Reply #40: Choice

[Caliman73]

Seems great until something happens that is beyond your control. You may be a savvy investor, but there are always people out there who are out to take your money.

The flaw in your argument is, as we have seen in many other areas where people want to do what they want to do with their resources, when bad choices, or bad luck, or whatever happens they do not just sit there and magnanimously say, "Oh well, life happens". They run to the government and ask for help.

You are arguing for choice and that seems logical, but are you honestly saying that if you had invested your retirement with Bernie Madoff or with Enron/Anderson Accounting, Lehman, or other entities who were getting enormous returns for some time but that ultimately ripped people off, that you would just walk off into the sunset and go live on the streets? People thought that those investments were golden. It wasn't just "stupid people" either, cities, countries, pension plans, millionaire investors, and the like were all taken in and duped. Real estate was a "rock solid investment" for many years, but there are people who were doing extremely well, who lost everything when the bubble burst.

You are really willing to assume all the risk of getting scammed by professionals, by the system, or just getting beat out by bad timing? I don't know you personally, but I have been working in the field of human behavior for a number of years now and Somehow I don't think so. If so, then you would be pretty unique.

Social Security is far from perfect, but it affords a minimum standard of living for people who can no longer work competitively to support themselves. You can choose to supplement your retirement privately so that you can have a higher standard than the minimum. Social Security has withstood non-stop attack by Republicans and Libertarians who think they can do better since it was signed into law. They would see us return to the time when you truly were on your own. You may already know about it, but if not, read up on the Gilded Age from the late 1800's and the conditions in America prior to the passage of Social Security.