MISDIRECTION: How They Keep You From Seeing The Good News
a post by coberly
MISDIRECTION: How They Keep You From Seeing The Good News
When you go to a Magic Show, the Magician directs your attention away from what he doesn’t want you to see.
And you go oooh! and aaah! And feel good about being fooled. And happy to have paid your money.
When you read the Trustees’ Report, the magicians direct your attention away from what you need to see.
And you go oogh! and aagh! and don’t know you have been fooled , but you will pay for it when you are old.
The Big Story, according to The Media, is that “Social Security Will Run Out of Money Sooner Than Expected!”
But this is a completely insignificant fact, which we can discuss. The date the Trust Fund runs out has no practical meaning whatsoever.
The Significant Fact is that the Trustees Say (on p 13) that we can pay for Social Security forever with a 3.4% increase in the payroll tax. That means that a 1.7% extra deduction from your paycheck will pay for you to live an average of 7 years (about 30%) Ionger than the people who retired in 1985, the last time the tax rate was set (page 89). And the best news is that you don’t have to take that tax hike all at once. You can take it at half of one tenth of one percent per year. That’s about 35 cents per week per year. And the raises stop in 2030 to give the Trust Fund a chance to run out of money like it was always supposed to. By 2030 you will be making about 25% more than you are today, so you will have lots more dollars left after paying the tax than you have now.
You may need to think about this for awhile before you can understand what it means to you.
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by coberly