Another way: Social Security vs Private Retirement Accounts

Last Friday’s ramblings was about the squabbling over the scraps the government throws our way.  The examples I used were the entitlement programs of Medicare and Social Security.  I suggested in the post that we’re so busy squabbling of these scraps that we have forgotten there is indeed another way.  I asked the following question in the article, ” How do you break this mindset and convince people that these programs are indeed scraps and that there is another way?  Well below is a video clip comparing private retirement accounts with social security and the return on your investment.

Professor Antony Davies makes a pretty compelling case in favor of private retirement accounts over social security in the above video.  He does this under the assumption that social security is actually going to be solvent.  We already know it’s a program that’s unsustainable and by the time we retire there’s a very high probability that it will no longer exist in its present form or it may be completely eliminated.  And yet even though we know all this we continue to pay into this massive ponzi scheme as if everything is going to be ok.  The truth is there’s not only another way but there is a better way to plan for our retirement and the above video highlights this.  Think about it, even if the only thing you invest in is treasury bills from the time you are 22 years old until you are 67, your return on you investment will be three times higher than the return you will get from social security; that’s if it is still there.   If you decide to invest conservatively in stock, bonds, and treasury bills from the time you are 22 years of age until you are 67, your return is fives times higher than the return you will get from social security.  Oh yeah and if you die before you reach your retirement age, under a private plan the money can be passed on to your family.  If you die before you reach the retirement age with social security the money is gone.  The government gobbled it up and nothing can be left for your family.  This is a no-brainer folks.  What plan do you prefer?

So if it’s this simple then why hasn’t anyone stepped forward with this plan or one that is similar?  Because it’s all about control.  When people are empowered to make decisions on their own the the grip of the government is loosened and control is lost.  Think back to the 1990s when George Bush floated the idea of privatizing social security.  The left came out in full force and chastised him again and again for even speaking such blasphemy against social security.  Then just a few month ago we saw it again when Paul Ryan tried to modestly reform entitlement programs in his budget proposal the left once again stood up and claimed Paul Ryan and the Republicans wanted to starve grandma.  They had the audacity to run commercials depicting Republicans pushing grandma off the cliff.  The avalanche of criticism from the left was massive.  So why does the left oppose the idea of allowing people to the freedom of choice in regards to their own retirements.  Why does the left dismiss the notion that people can be trusted to make the right choices so that they have an opportunity at the steak dinner instead of settling for the scraps the government throws at them?  Because as I stated above the left is about control.  They believe that the government knows what is best for us and we cannot be trusted to make our own decisions.  They do not believe in such things as empowerment; they believe in centralization.  This is why they work so hard to convince us not to let go of the scraps because when we choose the scraps we are choosing dependency.  And dependency is their end goal.  If gives them purpose.  The above plan is a sound plan and I say it’s time to take a look at private retirement plans.  What do we have to lose?

Ask yourself if the rewards are so great why do so many fear letting go of the scraps?  The answer is most people believe the lies because the lies tell them the things they want to hear and not the things they need to hear.

Liberty forever, freedom for all!