Social Security is not an entitlement. For as long as you have worked, the federal government has deducted a portion of your paycheck to pay into your Social Security account.  Those monies were originally supposed to be deposited in an interest bearing escrow account in your name, but our politicians have been raiding your account for years.  That is why there are predictions that Social Security will soon run out of money.  The social injustice here is that no politician can be trusted with other people’s money.  Scum is what they are no matter what justification they use to try to convince you that they are acting in your interest.  We fix it by taking away payroll deposits from the federal government.  How do we do it?

We take the payroll deposits away from the federal government and deposit those funds in an individual 457 plan. “Existing law has a 457 plan which is a social security alternative.  Participants contribute 7.5% of their wage on a pre-tax basis to their account which is invested in a guaranteed annuity with a guaranteed minimum rate of return.  Since this account is 100% vested, should the participant pass before age 65, the beneficiaries receive the account balance.  Social Security’s death benefit is $255.¹” It would be wise for all participants to purchase a economical 10-20 year term life insurance policy to protect their family’s future should a premature death occur during the early contract years.

Using 42 years of my personal tax return Social Security deposits compounded at 5% interest, my calculated account balance would have exceeded $300,000 when I started taking Social Security at age 62. Again, Social Security is not an entitlement.

In order to accommodate everyone’s conversion to this new plan, each person’s social security account must be converted into a 401k equivalent based on that person’s historic total social security deposits plus accrued account interest. Currently there is a problem with insurance company rules on annuity monies disbursement.  Legislation is needed to allow a tax free rollover of the entire annuity account balance into an IRA account.  The IRA selected must be one that permits investment to supplement account disbursements by investing in an interest paying account offered by one of the banks included in the IRA or to make investments in the stock market.  Avoid an annuity conversion because once annuity disbursement starts, it becomes a fixed benefit pension and cannot be changed to keep up with inflation.

Please note that the transfer of the 457 plan entire balance into an IRA is intended to prevent the concentration of too much wealth under any insurance company control.  When insurance companies must plan for very large transfers of wealth out of their control, this transfer is intended make them become more careful how their reserves are handled.  Mismanagement of retirement accounts that could destroy someone’s future must become a criminal offense with mandatory prison sentences.

When the worker decides to retire, all of the accumulated annuity, 401k and IRA pension benefits should be combined into one IRA account from which mandatory minimum distributions must begin at age 70 ½. As with Social Security, you cannot begin to withdraw from your account until age 62.

You will note that the federal government does not get any of your hard earned retirement monies until disbursements are made and taxes are paid. You will be in control of your destiny—not the federal government.

Once the control of retirement accounts is turned over to the individual, billions of dollars will no longer go to the federal government. Even without a balanced budget amendment, government spending of necessity must be drastically cut.  Hallelujah!!  Without reduced spending, the result is a disastrous U.S. government bankruptcy.

WITHOUT EXCEPTION, EVERY POLITICIAN, POLITICAL PUNDIT AND GOVERNMENT ECONOMIST WILL SAY THAT THIS PLAN IS BAD FOR THE PEOPLE AND THE COUNTRY AND WILL NOT WORK. WHAT WE HAVE NOW DOES NOT WORK AND THIS PLAN IS BETTER, SO ALL OF THEM ARE FULL OF WHAT MAKES GREEEN GRASS GROW.

¹ Ernest Kanak Jr., The Way I See It, Outskirts Press (2014), 36