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Return to Article: GAO: Social Security isn't ready for baby boomers

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  Tom says that SS was created as a supplement for savings in our retirement. Sorry, SS was created as a widows and orphans fund during the Great Depression because so many older women and young children suddenly had no income at all.

  Michelle Posted February 13, 2009 12:08 PM
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  Yet the Republicans stood-by for 8 years and significantly did nothing to correct the problem. Stop assailing one party or another and provide a solution. Maybe effectively regulate Wall Street so our retirement accounts are protected from 60% devaluation in over 4 months.

  scott Posted February 12, 2009 6:10 PM
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  Just to add a little balance here, when I turned 62, I went to the SSA office locally, and applied. Except for the lengthy wait, the claims rep was professional, friendly, and the whole interview was over in less than 15 minutes. My spouse had virtually the same experience. Being a retired fed, and having worked briefly in the horrible SSI program in the 1980's, I give these folks, at least in my local office a 'gold star'.

  ChristmasTree Posted February 12, 2009 5:30 PM
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  So lets try to look at this througha historical perspective. SS was started as a supplement to our OWN savings for OUR retirement. Since then the politicians have taken from the SS account for their own little pet projects to garner more votes for themselves!

  Jump forward to today! Hey, we don't have enough for the baby boomers? There is a democrat representative from California (go figure) that wants to now tax OUR 401k's to help pay for those of us that dont' save for THEIR retirement.

  See where I am going with this? How long will it be before the politicians are tapping into that to pay for their own agenda? But of course the nearly $2 trillion (TARP II and the spendulus package)we are spending right now, where is it coming from?

  Haven't all the liberals complained about China getting all our debt, now they are spending a whole bunch more!

  Tom Posted February 11, 2009 5:54 PM
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  Has anyone else ever noticed that nobody was ever ready for the baby boomers? I will be though, that's why I think any company that makes geriatric products would be a good investment. We generation X types know full well that retirement is a pipe dream.

  Mike Posted February 11, 2009 3:34 PM
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  The Socialist agenda of the Obama administration will fix this by simply eliminating SS benefits for those who otherwise saved. Paying SS taxes will eventually morph into a "job tax" with no payback for those who saved and accummulated assets for their retirement.

  JTF Posted February 11, 2009 12:53 PM
• 68806
  

  As a former claims rep in SSA, I can attest to the lousy policies metered down to the field employees. For ex., when a person made a disability appt., a questionnaire was sent to that person to fill out ahead of time so that all information could be readily available during the appt. But, some dumb folks in the CO decided to stop this policy. That setback cost the field employees thousands of hours spent trying to jog the memory of a scared, nervous person sitting in front of them, a person who was not prepared to answer any of the questions involved. Very frustrating for all. In my old office, there was no ongoing training, or refresher sessions offered. With all the new trainees and others who "forget", there is a crucial need to train on computations, regulations, policies, and how to use the online manuals efficiently.

  Marie Posted February 11, 2009 12:45 PM
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  Make it total "self-service", not just with automation. Hire retirees to handle their boomer siblings' benefits. Two plusses from this: the working retirees will help pay for their own benefits, AND the workforce will downsize automatically, in line with the boomers inevitable demise.

  M Onger Posted February 11, 2009 12:41 PM
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  But between WEP and Offset, the benefits claim for what I have paid in for the past 45 years won't be much. When Congress repeals the WEB and Offset provisions to allow people to claim what they earned and paid in, some people will be able to survive retirement without having to work again at something else, either full or part time. Uncomplicate the SS regulations along with the tax laws and the working public just might survive. Particularly since most of the current employed Americans were not even alive when SS was enacted.

  GSA Employee Posted February 11, 2009 10:33 AM
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  Wow! What a surprize! The Baby Boomers are about to start retiring and no one was ready for them! What A Surprize!

  Even though many Boomers will postpone their retirement until the economy gets better, it's not like SSA or Congress didn't know this day was coming. Appropriations to hire new employees to handle the workload should have been a top priority a couple of years ago, so that everyone was in place and ready to go. Computers can only do so much to speed up the way things are done and there will always be cases that can't be handled by computer. And - with the shear numbers of the Boomers, even if they didn't have a single special case, SSA would need more people to handle them - remember this is just the first wave, the peak is still years away.

  The Boomer generation has always been the pig in the python, yet apparently no one can see where it is until it's too late. Maybe they should start looking for more ground for cemetaries now....

  Michelle Posted February 11, 2009 10:21 AM
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  Perhaps you should walk around the social security administration building and count how many employees are sleeping at their desks or playing computer games and you will quickly and plainly see why productivity is lacking!!!!

  Prudent Posted February 11, 2009 10:06 AM