The right wing says Social Security is broken because it’s not serving it’s function as a retirement fund. As Chris says, it’s not supposed to be your primary retirement fund. But I also don’t buy the argument that Social Security is an insurance program. What kind of insurance only pays it’s poor policy holders, not the "rich" ones (i.e., us)? As we saw in the aftermath of Katrina, real insurance only pays the rich, not the poor.

The truth is that FICA is a tax, and like many taxes it has the primary aim of redistributing wealth. I don’t have a problem with that; I just wish people had the honesty to admit that’s what it is. If we did that, then fixing it would be easy.

I’m 24 years old. Unless my SS payroll contributions are increased now, I can expect to receive roughly 30% less(including inflation) in benefits when I retire.

The TSP is a way for me to ensure a second source of retirement income and is similar to personal accounts that have been developed in other countries. (Can you imagine the woes in Japan, with their life expectancies?)

But in order to ensure a comfortable retirement, I must also contribute to an IRA or receive a pension from an employer, provided that they don’t file bankruptcy the year of my retirement.

You take a chance when you spend your money (whether it’s through taxes or in buying a boat) that it won’t come back to you. I don’t know how people get rich. I haven’t gotten there myself. But I assume they stay rich because they hold on to their money, or they continue to earn more than they spend.

When you retire, you’re left with what you’ve saved. That’s pretty scary. Sure, it seems unfair with SS to think you put in more than you’ll take out. But have you? You’re just paying to care for the generations that cared for you in your youth. And by saving of your own accord, outside of SS, you’re teaching the rest of us to be financially responsible.

So what’s wrong with SS again? We just need to have more babies, heh.