by Dale Coberly SETTING THE RECORD STRAIGHT ON SOCIAL SECURITY HOW THE “COMMITTEE FOR A RESPONSIBLE FEDERAL BUDGET” LIES TO YOU A group that calls itself “Committee For A Responsible Federal Budget” wrote what it claims to be “Setting the Record Straight on Social Security.”  The article needs to be responded to at some length, […]

By Dale Coberly HOW MUCH INTEREST DOES SOCIAL SECURITY PAY? A reader asked what interest does Social Security pay on your “investment”?  I think it is important to realize that this is not the important question about Social Security.  Social Security is an insurance program and it doesn’t make any more sense to talk about […]

What does or would it mean to say that Social Security was ‘solvent’? Under the rules that govern the Trustees of Social Security the test for any given year is pretty simple: did or will the year end with all obligations/cost met while still retaining assets equal to the next year’s cost. To determine this […]

by Dale Coberly FLYING SAUCERS, THE YOUNG, and SOCIAL SECURITY What if the Social Security Trust Fund WAS Worthless IOU’s George Bush liked to tell us “the young” were more likely to believe in flying saucers than they were to believe they would ever see any benefits from Social Security. First, let me assure you […]

by Dale Coberly 2013 Trustees Report: Social Security is Running Out of Worthless IOU’s! 9.6 Trillion Dollar Unfunded Deficit! ho hum I did not take a hard look at the 2013 Trustees Report when it came out last Spring because I thought I knew pretty much what it would say, and what it would amount […]

Senator Elizabeth Warren says it well: Transcript is found at Floor Speech by Senator Elizabeth Warren The Retirement Crisis November 18, 2013 As Prepared for Delivery.

by Dale Coberly PERNICIOUS IGNORANCE ABOUT SOCIAL SECURITY A REPLY TO KRASTING Bruce Krasting in comments to Bruce’s post on Social Security made a number of claims that deserve a fuller answer than I was able to give in comments.  Below in quotes are Krasting’s claims followed by my replies.  I hope I am reasonably […]

Well lets try again (two hours of draft having just disappeared)/ The above figure is II.D6 from the 2011 Social Security Report. The reasons why I didn’t use the 2013 version will become clear later, short version is it doesn’t show ‘The Shape of Solvency’ while the longer version is, well, long. This figure shows […]

There are a couple of easy ways to check out current Federal Public Debt to the dollar or even the penny. One you could check out the National Debt Clock which also is conveniently mirrored (in simplified form) in Times Square. In the top left you will find the number for ‘US National Debt’ at […]

What the —! Well it occured to me, and not for the first time, that a lot of people really don’t understand my Social Security project and particularly what even some of my friends and allies think is a narrow focus on the nuts, bolts and numbers of Social Security financial reporting. It seems to […]