

In Flemming v. Nestor (1961), the Supreme Court ruled that you do not gain any property right by paying into Social Security, because it is not a true pension or annuity plan, but an entitlement combined with an unrelated tax.

So any future Congress can raise, lower or eliminate benefits for any person, or classes of persons, without refunding a dime. Justice Black dissented saying that people think of it like a pension and it should act like one.

That is what needs to change. We don't need privatization that will destroy it the first time the market crashes. We need Social Security to become a true old-age pension plan, invested in regular interest-bearing T-bills, that you can vest in and is actuarially sound.

The reason social security is an "entitlement" is because you are entitled to receive the benefits of what you paid for all your life. Much in the same way your paycheck is an "entitlement" you are entitled to receive payment for the work you performed.

gesshh I wonder about these people sometimes....

SS is called an entitlement because you did not pay for SS,,,,, you paid a SS tax, and a tax is not a contribution.

The government considers SS payments to be a tax and being a tax it can be increased, or eliminated and you have no recourse. SS can fold up today and the government is not required by law to give you anything.

SS is being used today for so many things it was never intended for and many of these unintended pay out are to people that have paid zero dollars to SS. So that is where the entitlement title comes in.

Now I do agree with you about paying in to SS your whole life and now I will take my SS check weather I need it or not.

I do have my own retirement plan so I will probably just donate my SS check to the TEA party every month.

The money taken from each of us only guarantees we also will receive benefits when we're retired. The system needs changes - like means-testing - not closing it down.

It becomes an entitlement when we start paying out more money than was put in. I agree with you on getting them out.

I totally agree with you. I have been saying this for a long time now. As long as they give me my money back I don't care if they cut it. They also have to pay me interest on it. Its only fair.

You might ought to have looked up the word "Entitlement" before posting this question.

SS should have been privatized decades ago. I guarantee my wife and I would be rich in mega-land ownership right now if we could have invested the money ourselves.

But no, the federal government had to twist the lid off of Social Security, tucked away in interest-bearing accounts for years, to use as their own personal slush fund.