Citizens and governments worldwide are arguing over pension plans. Progressive social diddlers love schemes like social security and government funded pension plans because they are a pipeline of money from the taxpayers' wallets directly to the state. It decreases citizens' ability to take care of themselves, making many of us wards of the state.
Any talk of privatizing social security and other government pension plans is squelched by those simply pointing to the stock market and the deflated 401K's that so many had staked their retirement dreams on. Fair enough.
Big Government conspires against against the self-sufficient saver
A dollar is not worth what it was. It continues to shrink. This makes your stash of money comparatively smaller and smaller as the years go by. You can't make it on your own. You need government assistance or you are forced to gamble your money in the stock market.
Big Government conspires against against the self-sufficient saver
A dollar is not worth what it was. It continues to shrink. This makes your stash of money comparatively smaller and smaller as the years go by. You can't make it on your own. You need government assistance or you are forced to gamble your money in the stock market.
Inflation is a silent thief. It is a colony of termites and vermin eating away at the consumer's savings and purchasing power. It hits those on fixed incomes especially hard, and like the silent thief it is, we don't even notice the robbery. It leaves us wondering at the end of the month where all our money went.
Inflation is also a Silent Tax. Progressive governments love printing money, because the rickety ponzi schemes they've constructed require it. They must expand the money supply faster than GDP growth to keep the fraud from collapsing (they are doing this now). This in turn causes inflation, diminishing the value of the dollar.
The Solution: Maintain the Dollar's Value
If government would simply maintain the value of our currency, we wouldn't need to gamble on the stock market or depend on social security. Each of us could secure a comfy and safe retirement nest egg by simply putting money, say $200 per month, in a traditional bank account each month.
If government would simply maintain the value of our currency, we wouldn't need to gamble on the stock market or depend on social security. Each of us could secure a comfy and safe retirement nest egg by simply putting money, say $200 per month, in a traditional bank account each month.
See For Yourself-An Example
The good folks at Dinkytown.net have a wonderful collection of financial planning calculators, ranging from simple to quite complex. Their Savings, Taxes and Inflation Calculator is an eye-opener.
Say you start with nothing at 20 years old and want to save $200 per month until you're 60, when you will retire with your savings. I've kept all the parameters very conservative so no one accuses me of rigging the game:
Here are the inputs
Monthly Amount: $200
Number of Years: 40
Savings Interest: 2%
Annual Rate of Inflation: 2.1%
Total deposited: $96,000
After 40 years, you would have: $63, 811
That's less than the $96,000 you deposited over those 40 years!
With no inflation, your ending balance would be: $146,530
At the same 2% rate, that sum would earn you $2,800 per annum on the balance. Not quite enough to live a Hollywood lifestyle, but it's nothing to sneeze at either.
Bump up your monthly contributions to $400 per month accruing at 3%, and work till you're 65, and you'll have over $450,000!
Bump up your monthly contributions to $400 per month accruing at 3%, and work till you're 65, and you'll have over $450,000!
With a paid-off house and no other debt, this money could at least keep you in beer and skittles well into your late 80's.
For more on inflation see:
CPI Data
Thomas Del Beccaro - Destroying Your Wealth
