In the united States we do not need to plan for retirement Social Essay

In the united States we do not need to plan for retirement Social Security will cover our needs when we retired - Essay Example They think they are entitled to their monetary contributions which they had earned by virtue of their retirement. However, the American government indicated clearly even from the start when the law was signed that social security is not intended to be the sole income source of retired people. What the government had in mind when creating social security was to provide an alternative for people who are down and out financially but never to support them entirely for the rest of their lives. The intention was to supplement whatever incomes the retired people may have. It is also unrealistic to expect the United States government to provide for the financial, medical and other basic needs of retirees when the economics of doing so dictates otherwise. Social security became a law as America’s response to the Great Depression in which millions of workers were thrown out of work. The economy was in a shambles and it was the government only which had the means to help these millions o f poor workers who are able to work but cannot find work. Capitalism and free markets had collapsed but once the economy recovers, people are expected to find gainful employment again and set aside some money for their retirement by saving and investing part of their wages and salaries for retirement aims. Discussion Social security benefits are projected based on so many external factors just like any insurance program. Put simply, making projections even with the most powerful computer models cannot ensure any accurate outcomes. Additionally, many people have the wrong perceptions and concepts of the social security program. This safety-net law was to provide benefits for working people on their retirement, any disability, survivorship (for dependents) and death. Over the years, many other benefits were added such as those amendments for a â€Å"Supplemental Security Income† program for the aged, the blind and the disabled persons (although this is managed separately) even though they had not worked a single day before and did not contribute any social security taxes. The social security system of the United States of America works just as an insurance program would. This means it works on the assumption that everyone will be covered and all workers who are gainfully employed will contribute to the program to make it viable. Social security works on the idea that risk is spread over a big proportion of the working population. Additionally, the ideal should be more workers paying contributions to support the retired or elderly people who will now draw down on their contributions to support themselves. The social security fund comes from contributions made by people of working age. It means demographic shifts such as the graying of the population has a big impact on the future financial viability of the program. Actuarial calculations are just best estimates or assumptions about fertility, life expectancy, quality of health care and state of the economy ; these factors determine the fund’s financial viability. The ideal set-up for social security would be workers supporting fellow retired workers. When it began in 1935, the contributions of 17 workers had paid for the benefits of one retiree. By 2035, the ratio is estimated to be only 2.1 workers per beneficiary. This situation clearly is financially not sustainable to continue giving benefits. The reduced ratio of contributing workers