Investing in scratched off lottery tickets

(UPDATE: LT Nixon sort of says he has "hope")

Look at the pic. This could be the site at our retirement reservation. I've never bought into the garbage that Social Security will still be around for us. I especially despise the assholes that tell us something along the lines of "In 2040 Social Security will still be paying out at 80%". I'm moderately savvy with the finances, so I know better to invest any $ in something that will return .80 cents on a dollar.

Here's an opinion from a very rare species. That species being an honest babyboomer.

From what I can gather, Madoff at least made an attempt to invest the money he got from early investors to give them the returns he promised. Those investments failed to bring in enough money and the scheme was doomed to fail sooner or later. But if Madoff had been a more brilliant investor, it might have worked.

The federal government, on the other hand, never tried to make the Social Security system work. The feds didn't invest the money in the market. They took the money that we gave them and lent it to themselves, promising themselves interest. To be paid by themselves.

This scheme is even more crooked than Madoff's. But try and explain that to adults, especially Baby Boomers. The math is complicated, but the typical boomer seems to understand that he or she is on the winning side of the curve in this scheme. We will get a good return on our Social Security payments and a fantastic return on our payments into Medicare.

But try talking to kids about it.

I do so regularly, often in college classes that I visit. Whenever I am before a class, I make it a point to tell the students the truth about Social Security. And the truth is that when the current crop of college kids are in their peak earning years, each will be supporting half a retiree. "I'll be on the beach sipping a margarita and you'll be paying my bills," I tell the kids.