Free-Market Social Security

[@moden321]

Stossel looks really good for a 71 year old.

[@jabberwolf7348]

Seriously he looks like he's in his 50's!

[@Kamidon74]

Wellllll I mean they do put a little makeup on him....but yeah he does look really good. Hopefully he'll live forever, we need people like him!!!!!!

[@robrobets7813]

Life of Truth telling and a steady diet of lefty tears is his secret!

[@ilovebrandnewcarpets]

Holy crap I thought he was in his mid 50's!

[@bigraviolees]

+Martin H .. Stossel looks good, propagandizing pays whores well

[@acommonguy6676]

One lesson that far too many people have not learned, is that government is far more likely to fail you, then support you.

[@Pomiferous]

Especially if there is no magic tax wand.

[@lbuday]

a common guy no man we need government healthcare, wellfare, housing... that wont make anything more expansive just tax the rich so all of them move to another country and no one has a job anymore.

[@bornfree8073]

Everyone knows that government sucks, but it's easier to rely on the government instead of yourself and taking responsibility

[@Football5198]

And yet some want more and more government.

[@history6988]

Everyone wants more government they just want it in different places. The places where it benefits them more.

[@YorickReturns]

1. Save and invest for your own retirement. 2. Develop a career that you really like, so that you won't even want to retire. 3. Be nice to your kids (after all, it's your choice to have them!), so that it will be a joy for them to take care of you.

[@superchuck3259]

Nahh, the government will take care of you. Some underpaid staff will neglect you as your elderly butt suffers while they plan out things on their smart phone. Yeah, trust the government.

[@superchuck3259]

J That has been done before, under Obama, but the regular taxes were left in place and tax breaks were left to expire, so in the end not much gained. Plus then people had essentially lowered their future benefits, because future benefits are based on what is paid in.

[@72dodge340]

You can't lower the future benefits from the ZERO they're going to be! (j/k I know what you mean)

[@superchuck3259]

J Funny you mentioned that. The Illinois Public College teachers can elect to not have Social Security taken out of their checks and rely on the Teachers Pension Fund to retire. But of course, they can always work a part time job or something during summers to get the needed quarters for a minimum benefit check! People are smart!

[@howardfox2816]

As established the AS system was supposed to be an old age retirement program. Other though important programs have been continually added to it so many who contribute little qualify for a lot . Survivors, disability, those who start contributing later in life - say from 57 to 67 and with "reciprocal " agreements as little as 6 credits. It is far more than an increasing life expectancy draining that system.

[@bcarss1970]

The government letting you have your own money? LOL!

[@reinhardearlin6977]

Hillary: "My commitment is to raise taxes on the wealthy. Of course, MY personal wealth is exempt."

[@danieldz7906]

@@reinhardearlin6977 In Poland they cut social security for 2 parts. Old goverment owned- that is on verge of colapse like in USA And new one - private investment companies. U payed like 80% to goverment and 20% for private company that u choose. After 20 years of working in this way Goverment says that he need this private money and make a law that in 2020 this private companys will give all money to goverment. It is our money but we cant have it. :) And they brag about that we are so great goverment that in 2020 it will be first year without planned deficit in budget. YEA becouse u are nationalizing our money :)

[@eustacebagge3869]

@@danieldz7906 can you inform us how it went? i am genuinely interested and would appreciate any input.

[@danieldz7906]

@@eustacebagge3869 koronavirus

[@danieldz7906]

​@@eustacebagge3869 Private social seciurity must give all money that we gathered to goverment social seciurity to rescue them. nothing changed. O i forgot. After deleting private social seciurity they made anorher private-goverment social seciurity(PPK private investment plans) but u need to pay extra to them. Becouse old one was bad and we have better idea that will cost u extra :) Now there is no private social seciurity company, only goverment social security. But now u need to pay 100% to goverment and extra 5% to new "private-goverment" program. SO probably after 10-20 years they will take this money also.

[@niveks8384]

Late 40's and have always known it would be gone. Worked hard and saved privately via 401k and some other retirement accounts. Now with a breaking down body, the feds want to penalize me to access MY money.

[@barleyeducated8714]

Put any new money in ROTH accounts. Your contributions cannot be taxed, and withdrawals from such accounts are ordered that contributions are withdrawn first before any earnings.

[@dumbass3770]

Sorry but a 401 is as bad as social security because of taxes and what the market will be at when you need the money you penalized for early withdrawal you really don't know what your money is invested in you can't get out if the market starts to crash

[@bsm6776]

401k thanks to govt. the private sector didn’t invent a deferred tax program

[@superchuck3259]

Just buy and hold stock for the very long term. Hard to find long term winners, but those methods shield your profits from taxes for as long as you don't sell. Plus once you sell, you are at lower tax rates, long term capital gains rates, than earned income.

[@starkusmc1981]

You're screwed either way. Government is force and they'll take what they want, when they want.

[@codysett1]

John Stossel your the man!!!! You really have influenced me in a positive way. I first saw your videos in my first semester of college back in 2012 in a joke of a economics class at a joke of a college. I watched your video on what is a degree but a piece of paper saying you can set a goal and achieve it. I then soon dropped out and pursued a career and can happily say since I was 18 I havent made less than 60k a year working my ass off and working ot. I also watched your video on retirement such as this and i have 10% coming out of my paycheck and 5% gets matched and goes into a 401k and the other 5% goes into a private ira. I also make a extra 2 payments a year on my house and have cut my morgage from a 30yr to a 16yr saving almost 250k in interest. Love you man!

[@superchuck3259]

The best way to fight the system is do things with as little debt as possible and work hard. Who would think hard work was a good thing when watching Main Stream TV.

[@jeremyk9870]

You sound like a well disciplined hard worker who earns every dime they expect to receive. Your attitude is what we need to see in our young people today where they would take care of themselves instead of expect handouts.

[@mynameisnobody7840]

Codysett1 if you don’t mind, could you please send me the name of the videos you just mentioned. I’d be much appreciated, & iz thanking yeah.

[@codysett1]

My name is Nobody that video invloving college is called " is college worth it" - I think. And the rest where this video and I just searched John Stossel on retirement

[@mynameisnobody7840]

codysett1 thanks again fof the prompt response I’ll check it out sometime this week. Have a bless day

[@redroofretriever]

Call it what it really is - A TAX. Gives the govt the freedom to spend it without reason.... Oh wait, they already did that.

[@vandertuber]

Actually, the United States Supreme Court agrees with you. The US SCT ruled that social security is a tax !!

[@themonkeypuppet77]

Not exactly correct. FICA is the tax. SS is a benefit. According to SCOTUS in Helvering v. Davis, the two are UNRELATED. This means they could get rid of the tax and keep the benefit. Let’s be real, though, they’ll keep the tax and axe the benefit... but ONLY when the primary beneficiaries are no longer a significant voting block. FICA is in fact “just another income tax” according to Helvering v. Davis.

[@vandertuber]

FICA is in fact “just another income tax” according to Helvering v. Davis - YES

[@55Quirll]

@@vandertuber The Court also ruled that Social Security is not a Right and can be withdrawn from Congress at anytime. The Court ruled that no such contract exists, and that there is no contractual right to receive Social Security payments. Payments due under Social Security are not “property” rights and are not protected by the Takings Clause of the Fifth Amendment. The interest of a beneficiary of Social Security is protected only by the Due Process Clause

[@vandertuber]

@@55Quirll All very true. We should therefore have private pension accounts instead. Something we actually own, with full property rights.

[@psychoh13]

"It's almost like a big Ponzi scheme" geee you think?! 😁

[@ladiesgentswegothim]

They did it initially as a Ponzi scheme, because there were retirees/elderly at the time it was passed who needed the money. But they should've had a plan to transition it after 10 or 20 years into individual accounts. Instead, they did as all Ponzi schemers do, ride the wave.

[@JohnSmith-ox3gy]

French Honey Badger Jusk ask the Detroit social workers.

[@psychoh13]

Faffy Waffle: Or they should have not tried to bribe people with other people's money, that's a better solution in my opinion.

[@ladiesgentswegothim]

No doubt. But what to do now.

[@psychoh13]

It depends on how much you want it to hurt. If you want to it to hurt less you end the system now, maybe you give bonds for the existing retirees and tell everyone that there's no more social security and you gotta save yourself… Or you wait until the system completely fails and people can complain as much as they want it won't matter.

[@ChristopherAbelman]

I just turned 40 and awfully late to investing with barely any portfolio except my 401k, I have a decent amount of cash saved up and with inflation currently soaring AGAIN, I’m getting worried about retirement, my intention is to retire at 65 atleast, so how best do I maximize my savings of over $500k

[@bartlyAD]

Retirement is now more difficult than it was in the past. it's all about balancing your risk tolerance with your long-term goals. Maybe consider speaking to an advisor to help in diversifying your portfolio to spread out the risk.

[@FinnBraylon]

Generally speaking, a good number of people discredit the effectiveness of financial advisor in planning for retirement, For over the past 10years, I’ve had a financial advisor consistently restructure and diversify my portfolio/expenses and I’ve made over $3m in gains… might not be a lot but retirement doesn’t seem so farfetched anymore.

[@HildaBennet]

Your advisor must be really good. How I can get in touch? My retirement portfolio's decline is a concern, and I could use some guidance.

[@FinnBraylon]

REBECCA NOBLETT ROBERTS has always been on the top of my list..She is regarded as a genius in her area and well knowledgeable about financial markets.

[@HildaBennet]

Thanks for sharing. I curiously searched for her full name and her website popped up after scrolling a bit. I looked through her credentials and did my due diligence before contacting her.

[@srouji6]

Allow Citizens to have choice as to where their social security money will go! Great Idea

[@imulippo5245]

Black Label, you mean asking their permission to be free?

[@jensfranssens2858]

the state: -"So good ideas they are mandatory"

[@aeronomer8389]

Keep dreaming. The establishment is never going to allow that to happen.

[@bsm6776]

Black Label but most people won’t save

[@superchuck3259]

no name Most people will not live to collect much if anything from Social Security and Medicare.

[@DANLAROCA-dx9gk]

Stop giving social security to the immigrant old people who have come here in their 60’s and who have not contributed to the fund. That’s a start.

[@Redmanticore]

"immiggraaaaannttsss"

[@ithinkimhipster502]

3:50 It's so funny and sad how the concept of keeping your own money that you worked for is revolutionary.

[@davidthecardcollector]

Why do we never hear about welfare going broke?

[@reinhardearlin6977]

The government HAS to keep welfare going in perpetuity. If it ends, entire cities will burn to the ground amid shouts of "GIBS ME DAT! GIBS ME DAT OR YOU RAYCISS!"

[@workingshlub8861]

@@reinhardearlin6977true...ever see when they give out the section 8 vouchers...its near riots people trying to get one at the housing offices..can you imagine cutting welfare and food stamps..

[@mae2759]

Not that many people are on welfare. Literally 100% of people will receive Social Security if you don't die beforehand.

[@Viking380]

That’s their base.

[@edwin2600]

@@reinhardearlin6977 Black people aren't the only ones collecting welfare. There's actually more white people on welfare in this country than black people.

[@Nobody-11B]

Yep it'll be fun living to a hundred! Constantly paying rent or "taxes" on my home, paying into SS until I'm 95 and working my ass off three years after I'm dead.

[@QuelDroma366]

There is no such thing as land ownership in America. Even after you pay the mortgage, still pay rent (property tax) for the privilage of using the government's land.

[@Nobody-11B]

QuelDroma366 yep never going to stop stealing every penny they can until we die.

[@whitelily227]

Exactly! The property you work hard to pay the government can seize at any time. The banks have that GATE agreement with the government so that they can freeze our assets when the banks fail. What a time to be alive!

[@NEMO-NEMO]

whitelily227 when was it different in America? What about the lands that hv been handed down from the beginnings of this Colony? I think it was a good idea to build communities in the mountains of this country like the Scots-Irish in the Appalachians. Although the law still applies to them. Taking actual owner of these lands can be more difficult.

[@workingshlub8861]

@@QuelDroma366 you might own the structure but property tax is forever...

[@manifesto52]

I've always appreciated your reasoned cause and effect way of explaining your point. I appreciate all that you do. Keep up the good work, John.

[@thomasvnl01]

Terrific video again Stossel, good to see you are still doing this! 😃

[@ronschramm9163]

I have been paying into Social Security for 36 years. I have thought, since my first economics class in high school, that Social Security should basically be like a 401K. When you retire, they turn the funds over to you, and then you invest, use, or lose it. Too bad if someone squanders it.

[@sonictech1000]

Great video! One thing worth mentioning is that when the "trust me" funds run out nothing really changes. Right now, every dollar SS withdraws from the fund is paid by the treasury which gets the money from taxes, borrowing etc. If they want to maintain the same benefits after the funds run out then the treasury simply needs to keep supplying the funds just as it is now.

[@NS-pf2zc]

Crazy thought: Save money. Purchase land away from cities. Kill personal debt. Raise and grow your own truly healthy food. Learn relentlessly. Take a lower paying job and spend less (less taxes, hint hint). Reuse, recycle, repurpose. Quit feeding this madness. We are so blessed with opulence, we've forgotten what hardship looks like. Even the poorest among us live so much better than a lot of people in this world.

[@ljbrandt500]

You're awesome. I feel the same way and couldn't have said it better myself

[@smithersreleasethehounds5330]

So very well said. I'm beyond tired of people complaining about things and not using the tools they have in front of them to improve their own life. Stop depending on others to help you and help your damn self. There has never been a time such as this where it's right at your fingertips. One stone at a time..

[@edwin2600]

The ultra rich are buying up all the good farm land. The low cost land has no water, or too much water, or is on a grade too steep to walk on, and has no utilities, no public services, etc. Living in a shack in the woods like the Unabomber is just not for me.

[@RobinHood1st]

That’s why young people need to start a Roth at an early age. Time, saving and compound interest equals financial security

[@bencruz563]

To hell with social security. To hell with the federal government dipping its vile, greedy, power hungry claws into my paycheck.

[@palaceofwisdom9448]

The most glaring example of all as to what happens when government promises something.

[@johnklems8107]

Fix Social security now and allow young people to invest in their own retirement.

[@gheebuttersnaps2011]

I've been watching KZbin for a decade now, and i have subbed to 2 people and you John Stossel are one of them

[@nanowasabi4421]

Who ever thought it was a good idea to let the government control our savings like an overbearing parent? It's not the government's responsibility to make you responsible with money.

[@lithium25693]

Before SS 50% of the elderly were below the poverty today that number is 10%. The elderly are also the majority people who show up and vote. So basically you have to convince ppl who get free money from the GOV to stop getting that money, it will never happen. When you get old u 2 will vote for SS to stay

[@nanowasabi4421]

lithium25693 The only fair way to end the program would be to support everyone who has been paying into social security their whole lives, and even if it wasn't done that way, if everyone just stopped receiving benefits, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't be so selfish as to put my needs ahead of the entire country's. I'd recognize that telling others "this how you must prepare for retirement; comply or go to jail" is wrong.

[@lithium25693]

I'm just saying ending SS would piss off a large amount of ppl who paid into SS and would cost whatever party that did it a presidential election or 2. It will never happen

[@nanowasabi4421]

I'm just saying it wouldn't, as long as everyone who paid in gets compensated, which is entirely possible.

[@b.5191]

Another great video, Stossel! #weWantMoreStossel

[@macioluko9484]

@2:52 You gotta love Bernie: You don't cut SS. You expand it!" In other words you don't try to put out the fire. You dump more gasoline on it!!! @5:25 Yeah! Into the whirlpool with a black hole in the middle of it.

[@wildec2]

12.4% contribution rate is very high for a retirement / safety net. Any sane person would then want to save more in investments that are going to actually earn a return. So what would Bernie do? Yeah, he mainly just wants to lift the cap, and get high income earners to cross subsidize the low income earners within the same broken social security tax system. What that tells me is that the SST could be abolished, the government could simply pay a pension directly from income tax revenues, and his plan could just be to lift tax on high income earners via federal personal income tax. Surely somewhere along the line one of Sanders advisors reminded him that SST and Medicare Tax is regressive and hurts low income and working class people way more than it hurts high income earners, so he chooses to ignore that advice and keep selling the regressive ponzi scheme.

[@mogoes96]

I really appreciate you educating me Mr. Stossel!

[@granthull7727]

I am 53 years old. In 12 years from now I will be 65. Social security will not exist any more. It’s about time we all start investing in our future.

[@deadeyedsam850]

52 here, no light at the end of the tunnel for us.

[@barleyeducated8714]

Grant & Randy. SS will be there in 12 years. Doubtful there is political will to simply end it. Worse case I've heard is that payouts may only be 75% of what has been promised. More worrying is your line that may have waited until 53 to start investing? Sorry if I'm misreading that but get your butt in gear on that. :)

[@bsm6776]

You’re about 30 years too late

[@superchuck3259]

There is absolutism in place. Social Security will continue to exist. Just issue is the cost will have to go up. If you look at Social Security history the cost always went up except for the cuts made by Obama. Yep taxes going into Social Security were reduce for a few years. Here is the trick, when you put less money into Social Security you get less benefits out. So it was also trimming peoples future benefits. Few people understand this. Also if Social Security needed the money so much, how can you cut the taxes going into it, even for a few years? Ya can't! Well unless you want it to fail!

[@autohelix]

It will exist I guarantee you.

[@TedPaul]

Keep up the good work Stossel!

[@rifter6176]

Well done and thank you Stossel

[@rixpix2957]

Thank God for media folks like John Stossel. Very little truth out there otherwise.

[@bigraviolees]

+Rix PIx .. Stossel is a propagandizing arrogant douchebag idiot

[@kaangsquad3765]

PRINT!!! FASTER!!! stossel one of internet's best.

[@bono894]

Wow, people actually saving for their own retirement. Now there's a novel idea.

[@edwin2600]

I tried doing that for years. Something always came along to eat up everything I saved. The Scrooge thing is very hard to do in real life.

[@glory7086]

I was wondering where you went to? And recently realized I was unsubscribed from your channel. ( which I didn’t do). Glad to find you again!!

[@mrcausey]

Write it off as a tax and plan for your retirement on your own. Budget, spend less than you make and save!

[@clydemarshall8095]

I say cut/phase out Social Security, Welfare, Medicare, and Medicaid. They aren’t Constitutional and are economically crippling us. If individual states want to pass their own legislation like those programs that’s their 10th Amendment prerogative but it is not Constitutional for the Federal Government to spend our money that way.

[@rambow70]

Imagine the burden of owning your own retirement... Democrats 1935-2018

[@lithium25693]

So what happens to ppl who can't work and can't afford a home to retire in?

[@brent1041]

+lithium25693 they can figure it out like the rest of us. It's not my burden to support anyone but myself.

[@lithium25693]

@Brent not my burden to pay for the roads you drive on. BUILD YOUR OWN ROADS AND STOP STEALING MY MONEY!!!

[@heavymetalredneck7973]

"Its for your future" but you have no choice but to pay. The federal and state government each take what they say you owe before you even get your paycheck but somehow people see this as normal. Income Taxation is theft! When you have to show your income for a loan or whatever they use your net pay instead of your gross pay which is bs and they know it! I don't bring home the net pay i bring home the gross and gross is the perfect word for it!

[@lngleg]

The problem rests in the hands of politician's who gladly give it to those who have not paid into it.

[@TalkingOutOfSchool]

lngleg When a hospital nurse, illegal alien children would be visiting their illegal alien parents who were on social security and Medicare. They step over the border and OUR money and hard work is given to them!

[@imulippo5245]

lngleg, why politicians get into office? It's more of voters fault. Secret ballot must be removed because voting is threatening other people with violence.

[@judywright4241]

lngleg --And aren’t held accountable because most of the public aren’t aware that those same politicians AREN’T subject to SSI isn’t taken out of their paychecks because THEY HAVE PRIVATIZED accounts instead of depending on social security. More people barely keep up with their own lives with little thought as to the future. True visionaries are needed to make tough decisions in government but CYA and re-election consumes politicians. They’ll watch America go down the tubes pointing at someone else.

[@lngleg]

Judy Wright Well said!

[@bigraviolees]

+lngleg .. society paid into it, no GOP twit is an island though in their arrogance they think that

[@smendez3806]

I'm from Chile and private accounts sound good BUT when they "invest" the money in ghost companies and pay the government debt then you realize it was just to discount ANOTHER 10% more from your salary

[@ChainsGoldMask]

Pyramid scheme

[@bigraviolees]

+ChainsGOldMask .. GOP = dumbass scheme

[@ArchetypeGotoh]

This man knows what’s up

[@bigraviolees]

the G0P is robbing us all of land air and water a future and SS and Medicare

[@todoldtrafford]

SS was a Ponzi scheme created by FDR dumbass

[@bluebronx2000]

The reason why there arent enough young people to fund social security is because many were murdered in utero. Look beneath the surface so you can judge correctly.” -John 7:24 NLT

[@ChainsGoldMask]

Why isn’t the government on the hook for all the SS money they spent.

[@barleyeducated8714]

The money was spent on ss recipients. The excess was placed aside, but was borrowed by the treasury, now the ious are being cashed in by SS.The gov't is on the hook legally, but you do understand that it is you and I that ultimately bear the costs.

[@David-lr2vi]

Hello from Australia. One of the better examples of a “privatised” social security system. Here we have a compulsory 9.5% of our wages go into our own retirement fund at a lower tax rate than normal and is invested in whatever you choose to invest it in (within reason). When you reach retirement age you draw down the money as an ongoing monthly pension (private pension) tax free. You only pay tax if you take lump sums out. Funnily enough this system was introduced by our “socialist” political party (the Labor party) and its hated by our “conservative” party (the Liberal party) who try to dismantle the system by stealth. The main problem with the system is the conservative government keeps changing the rules of the system to try and turn it into a tax minimisation scheme for the rich rather than it being a retirement nest egg for all workers.

[@wildec2]

Love the hyperpartisan nonsense of the 2nd and 3rd paragraph. Lump sum is tax free after retirement age, but then returns made with it (if any) are taxed at personal income tax rates, not the flat 15%. The system is far from perfect, and it still has problems, eg many peoples savings are damaged severely by default life insurance. After the productivity commission report was handed down automatic life insurance was identified as a particularly bad problem for young people, without children, and small retirement balances. This is a problem that benefited lobby groups like the unions and insurance companies. There is also the problem that the employer can choose any old superannuation plan, however pathetic its returns may be, and small balances just sit in stasis (at best) or are eroded away over time, making them even worse than Social Security. Anyone who runs their self managed retirement fund in Australia is automatically immune to such gouging, so long as they invest in long term high return investments. This is especially so for family self managed where a husband and wife pool their wealth together. After tax contributions help the process along even more. As to lump sums, it varies, but people who retire after the set retirement age (preservation age) which is usually 60, take the lump sum out and do NOT get taxed an extra 15%. And they can then invest it privately if they wish to. If they are poor and the super balance is low, then this option is the best value, as the 15% flat tax on the returns made the persons savings will probably be higher than the average person income tax, the tax free threshold for citizens being A$18,200 (~US$14,121). At a 7% yield the persons account would have to be A$260,000 to be generating dividend income of 18,200. The Australia retirement savings system has obvious benefits when compared to Social Security, but it also has problems. I mentioned the life insurance scam, theres also the regressive nature of the tax rate against no-income and low income earners, it has favored men over women for most of its history because losing any years of earnings meant that years cap was lost forever, it favored people who went from school into a stable job (eg teacher) for the same reason, it favors wealthy people who can setup self managed super and make large after tax contributions that boost the concessional profits that are made every year inside the fund, etc. In Australia there is a backup pensions, the aged pension and disability pension, and so poor people who pay income all their lives and accrue only a small balance and claim the pension when they retire probably couldve derived greater benefit from the money by spending it when they were younger than when they were older, particularly if they were poor and had more than one child. Social Security is far simpler than Australian Superannuation, too bad that means SS struggles with insolvency all the time.

[@Libertino]

Hi John! The problem with private accounts in Chile, in the Dominican Republic (my country), and other places is that the government forces you to have one. It is required by law, the money is deducted from every paycheck automatically, and no one is entirely sure they're going to get their money back when they retire. I still think it's better than having the government pretend to provide social security, but I would much rather have the freedom to *choose* what I want to do with that money.

[@computationaltheist7267]

Amen.

[@naturalisted1714]

Stossel for president!!!!

[@narnianhero]

Well who wants to give up their bread and circuses to save the nation?

[@narnianhero]

Not sure what you are asking and where you are going with this. Please explain your question a little more. Meanwhile here's a fun side fact. Evangelical Christians and regions that are more libertarian give much higher percentages of their money to charity than less religious people and leftist regions.

[@narnianhero]

I actually wanted you to expand the question, but I think I see what you are saying. As an Evangelical I don't like to brag about my contributions to charity, since it diminishes my reward in heaven. It may sound convenient, but I actually find it frustrating that I can't talk about it. I do strongly believe people should spend their time and money on things like Samaritan's Purse and local charities, and I am no hypocrite in this. I just can't directly tell you what I do.

[@NunYa953]

This is just like being a kid when you would put money in a piggy bank and have your mom keep the piggy bank somewhere that you couldn't get into it for no reason. Then when it's finally time to get your money she tells you, "I had to us your money for something."

[@thatgameguy4929]

I was born into a scam. Thanks Grandparents

[@thebigladyistheboss5466]

It wasn't your Grandparents that did it. It was the government borrowing from SS and not paying it back. They thought of it as a government piggy bank, but to their defense, FDR was trying to take care of people that were not going to have anything to support them in their old age. Most people will not save for their old age so the government took over for them. If people got to keep whatever they pay to SS most of them would not have a penny when they retire.!!!!

[@ronaldward5784]

Hahahaha

[@thebigladyistheboss5466]

@@ronaldward5784 Really, that's all you have to say. Maybe if the workers at that time were more educated or had better backgrounds they would have understood that they need to save. Back then families took care of others in their families, also people didn't live as long as they do now. The Asian culture has the right idea, they honored their elderly and took care of them just like when the elderly were young they took care of them. It was a circle of life. This country did not harbor that same experience because of so many different cultures. What did you think the government should come up with. They started work programs and taxes and SS if someone had a better idea than FDR maybe they should have said something. I mean the Congress has never been averse to breaking the balls of the President.

[@thebigladyistheboss5466]

Ken MacDonald: YES!!! There are still people in this country that need the Social Security System. Whether you like it or not for once the government was trying to take care of the citizens. FDR was a Democrat and this country had just experienced the Crash of 1929. The Presidents' of the time were looking for some way to help get the country back on its feet and to help the elderly to survive. So YES, I hope when it comes time for you to collect your SS benefits you see fit to refuse yours then your grandchildren can do the same lead by your example. I intend to leave grandchildren well enough off that they never need it and the people that do need it will still be helped. If you do some research you will find out that this was the best alternative for a country with people that were starving, people that had lost their savings, jobs, homes, and everything that they had worked for their whole lives. Since August 14, 1935, President Roosevelt signed the bill into law there must be something that you can read that will show you that there were other programs that were tried and this is the one they thought was best. It seems that more Democrats voted for it so maybe you can take your "B$tch" to them and get a satisfactory answer. As for myself I still say YES, but I decline the use of it.

[@charlesriley6618]

@@thebigladyistheboss5466 I believe what the others are getting at is that the people never needed the government to take care of them (especially not the feds) until the New Deal. By 1932, when FDR took office, the country had already existed for a century and a half and was richer than it or any other country had ever been. The elderly had been getting by just fine with their savings, help from children and other family, and if need-be churches and other charities. It makes no sense to assume that 1930's American elderly were somehow less capable of providing for themselves given that they were richer than ever. Furthermore, the country had endured many recessions throughout its entire history and never struggled to recover from any of those and continue growing until FDR and his New Deal screwed an entire genration by constantly interfering in the economy and preventing recovery. The point is, everything about Social Security is based on faulty assumptions and sometimes outright deceit by politicians. There is nothing moral or economocally sound about forcing the entire population to pay substantial portions of their incomes into a system for their entire working lives to give that money to the elderly who have had entire lifetimes to save said money. Social Security is the greatest Ponzi scheme ever invented, and anyone outside of governmemt who tried implementing it would be throw in prison or just become a laughingstock in the financial world.

[@Thecatnipproject]

I relied on it heavily for a long time because of the bad hand I was dealt in life being off my meds for too long in an out of jobs at least 20 times from age 22 to 23 and failing to cope with my ADHD it was a lifeline for me. But now that I'm finding ways to cope with my ADHD and getting medication to help me getting job counseling I don't need it anymore.

[@robertlinker6045]

Want to fix government eliminate it

[@robertlinker6045]

Tucson Jim u can try anytime u cowards hiding behind a computer screen pathetic

[@januszbc]

In Canada , we have Registered Retirement Savings Plan, or RRSP . You can put away up to 18% or $26K a year into this account and invest . If you make $100K a year and put into RRSP $20K you will be taxed based on $80K. When you start drawing from RRSP ( when you retire ) you would need less money than during you working life so you would take $40k a year from RRSP and that would be taxed lower tax bracket than original deposit. In the meantime you have virtually full control over your investment and everything that grows within that account in only taxed when you take it out. I hope I explain well.

[@Trid3nt861]

"Theyre coming for your social security money so they can give it to their criminal friends on wall st." George Carlin

[@yvonnejensen1969]

This is a good idea but my next question would be how would the government invest the money into the stock market? Government inflated stock doesn't sound like a good idea either.

[@SandfordSmythe]

Plus, the mixture of government and private influences.

[@bjkarana]

Stossel raises fair points that I think most people are aware of; but we already have a private system in place in the form of IRA/401k, SEP IRAs and HSAs, albeit HSA's are for medical bills. While I'm a huge fan of 401k and IRA, providers are a very mixed bag when it comes to fees. As a disclaimer, most IRAs and 401k's are terrific ways to invest for your future; the tax benefits alone are worth it, but if we're going to scrap SS, we need to make sure that private money managers are acting in the client's best interest, and Wall Street has a lousy track record when it comes to long-term, responsible money management.

[@davester1970]

For all of Wall Street's faults, they are NOWHERE near fiscally irresponsible than the federal government.

[@bjkarana]

Nika, for a low cost mutual fund/index mutual fund, sure you're getting 7% or so over the long-term, and maybe 8-10% if you've held individual stocks in a no fee DRIP. But nowhere near that if your account is with a fee-heavy mutual fund/401k provider (and those fees are often hidden quite well). Don't take my last sentence of my post just from me; John Bogle, the founder of Vanguard and the first index fund is the one who's been saying it for longer than I've been alive.

[@bjkarana]

David: it's not one vs the other; they're both in bed together. The markets work quite well, especially over the long-term; my beef is with the bankers and brokers (and legislators) that cause a lot of the trouble.

[@bjkarana]

​@Will Roberts Will, if you read my comments closer you'll see that I'm talking about 401k PROVIDER fees, NOT index mutual fund fees. If you buy an index fund through an IRA with Vanguard, Fidelity, or another low cost provider, you'll get the market return, minus the tiny fund fees, but if you buy the same fund in a 401k that charges it's own 2-3% fee, then your returns will be a lot lower. Some 401k plans are excellent, others are crap, you have to read through a particular 401k provider's disclosures to know for sure.

[@billybatson8657]

I'm no fan of taxes, but all they have to do is raise the cap on Social Security taxes. If Bill Gates paid SS tax on 100% of income like most Americans do there would be no shortage.

[@SandfordSmythe]

And he would get the appropriate benefits?

[@THEMarcusAurelius1]

I’m with the Democrats on this one - double down on the problem and spend more!! Hell yeah!!! I’m going shopping!

[@kickasskittypatriot6464]

William B apparently you don't have children or grandchildren . who's got to pay for your greed

[@THEMarcusAurelius1]

KickAssKitty Patriot thanks for the reply. I was out shopping, running up those credit cards, or I would have responded sooner. Apparently you don’t get sarcasm so I’ll just leave it at that. I’ve got to go make some phones calls for Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez!

[@kickasskittypatriot6464]

William B boo hoo

[@jaron808]

More people need to see this

[@DarkCrueDethAngel]

3:05: human wants and needs are un limited bec we're living being's an we always need something and want always something all the time and that's what government don't understand until I guess but until then if we are still living thro life at a very old age, they still need to support us no matter what bec it's their job and it's a shame n a sin that their not doing their job for the people of this country n it sucks bec they have the power n it's disgusting!

[@Kamidon74]

Thanks Stossel for yet another great video! Let's talk about healthcare though! :)

[@GMONEYFIFTYFOUR]

John Stossel for president

[@Vladasization]

You can't fix this problem with private accounts. With stagnant wages and majority of people living paycheck to paycheck, there is no way personal accounts could yield anything even close to an adequate pension for most people, even with the most optimistic market prognosis. All this free-market crap just helps politicians to escape social responsibility by putting the blame on the person for not saving enough.

[@MrBrewman95]

John actually forgot another major problem, most people will pay more into the system then what they will use, making it a scam.

[@bricklord5000]

John, great video, but don't forget that individuals only directly pay 7.65% of their income for FICA (medicare and social security) while the employer pays an additional 7.65%. In effect, this means that your FICA tax is double what is shown on your paystub. Eliminate this tax and most employees could get a 15.3% raise at no additional cost to the employer.

[@jaybrielakoi7747]

John you’re the man.

[@DarkSigmaTV]

Open a private retirement account with a trustworthy bank. Think of it as an additional Savings Account. To avoid paying the tax (or any taxes, for that matter) there is always the option to write them off in lieu of donating x amount to a private charity. Not many people know of this simple "loophole", but it would certainly be a step in the right direction.

[@dannoringer]

Bingo ! You nailed it John !!

[@B10Mman]

Here in Australia we have superannuation there are lots of different super schemes here in Australia and they all pay different. I have Australian Super and I am rolling my C-Bus construction super into my Australian Super fund. We have employer contributions and we can top up with our own contributions. Problem is IF the economy drops or we have a recession, the fund drops and saved money disappears. In some ways you'd be better off saving your money and putting it in a safe place.

[@wildec2]

If you look at balanced option, there is no year in recent memory where Australian Super went negative, so it was probably the safest place to put your money, safer than putting under the bed, or putting it in the bank. You have to bear in mind that the biggest threat to your money isnt thieves, but inflation, you have to earn return to stay ahead of it.

[@kenhart5259]

A problem I see with possibly letting people opt out of social security, beyond the fact that it will defund payments to those who are currently receiving payments, is that the government won't give anyone what they paid in for an investment.

[@chrisperry3525]

401k/etc are BS! 5% a year? well, they charge a fee to manage your money, say 2%. and sometimes the market dips. Inflation is what? 3% on average but up lately....you're lucky if you can keep up with inflation.

[@gapfenix]

Let one self manage our ss payments is the most wonderful idea I ever heard! At the time of signing for a company we should be able to pick the Bank or whatever other PRIVATE agency whom will be managing our SS monies.

[@stevesedio1656]

SSI was started in 1935, when the average lifespan for a man was 60 woman 64. You didn't collected SSI until age 65. If you start work at 20, and work to 65, you have contributed to SSI for 45 years. The average life span at age 65 is 80, so you collect for 15 years, a 3:1 ratio. If SSI was delayed to 70, you would work for 50 years, and collect for 10, a 5:1 ratio. Delay to 72, the ratio increases to 6.5:1. I didn't start collecting until 70, and I was (am) in better shape than my grandfather (that died at 65).

[@SandfordSmythe]

The life expectancy for workers , not babies, was a little more than 65

[@stevesedio1656]

@@SandfordSmythe Good point. That still puts the ratio of worked years to retired years well over 30. So less than 3.3% per worker instead of today's 33.3%.

[@SandfordSmythe]

​@@stevesedio1656And please, SSI is something different than SS. This is basic SS knowledge.

[@Mrs.Silversmith]

I was pleasantly surprised to see that there were a number of people he interviewed who were aware that the system is deeply flawed. I thought that the vase majority were oblivious.

[@barbarahouk1983]

I tried 30 yrs ago to get changes towards privatization. Now I am old. So when the bust comes I die!

[@ronaldward5784]

I hate paying into a broken system that will never benefit me

[@Very_Angry_Citizen]

Stossel Stossel Stossel!!

[@1f3rn]

That's why I chose to save as much as I can and invest it in a well diversified portfolio. Don't count on anything promised to you.

[@mattdemo6387]

The irony of college debt and Social Security just taste so sweet on my tongue, Because going through middle school and high school, I've always questioned them as a scams and adults that were around me have said I was wrong😂👌🏽

[@mikej9470]

Awesome video as usual John!

[@keithsj10]

The main problem I have with libertarians is their misguided belief that people can best make their own decisions for themselves and don't need government intervention. If that were true, we wouldn't need government at all. Balancing responsible behavior from our government with the needs... NOT the wants... of the people should be the priority. A hand up, not a handout would be a good general rule of thumb. But people are just too irresponsible to take care of themselves alone. Very few can actually successfully do it, no matter that every single person you ask would claim they could.

[@Russ-od2yy]

The CPP in Canada won't be around when I retire. The government has basically flat out said that before, I wish I could opt out and put it into my own RRSP or investments instead. They should have a rule where you have to put $xxx away in either government or private investment for retirement, I bet 99% of people would say screw it and go private.

[@sublordlord7834]

Been working my butt off since I 16, I know I’ll never see a dime of it, I’m now 35.

[@marlowize]

Many years ago Houston County Texas found a loophole in the Social Security law and for a while put the money into private index funds but only Neal Bortz ever talked about it.

[@tabithaalphess2115]

I think about Social Security all the time. Every time I look at my paycheck to be exact. I want my money back

[@nukelaloosh4795]

"We can guarantee cash benefits as far out and at whatever size you like, but we cannot guarantee their purchasing power." Alan Greenspan

[@jasongood5499]

Back in 1940, Social Security Act was passed to grow the size of government spending because getting $1 dollar today is worth a lot more in purchasing power than getting a $1 dollar 65 years later.

[@leee3880]

Another thing is, for every dollar we put into SS, our employer matches, and it’s still a failing system that is beyond broke.

[@Absaalookemensch]

John Stossel for President in 2024.

[@dogmeat436]

It kills me to see those thousands of dollars coming out of my paycheck each year and knowing full well I'll never see a dime of that money. So not fair.

[@georgemartin1436]

Additionally, more than half of SS payouts go to people far under retirement age. Saw a 22 year old guy on "Judge Judy" getting 630$ a month because of his PTSD diagnosis: college was WAY HARDER than he thought, so he was traumatized from the experience, and now collects....

[@hypemugen]

Happened here in Brazil and costed the government more than it neded to spend. Thankfully we have just approved the so called "reforma da previdência". Our country is healing slowly with each passing day. I hope you guys pass those social security reforms before you guys reach an economic recession again.

[@TheLotw]

I know its a failed thing, that is why I have 401k, the government needs to get out of my money and others. Stop giving to the welfare people and you will have more than enough

[@ilovebrandnewcarpets]

I love this channel!!!

[@jwoodswce]

An interesting comparison would be to benefit cuts to multiemployer pensions. Like with Social Security, when the money isn't there then benefits are lowered. It has the same dynamic of current pensioners saying leave the pain to future pensioners, but make the workers pay more now for less later.

[@jasonmcmillan4373]

Here in Australia we have compulsory superannuation. Every pay the govt takes its tax and your nominated privately or govt run superannuation firm takes a similar minimum amount of money and puts it into a managed account. Over a lifetime of working that account grows into something that will look after you in retirement. You cannot touch it before reaching retirement except in certain emergency or exceptional circumstances, and, more importantly, the govt can't touch it at all. The system works, but there are now mutterings from the very political party that created it that, should they be voted back in, they might write new laws to allow government access to this money to borrow against or pay off debt, etc. Which would essentially make our superannuation schemes no different to US social security & likely lead us down the same path to ruin.

[@AlanGGoldstein]

I enjoy your videos. Regards to Ellen!

[@tupacshakur6104]

As long as i have been alive i know the market is not free you are taxed no one escapes don believe the lies

[@wildec2]

The problem with SS tax is that you get taxed before you are able to invest and earn any money on it. At least if The Fund invested that money into stocks, real estate, fixed income, etc we could expect it to be solvent indefinitely. One stock market crash, one pandemic wouldnt mean much in the long run for a fund that goes on forever, and in fact, for a long term fund invested in that way, it would represent an awesome buying opportunity.

[@cheezeebutter452]

Can I opt out of this shit? Can I just say I don’t want to pay nor be paid by social security. No. ok…

[@whatevergoesforme5129]

The problem is we can't go against the government who enacted those laws so what can I do? I wish I could have a say when it comes to the money taken from me by the government.