Any comments about Mr Madoff?

[Happy Monkey]

Originally Posted by classicman

Tom, are you seriously trying to say that you cannot see there are multiple conversations going on? You conveniently omitted import posts. Some of which were half in jest. None were directed to you. Where is the example that HM laid out? There is also a response from him and another from me.

He's not wrong, though. You do seem to be figuring out a situation where insurance doesn't pay out, and treating it as a "gotcha". You might as well say "what if I pay for car insurance my whole life and never have an accident?"

As I said before, SS's solvency is based on the ratio of workers to retired people. If it got to the point that solvency required the retirement age to be 80, that would mean that there were enough retired people over 80 to counterbalance all the workers under 80. That would indicate an increase in average lifespan, making the scenario of dying at 79 less likely than under present conditions.

And that brings up a strength that Social Security has over other insurance, and even over investment. What if you live for much longer than the average lifespan? Most insurances in that type of situation would raise your rates. Investments will run out if you live longer than your financial planning anticipates. Social Security keeps paying out as long as there are still people who haven't retired yet.