Quote:
Originally Posted by joeydb
It wasn't an expansive list. You see where I was going - you need an element by element review of what is being spent on and whether that's legitimate or not.
You know - like a "budget" is - everywhere else in the world but Washington D.C.
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discretionary spending is not the issue, and is not what is needed to fix the problems.
the biggest issue confronting the federal govt and the budget is their entitlement spending. ss, medicare and medicaid-the big three. they are eating up a major portion of the budget, and will only continue to grow. ignoring them is ignoring the biggest problem.
there must be reform-there needs to be changes made immediately. the # of credits required to be fully vested must be raised, the amount of money paid in isn't enough, pricing needs to be addressed, the age requirements to get full ss needs to change, the amount paid to people who retire before age 67 needs to be lowered, and people in a higher income bracket need to have their benefits reduced. if you retire before age 65 or 67 your money received should be reduced drastically. many people don't wait til age 65 to retire, or age 67, as there isn't much of a penalty if they retire earlier. brutal to some? perhaps? necessary to keep us going off a cliff? yes.
the current life expectancy is 74 for males, 81 for females. it's risen recently to those #'s, thus full retirement should be adjusted as well. there should be automatic increases built in to adjust any time expectancies go up.
also, keep in mind that when ss was begun, there weren't pension plans and 401ks, annuities and iras available. people are becoming more and more aware of aiding themselves in retirement. there needs to be a real investigation into just how much the ss portion of entitlements is still needed...will retirement income become less of a concern to coincide with the rising cost of medical needs? aren't we becoming more able to handle retirement income now and in future?
btw, anyone who bought life insurance before '08 needs to see their agent. your premiums should be adjusted to meet the new expectancies. but i'm sure they won't be calling you to discuss that!