Quote Originally Posted by drone View Post
If it was just the boomer retirement years, Social Security would survive. The main problem is that the social security fund has been raided by Congress for other projects, now the bill is coming due. This is not so much a demographic problem, but a bad government problem. What would normally be a funded entitlement is now a debt liability on top of the mess we already have.
Yeah. And the SS Trust Fund isn't the only one. They regularly raid any "loose money" they see apparently just laying around doing nothing but slowly accruing tiny interest for its contributors. The Fed's Thrift Savings Plan (a 401(k) knockoff) is another. Congress, and Fannie Mae & Freddie Mac have tapped that money yearly, especially hard since the armed services got brought into the Plan about 6 years back; and they repay, slowly, with Treasury Bonds.

And that 'tapping any loose money' has me wondering, with some much of TARP $$ left un-committed, where, exactly is that cash, and who makes $$ off where it sits? Please don't tell me AIG.