flyerd1


Even though I’ve already prepared for no social security benefit I definitely do NOT see it going belly up. Any required changes “WILL” be made because the baby boom generation is way too big of a voting segment. Here are three things I think either will or “should” be changed. I’m sure there will be some disagreements but here we go (it’s a little long):

1) One of the things I definitely expect to see soon is a change in the SS tax so that there is NO cap on income subject to the tax (currently 97.5K).

2) A .5% increase ($50 extra per $10K of annual earnings) in the tax itself to 6.7%. This, combined with #1 above, would add quite a bit to the fund. Ex: a person earning 197.5K would pay an extra $7,187.50. A hedge fund manager (wall Street exec, etc) making 100,097,500.00 would pay an additional 6,700,487.50 in SS tax. The tax could be reduced to .5% lower than the “current” level as the system gained its footing. That would mean a 5.7% SS tax. The .5% reduction (from 6.2 to 5.7) could then be added to the Medicare tax to fix it. The net effect would be no change in the total SS/Medicare tax (it would still be a total of 7.65%)

3) Unfortunately, I think most people (i.e. 70%+) would do even worse than the governments historically bad rate of return; therefore I’m against giving some of the money to individuals who, for the most part, can’t even manage what they have now. However, I do believe the money should be invested for higher returns in a diversified ETF portfolio something like this: 50% domestic/international stocks (ex’s: S&P, NASDAQ, IOO, ADRA), 20% commodities related (GLD, DBA, VAW, IGE,), 20% High Quality Bonds (Gov’t & Corporate), 10% Cash equivalents like CD ylding > 6%.

4) Protect SS funds from “other” uses.

5) Additionally, in the interest of saving the system, and because I believe social security should be more of a safety net for “if” you need it, I submit the following thought. I think SS benefits should be “eliminated” for people with retirement sources of income (cap gains, div’s, pensions, etc) “or” assets (minus primary house & active farmland) totaling greater than a set limit that adjusts for inflation. Purely as a starting point for debate: I would support a current income threshold limit of 2.5X the average income of the city you reside in “and/or” a 3M asset limit. For example: if your city’s avg income was 40K, and your total retired income exceeded 100K (or assets > 2M), you would not get any of the SS money that you would otherwise collect (your full benefit would simply be “reduced” between 1.5-2.5X that city’s avg income). Adjusting for salary increases, the avg income in my example would be around 100K in 30 yrs and therefore you total retired income would have to be more than 250K (or assets >5M) to lose the entire benefit. My money’s where my mouth is because I’m 30yrs from SS eligibility and I will have ZERO problem giving up my benefits when I’m spending >250K/yr and/or have assets >5M. BTW, the hedge fund mngr mentioned in #2 would get a nice fat $2100/month (6K/month in 30 yrs) “if” he somehow went bankrupt between making 100M and retirement so he “would” be able to take advantage of the “safety net” that he had paid into. Actually, the max benefit would have to be increase when the 97.5K cap was abolished. I could see the hedge fund guy getting the new max benefit of 10K/month (28K/month in 30 yrs) because he put more into it. The 10K/month amount would apply to anyone who had paid SS tax on an average income > 500K/yr every yr from age 21 (per current rules for the 2100 max payment). The 500K as of 07’ would be adjusted backward and fwd for inflation.

Unlike some, who think SS should be phased out, I still like the idea of SS (even if I never benefit from mine). I see it as an encouragement for people to take chances in their lives such as entrepreneurial risks. I think that knowing there is “something” to fall back on would provide at least a little bit of encouragement to try high risks/high reward endeavors. If, however, the business risk pays off and you create the next MSFT, APPL, GOOG, CAT, etc, etc. then there’s no reason to “access” that safety net.

Any opinions, thoughts, or new ideas that aren’t smartass in nature?

gay-pianist


Okay so I asked for people’s opinion on my reasoning for why gas is SOO HIGHH. You may not agree with it but how does this violate the rules it’s suspicious don’t you think?

Okay here is the problem.

1. A lot of people have no room to complain they drive really BIG TRUCKS and SUV’S for no reason except to try and impress their neighbor and drive to Wal-Mart for goodies-you should get mad at them.

2. The oil companies may be charging more BUT that does not mean that most the gas problem is caused by them-farmers right now are making a fortune selling wheat does that mean they are price gouging? NO! Oil companies are making record profits becasue there is LESS SUPPLY and MORE DEMAND=more profits now to the reasons it is expensive.

3. Speculators, investors, traders-on Wall-Street play the little commodities game like a fiddle. You can buy FUTURES contracts on oil and they are 1,000 barrels per contract. As you can see Rich people are buying the oil FIRST and then when the demand gets higher i.e. rich people are hording it, they turn around and sell it to you and I later—the poor people. Thank you WAL-STREET.

4. Environmental nuts who think that OIL COMPANIES and oil exploration companies shouldn’t be drilling for oil. These are the crazy tree huggers that you see dangling off bridges; according to them the U.S. economy should shut down, and really we shouldn’t be driving at all, or using electricity, or breathing…or really we shouldn’t even be alive.

5. The falling value of the U.S. dollar caused by Excess money printing to fund the War in IRAQ by the great George Bush whom we should all stand in awe at! What a great job he has done.

6. OPEC only pumps oil to 50% of their capacity. Yes this is true MIND YOU that is still plenty of oil for all of us if they pumped it faster all the Rich people on wal-street would just buy more of it. However if they pumped a little faster YES it would help to a small limited degree but MOST of our oil comes from Canada and the U.S. Anyway–85%.

7. China is using gas-more gas usage=less supply and more demand=price is going up.

8. The government puts a HUGE tax on gas Like about a dollar of what you pay goes right into funding the war and other stuff the government does (crazy politics)!!!

9. Some gas station just like to GOUGE you a bit. While it is true that most the gas stations really ARE NOT making all that much off gas some still overcharge. Be aware however that MOST gas station do not do this they only make like 20 cents a gallon or so i.e. they charge just above the MARKET price that the U.S.A. is getting.

10. Are these enough reasons? Are you at all surprised that it is going up?

What we can do about it you might be asking? Well first you can try to LIMIT the size or your car and fight for bills being passed that regulate large ridiculous monster trucks around town. THIS WOULD REALLY HELP!!! Second you could try to vote for a president like Ron Paul and Hope the elections aren’t rigged. Lastly you could plan your trips out betting and shop at places nearby and NOT drive across town to go to Wal-Mart to save a whole 2 bucks on a bunch of groceries NOTE: people do that . It’s gunna get worse.

So lets review why it’s high in case your wonder later on.
–War In IRAQ and falling U.S. dollar (too much printing)
–Trading and investing on Wall-Street (some RICH GOONS PLAYING THE MARKET LIKE A FIDDLE AND HORDING OIL TO SELL IT TO ME LATER FOR A HIGHER PRICE)
–Environmental CRAZIES (no oil drilling or exploration)
–Big Taxes (The Gov is the biggest business of all time)
–China (They live driving now too)
–OPEC (why pump more when it’s a limited resource and we can charge more later–don’t pump fast)
–Gas Stations being Greedy (Hey Some are)

At anytime you can ponder and review these in your head lol. I hope this helps and good luck.

Peace

David K


I am a licensed Contractor in CA with a C-27 license.
The amount of jobs I am bidding on is 25% of the number I bid last year and those that I am bidding are just checking price and I price at below industry standards. I am driving alot less using much less gas. I am not buying materials (30% of last years amount). That is reflected in the commodity markets. Oil is going down. Why? (Note above) Figure it out? Yet the market goes higher 2 days in a row???
Contractors are certainly not doing the investing.
We are in hibernation hoping to wait it out.
We have no confidence it will turn around soon because we remember the 90’s when it all went flat. Problem is the fundamentals are MUCH worse than we remember in the 1990’s.
Look at the amount of jobs we represent. I am not hiring anyone. Abu Dhabi throws 7 billion at Citicorp??? Means nothing if no one is building or remodeling! And they are throwing the weakest dollar in US history so why in the world are people investing???
When things do improve???
How do you we know that will happen??
We are in debt to other countries much more than we ever have before.
The Euro is much stronger than ever before.
They now buy all the cheap goods from China like we do. China and India buy European goods because the quality is better. I know I only buy Stihl or Husqvarna. We make nothing here in the US.
What reason will the dollar have to strengthen?
Pressure to unhinge from the dollar is stronger than ever before.
7 billion dollars in 5 years will be worth
about 4 billion Euros.
And thats if we are lucky.
Economies like Russia and countries with little exposure to the US economy will prosper.
Russian Rubles are difficult to find to trade in but I have $300 invested in them with a little in gold and silver. I hope to invest more in them but rent is my main expense now. Hard to invest with $2000 a month coming in from small jobs.

XNeoXCore


why is everyone like oh ya..china will surpass america in like 10 years? that’s physically impossible. Sure, china’s economy is growing at an alarming rate, BUT they still have an unemloyment rate of over 20%. While eastern china may be well developed, the west still greatly lacks basic neccesties and is usually neglected by the government. Also, truth be told.. products that are labelled Made in China are not necessarily developed or designed in China. In fact, 60% of Chinese goods that are exported come from overseas-invested factories, according to Chinese customs data. The United States of America has the world’s strongest army and navy and has a projection force to anywhere on earth. Our military simply cannot be matched. China still doesn’t know how to live in a modern society and is still a socialist country. Because of china’s “growth-at-all-costs” ideaology, the enviorment is quickly deteriorating and fresh water is a very scarce commodity….

Jeffrey B


I’m a little worried about the dollar. It’s not looking too good. Am I allowed to invest in silver or other commodities?