[fintstone]

Originally Posted by rfuerst911sc

I don't think anyone in their right mind thinks inflation is good . And obviously folks that live paycheck to paycheck are hit the hardest . Unfortunately that's the way it is . As a society we do a very poor job ( generally speaking ) teaching from a young age the importance of money management .

SS was never designed to be the sole source of retirement income . But when you can't or won't save before you know it you are over the falls . And now all you have is SS and eating cat food .

Of course it doesn't help that government can't balance a checkbook to save their lives . And regardless of party affiliation a politician is NOT going to run on a platform of balancing the budget it is political suicide . And so we spin . Happy holidays ��

Social Security was pretty much designed as a retirement program until it was changed in 1939 and transformed into a "family income security program." Then again in the 60s. If it had remained as designed, it would still be well funded.

The reality is that most Americans that are 65 and older pretty much rely entirely on Social Security and other forms of social welfare. Those with meager savings really struggle with high inflation. We essentially seem to have "solved" for inflation after the late 70s/early 80s and had a good idea how to prevent this. Low inflation and low interest rates have been the case for decades.

Yes. I would not expect to live a very high standard on only SS and have prepared reasonably well (we do not even currently draw social security). That said, my concern is less that social security is not quite enough to live well on, but that all Americans are having to needlessly suffer runaway inflation. The much higher than normal COLA is indicative of really bad times, not a cause for optimism or celebration. Of course, COLAs almost never fully make up for high inflation.

Happy Holidays!