Link: Does Trump have a plan to kill Social Security?

[B1GTide]

If social security had been introduced in 1928, say, instead of 1939, and invested in equities, where would the retirees over the the next 15 years have been? There was a reason they were invested only in US securities...

The chart above begins in 1927, so it makes that risk clear. And the stock investments would have surpassed bond investments in about that time period - 15 years. Why? Because bonds were horrible instruments of investment until the inflation of the 80s.

 

[JDCrimson]

The only remotely viable alternative is an insured annuity funded by the payroll tax of each taxpayer. Let the money managers invest the funds subject to the defined benefit. Insurance of the benefit provided by private insurance companies and secondary insurance of the benefit provided by the federal government.

Imo, ownership of physical commodities is the only hedge against of the global financial system. And it's not feasible for individuals to own sufficient quantities to make to survive on them as a currency and wild swings in inflation would ensue.

 

[TIDE-HSV]

The chart above begins in 1927, so it makes that risk clear. And the stock investments would have surpassed bond investments in about that time period - 15 years. Why? Because bonds were horrible instruments of investment until the inflation of the 80s.

Again, we come back to the "full faith and credit" kernel. The principle SS was founded on was preservation of principal above all else. Your graph, I presume, is based on generic corporate bonds, which would be unacceptable to the drafters of the SS laws. And remember that the US Treasury securities held now have their principal guaranteed. IOW, you can buy a corporate bond and watch its value go down as interest rates rise. This is not true of the securities held by the trust funds. A one thousand dollar bond will be worth the same at any time of redemption, not just at maturity. This has worked well and I don't want a backdoor guerilla attack by a lame duck Trump. When I see the various privatization proposals, I see endless opportunities for Trump's swamp dwellers...