SamKat: 12/06/12

Dave Brubeck’s Thursday News & Views
by Mrs. Tyler Thompson @ 11:00 pm. Filed under Blue Blooded Opinions

“Who is Dave Brubeck?”

Odds are most of you asked that question when you saw this post.
Brubeck was one of the world’s most famous jazz musicians, who
revolutionized the genre with his exotic and challenging rhythms. A
composer and pianist, Brubeck was most famous for his “Take 5″
recording, which you can listen to below:

Brubeck passed away on Wednesday one day shy of his 92nd birthday. I’m
not a jazz aficionado, but in today’s world of synth and auto-tune, I
can certainly appreciate true musical talent, and Brubeck had it. Keep
tappin’ those ivory keys up there for us, Dave. Say hi to Bill
Keightly while you’re at it.

Have you noticed, your Social Security check is now referred to as a "Federal Benefit Payment"?

I'll be part of the one percent to forward this.

I am forwarding it because it touches a nerve in me, and I hope it will in you.

Please keep passing it on until everyone in our country has read it.

The government is now referring to our Social Security checks as a 'Federal Benefit Payment'.

THIS ISN'T A 'BENEFIT' - IT'S EARNED INCOME!

Not only did we all CONTRIBUTE to the Social Security TRUST Fund, but our employers did too.

It totaled 15% of our income before taxes. If you averaged $30K per year over your working life, that's close to $180,000 invested in Social Security.

If you calculate the future value of your monthly investment in social security ($375/month, including both your and your employer's contributions) at a meager 1% interest rate compounded monthly, after 40 years of working you'd have more than $1.3+ million dollars saved! This is your personal investment.

Upon retirement, if you took out only 3% per year, you'd receive $39,318 per year, or $3,277 per month.

That's almost three times more than today's average Social Security benefit of $1,230 per month, according to the Social Security Administration (Google it - it's a fact).

And your retirement fund would last more than 33 years (until you're 98 if you retire at age 65)! I can only imagine how much better most average-income people could live in retirement if our government had

just INVESTED our money in low-risk interest-earning accounts.

Instead, the folks in Washington pulled off a bigger Ponzi scheme than Bernie Madoff ever did. They took our money and used it elsewhere. They forgot that it was OUR money they were taking. They didn't have a

referendum to ask us if we wanted to LEND the money to them for other use!

And they didn't pay interest on the debt they assumed. And recently, they've told us that the money won't support us for very much longer. But is it our fault they misused our investments?

And now, to add insult to injury, they're calling it a benefit, as if we never worked to earn every penny of it.

Just because they 'borrowed' the money, doesn't mean that our investments were a charity!

Let's take a stand.

We have earned our right to Social Security and Medicare.

Demand that our legislators bring some sense into our government!

Find a way to keep Social Security and Medicare going, for the sake of that 92% of our population who need it.

Then call it what it is: Our EARNED RETIREMENT INCOME!

Most people won't forward this.

Will you?