Quote from jficquette:
At some point Social Security will become means tested and eventually asset tested.
This is why the Fed will not let the stock market crater because it will do what ever it takes to keep the 401k's going strong.
It is also why they will do whatever in their power to keep housing values up.
John
Agreed.
This has happened in New Zealand.
Firstly, you are means tested and your pension eligibility (which comes from the tax that you have paid over a life time) is decided.
If you have worked hard and saved despite paying high taxes, then your entitlement is nothing
Next you must sell you "big"home and buy a flat in order to provide living/nursing funds.
Finally when you are broke, the gov steps in with the welfare payments.
While all this is going on you have families in NZ who are onto their 3rd generation of welfare.
Granny, mum dad and the kids and occasionally the great grand kids live in state provided houses on weekly welfare checks and nobody in the family remembers otherwise.
If you tell the nice folk down at the welfare office that you are worried about your teenage kids and do not want them to embark on a life of crime, you will receive a new flatscreen/DVD to entertain them.
And the situation is getting worse by the day.
I could go on and on but this is enough.
Yes I am a Kiwi and live abroad.
The population of NZ is 4.2M in NZ and 800,000 abroad.
Immigration (often of the wrong people) is maintained at a small annual positive figure to offset the 1,000 kiwis leaving permanently each week.
Aussie is the big beneficiary, receiving 700 well educated hard working kiwis each week for zero cost to the tax payer.
regards
f9