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The U.S.
government has spent every penny of the money they were supposed to have set
aside for Social Security and Medicare. Beyond that, they have imposed a hidden 35% tax on
the earnings from the money you have saved for your own retirement.
Without drastic tax increases and benefit cuts or economic growth at a rate
that has not been seen since World War II, the federal government predicts that
the cost of current retirement and health care benefits for our aging
population will exceed tax revenues as early as 2017. But the U.S. tax system
effectively discourages working Americans from saving for college and
retirement, and takes away 35% of retirement earnings from stock investments,
making Americans even more reliant upon social safety nets that are not safe.
Tweaks to the Social Security system will not make the safety
net reliable. There is no real money in the Social Security trust fund. The
government has "borrowed" it all and spent it on other things. When
the government refers to the "deficit", the number they are referring
to is the cash shortfall after having spent every penny in the theoretical
"trust fund". To pay future Social Security and Medicare benefits,
future workers will need to provide fresh tax revenues. But because the number
of retirees is rising relative to the number of workers, future workers will
not be able to pay those taxes without a substantial decrease in their standard
of living. Medicare and Social Security will collapse unless we significantly
increase the growth rate of our economy, slash benefits to the bone, or tax
workers unmercifully.
The government has not saved for your retirement, it has merely made
promises backed only by a mortgage on the futures of workers who may not be
able to pay. The Shared Economic Growth proposal, explained at www.sharedeconomicgrowth.org , would
provide the means to boost the growth of our economy in time to deal with this
looming crisis. By providing strong financial incentives to move profitable
activities to the United States and by significantly
increasing the efficiency and fairness of our economy, it can bring our economy
back to the state of health it was in 35 years ago.
Further, by increasing by up to 54% the returns that workers would earn on
their IRAs and on other pension savings accounts, Shared Economic Growth would
provide individuals more incentive to save and faster growth on their savings. That increase would greatly boost the financial
independence of working Americans, helping them to avoid dependence on the
Federal government, without implementing any hokey schemes to shift money out
of Social Security and into private investment accounts. Some 27% of U.S. corporate shares are held
by public and private pension funds. Removing the hidden 35% tax on the
earnings of these funds would make a huge difference in people's retirement
savings. Since the government has spent all of the money that it was supposed
to save for your retirement, the least it can do is to let you keep the
earnings on the pension money you save yourself.
A person who works hard all his or her life deserves a secure and dignified
retirement, free of financial worries. Shared Economic Growth would address the
Social Security problem on two fronts. By boosting the U.S. economy overall, the
proposal would provide the revenue base the U.S. government needs to keep
its promises. By boosting private savings, Shared Economic Growth would provide
individuals with the means to ensure their own security without having to
entrust that responsibility to the government. It provides the best hope for a
safe retirement.
Wouldn't that make you feel more secure?
You can help to make this a reality. Visit www.sharedeconomicgrowth.org to
see how. |