Slowly but Certainly, Social Security Is Failing.
I see this routinely as I assist clients in preparing for retirement and other financial goals. This statement is directly from the Social Security Administration’s web page that assists people with estimating their expected benefits at retirement:
“The law governing benefit amounts may change because, by 2034, the combined trust fund reserves are projected to become depleted – the same as projected last year. Payroll taxes collected will be enough to pay only about 79 cents for each dollar of scheduled benefits.”
Don’t believe me; follow the link in the first sentence and go look!
I’m old enough to have seen it in action. I’ve also worked for the government in public education and in the military for a combination of decades. I can tell you, aside from a glut of supporting evidence in current events as well as 22-Trillion other reasons, that government management produces no effective and efficient solutions for anything. Period. I’ll reserve one caveat for our veterans: “Our military, while highly effective, is fiscally very wasteful.”
The checks from your government pension and social security will always show up. Have no fear of that. The question will become, “What will those dollars buy me at that time?” Government, and it’s proxy the Federal Reserve, will print and invent any amount they need to, but the result is inflation. What’s coming just over the horizon is likely a hyper-inflation combined with stag-flation, where the economy and the rate at which money changes hands (velocity of money) slows but government prints money into oblivion in an effort to stimulate. The result is that the poor and middle class may have little to no money, and prices sky rocket.
What will you do if Social Security fails to help you cover your household expenses?
The time to prepare your own financial lifeboat is now. Right now… In growing your savings, time is the most powerful factor and the longer you wait to gather information, consider your options, and pull together a coherent plan to avoid what is right over the horizon, the more time passes and is wasted. The answer is to have your own private savings and wealth building vehicles which are separated from the government Tax-Deferred Retirement System (TDRPs like 401(k) and IRAs) where they determine all the rules for what you have spent a lifetime accumulating. Thoughtfully consider the benefits of a private account where the custodian holds its primary responsibility to you the account holder, rather than to government regulation.
The questions you might want to find answers to are:
- Is my pension 100% vested to me (the right to control the money)?
- Under your pension or 401(k) rules, can you rollover or transfer all or a portion to your own IRA account?
- Will you incur fees or a penalty for transferring funds away from the pension and from government or Wall Street influence?
- Will a 5 to 10% upfront bonus on your transferred balance cover those costs for you? Could you end up ahead?
CAUTION: Just because your statement says your 401(k) or pension funds are 100% vested doesn’t mean that the company you work for and it’s fund custodian will allow you to transfer funds out of the system while you are still working there. To protect your retirement wealth from Wall Street and government default or nationalization of pension funds, you might want to consider if a private account outside the TDRP system might serve your financial needs better. Even if there is a cost to a rollover or transfer (rare, but possible), bonuses based upon the type of account you’d prefer and the bonuses available at inception can be as high as 10%. For example, imagine rolling over $250,000 away from government control, eliminate Wall Street risk, and pick up a $25,000 bonus (10%) at inception on which you can continue to earn interest over the long-term. That might change your future outlook entirely!
Get my FREE 6-segment information and education series on email over the next week by signing up for your FREE website membership HERE. Cancel anytime. The registration form avoids personal information (last name and phone are optional) but gives me an idea of your situation if and when we begin to discuss how I can help.
You can also call or email me and we can start that conversation with a bit more urgency. GPH: 206-651-0809
GEM: davidpandone@gmail.com
REF: https://www.ssa.gov/benefits/retirement/estimator
