Americans should not be entitled to Social Security

[41_swish]

I am 26. Nobody really knows if social security will be there for me in 40 years, but what I do know is, I have time on my side and I am going to shovel as much as I can into investments to let compound interest do its thing.

[Ron Scott]

I am 26. Nobody really knows if social security will be there for me in 40 years, but what I do know is, I have time on my side and I am going to shovel as much as I can into investments to let compound interest do its thing.

I can’t imagine there would be no SS when your time comes but counting on it to actually make a meaningful contribution to your retirement isn’t recommended either.

You’re got a great attitude toward investing. Keep at it. Equally important is investing yourself…becoming as productive as possible, keeping your earnings at a relative high level, trusting that you can determine your own fate.

[Morning Glory]

I think Texas attitude toward infrastructure and public services can be summed up by the fact that most of their highway 'rest stops' have no toilets. That's Texas in a nutshell.

what...???  How do people go to the bathroom then?

I always laughed as we drove through Wisconsin around Christmas.  Yes, there are bathrooms at the rest stops.  No, they are not heated!

Some of them are, at least the ones on I 90. Plus there's Kwik Trip.

[sonofsven]

I think Texas attitude toward infrastructure and public services can be summed up by the fact that most of their highway 'rest stops' have no toilets. That's Texas in a nutshell.

what...???  How do people go to the bathroom then?

I always laughed as we drove through Wisconsin around Christmas.  Yes, there are bathrooms at the rest stops.  No, they are not heated!

Some of them are, at least the ones on I 90. Plus there's Kwik Trip.

The rest stops on I5 in Washington state used to have free coffee and cookies, but I haven't seen them in years.
Local religious folks or kids sports teams would offer bad coffee and either yummy homemade or blah store bought cookies, with a big donation jug.

[reeshau]

I think Texas attitude toward infrastructure and public services can be summed up by the fact that most of their highway 'rest stops' have no toilets. That's Texas in a nutshell.

what...???  How do people go to the bathroom then?

I always laughed as we drove through Wisconsin around Christmas.  Yes, there are bathrooms at the rest stops.  No, they are not heated!

Some of them are, at least the ones on I 90. Plus there's Kwik Trip.

Yes, Kwik Trip has been our rest stop for some time.

[wenchsenior]

I think Texas attitude toward infrastructure and public services can be summed up by the fact that most of their highway 'rest stops' have no toilets. That's Texas in a nutshell.

what...???  How do people go to the bathroom then?

I always laughed as we drove through Wisconsin around Christmas.  Yes, there are bathrooms at the rest stops.  No, they are not heated!

Some of them are, at least the ones on I 90. Plus there's Kwik Trip.

Unheated far better than none. But I appreciate i90.

[41_swish]

I am 26. Nobody really knows if social security will be there for me in 40 years, but what I do know is, I have time on my side and I am going to shovel as much as I can into investments to let compound interest do its thing.

I can’t imagine there would be no SS when your time comes but counting on it to actually make a meaningful contribution to your retirement isn’t recommended either.

You’re got a great attitude toward investing. Keep at it. Equally important is investing yourself…becoming as productive as possible, keeping your earnings at a relative high level, trusting that you can determine your own fate.

I also think that any president Republican or Democratic would want to avoid getting rid of social security at all costs. It would be a terrible look. Could either side come in and make drastic changes? Sure, but who knows. I guess if I were a betting man I would say that it will exist in some way shapq

[41_swish]

I am 26. Nobody really knows if social security will be there for me in 40 years, but what I do know is, I have time on my side and I am going to shovel as much as I can into investments to let compound interest do its thing.

I can’t imagine there would be no SS when your time comes but counting on it to actually make a meaningful contribution to your retirement isn’t recommended either.

You’re got a great attitude toward investing. Keep at it. Equally important is investing yourself…becoming as productive as possible, keeping your earnings at a relative high level, trusting that you can determine your own fate.

I also think that any president Republican or Democrat would want to avoid getting rid of social security at all costs. It would be a terrible look. Could either side come in and make drastic changes? Sure, but who knows. I guess if I were a betting man I would say that it will exist in some way shape or form in 40 years, but the extent to which it will help with costs is unknown.

I will just control what I can control.

[reeshau]

When social security was created, life expectancy in the US was less than the age of eligibility.  It truly was "old age insurance."  Some of this remains in the incentives to delay filing, until 70.  But that is still far less than overall life expectancy.  I could see some combination of benefit reduction,  but primarily increasing the eligibility age as helping the shortfall a lot.

[mistymoney]

I think Texas attitude toward infrastructure and public services can be summed up by the fact that most of their highway 'rest stops' have no toilets. That's Texas in a nutshell.

what...???  How do people go to the bathroom then?

I always laughed as we drove through Wisconsin around Christmas.  Yes, there are bathrooms at the rest stops.  No, they are not heated!

Some of them are, at least the ones on I 90. Plus there's Kwik Trip.

Unheated far better than none. But I appreciate i90.

plumbing, december, wisconsin, no heat?

something doesn't add up.

[Telecaster]

When social security was created, life expectancy in the US was less than the age of eligibility.  It truly was "old age insurance."  Some of this remains in the incentives to delay filing, until 70.  But that is still far less than overall life expectancy.  I could see some combination of benefit reduction,  but primarily increasing the eligibility age as helping the shortfall a lot.

Completely disagree.  Back then, if you lived to 21, you were likely to live to 65.  And if you lived to 65 you were likely to live to your late 70s.

[reeshau]

When social security was created, life expectancy in the US was less than the age of eligibility.  It truly was "old age insurance."  Some of this remains in the incentives to delay filing, until 70.  But that is still far less than overall life expectancy.  I could see some combination of benefit reduction,  but primarily increasing the eligibility age as helping the shortfall a lot.

Completely disagree.  Back then, if you lived to 21, you were likely to live to 65.  And if you lived to 65 you were likely to live to your late 70s.

Yes, life expectancy is different as you achieve different ages.  But, the population is still whittled down.  I was not implying that *nobody* got social security.  But, many workers who paid into the program would never be paid out.  To take further data from your link, 56% of 21 year old males in 1950 (skipping the WWII cohort) would survive to 65.  By 1990, that was 72.3%.  The adjustments made in full retirement age in the 1980's countered this somewhat, but not fully.

[wenchsenior]

I think Texas attitude toward infrastructure and public services can be summed up by the fact that most of their highway 'rest stops' have no toilets. That's Texas in a nutshell.

what...???  How do people go to the bathroom then?

I always laughed as we drove through Wisconsin around Christmas.  Yes, there are bathrooms at the rest stops.  No, they are not heated!

Some of them are, at least the ones on I 90. Plus there's Kwik Trip.

Unheated far better than none. But I appreciate i90.

plumbing, december, wisconsin, no heat?

something doesn't add up.

It's like very minimal heat. Or pit toilets.

[Psychstache]

I think Texas attitude toward infrastructure and public services can be summed up by the fact that most of their highway 'rest stops' have no toilets. That's Texas in a nutshell.

what...???  How do people go to the bathroom then?

The Texas way: by paying a private business for the ability to use their toilet.

[wageslave23]

I think Texas attitude toward infrastructure and public services can be summed up by the fact that most of their highway 'rest stops' have no toilets. That's Texas in a nutshell.

what...???  How do people go to the bathroom then?

I dont think I've gone to the bathroom at a rest stop more than maybe twice in my life.  I go to the bathroom when I stop for food. And if for some reason I have to go between meals, I'll stop for gas and go there.

[reeshau]

I think Texas attitude toward infrastructure and public services can be summed up by the fact that most of their highway 'rest stops' have no toilets. That's Texas in a nutshell.

what...???  How do people go to the bathroom then?

I dont think I've gone to the bathroom at a rest stop more than maybe twice in my life.  I go to the bathroom when I stop for food. And if for some reason I have to go between meals, I'll stop for gas and go there.

Texans have Buc-ees for such purposes.

[YttriumNitrate]

I think Texas attitude toward infrastructure and public services can be summed up by the fact that most of their highway 'rest stops' have no toilets. That's Texas in a nutshell.

According to the Texas department of Transportation, wenchsenior is wrong. All 76 rest areas have bathrooms.

Rest area hours and locations
Each of the state's 76 safety rest areas feature restrooms that are open 24 hours daily. Most rest areas have attendants on duty 24 hours a day. The remaining facilities have attendants on duty from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily.

https://www.txdot.gov/discover/rest-areas-travel-information-centers/safety-rest-area-list.html

Texas also has a bunch of "parking areas" that don't have restrooms and are basically just big lots (i.e., places for truckers to stop at the end of their shift). As a comparison to the 76 rest areas of Texas, California has 88 [1] and New York has 36.[2]

[41_swish]

I think Texas attitude toward infrastructure and public services can be summed up by the fact that most of their highway 'rest stops' have no toilets. That's Texas in a nutshell.

what...???  How do people go to the bathroom then?

I dont think I've gone to the bathroom at a rest stop more than maybe twice in my life.  I go to the bathroom when I stop for food. And if for some reason I have to go between meals, I'll stop for gas and go there.

Texans have Buc-ees for such purposes.

Texas is peak car dependency. I had family who lived in Houston, and it felt like all we ever did was drive there. Texas just isn't for me.

[reeshau]

I think Texas attitude toward infrastructure and public services can be summed up by the fact that most of their highway 'rest stops' have no toilets. That's Texas in a nutshell.

what...???  How do people go to the bathroom then?

I dont think I've gone to the bathroom at a rest stop more than maybe twice in my life.  I go to the bathroom when I stop for food. And if for some reason I have to go between meals, I'll stop for gas and go there.

Texans have Buc-ees for such purposes.

Texas is peak car dependency. I had family who lived in Houston, and it felt like all we ever did was drive there. Texas just isn't for me.

Much of Houston is that way, but not all of it.  I live in one of the few places that isn't.  I have 3 grocery stores within a half mile of my house, with wide sidewalks to bike or walk to.

But we had to look hard to find it.

[41_swish]

I think Texas attitude toward infrastructure and public services can be summed up by the fact that most of their highway 'rest stops' have no toilets. That's Texas in a nutshell.

what...???  How do people go to the bathroom then?

I dont think I've gone to the bathroom at a rest stop more than maybe twice in my life.  I go to the bathroom when I stop for food. And if for some reason I have to go between meals, I'll stop for gas and go there.

Texans have Buc-ees for such purposes.

Texas is peak car dependency. I had family who lived in Houston, and it felt like all we ever did was drive there. Texas just isn't for me.

Much of Houston is that way, but not all of it.  I live in one of the few places that isn't.  I have 3 grocery stores within a half mile of my house, with wide sidewalks to bike or walk to.

But we had to look hard to find it.

I am sure pockets of it are good. Making a broad generalization, like I did, will neglect that parts of H-Town are actually fine. My aunt lived by the Airport, so I think that explains some things. I am not trying to exagerate. I think the closest Walmart was like 16 minutes away.

[reeshau]

I think Texas attitude toward infrastructure and public services can be summed up by the fact that most of their highway 'rest stops' have no toilets. That's Texas in a nutshell.

what...???  How do people go to the bathroom then?

I dont think I've gone to the bathroom at a rest stop more than maybe twice in my life.  I go to the bathroom when I stop for food. And if for some reason I have to go between meals, I'll stop for gas and go there.

Texans have Buc-ees for such purposes.

Texas is peak car dependency. I had family who lived in Houston, and it felt like all we ever did was drive there. Texas just isn't for me.

Much of Houston is that way, but not all of it.  I live in one of the few places that isn't.  I have 3 grocery stores within a half mile of my house, with wide sidewalks to bike or walk to.

But we had to look hard to find it.

I am sure pockets of it are good. Making a broad generalization, like I did, will neglect that parts of H-Town are actually fine. My aunt lived by the Airport, so I think that explains some things. I am not trying to exagerate. I think the closest Walmart was like 16 minutes away.

When we were looking in Houston, the gentle wording that the neighborhood scoring website used was: "walkability in Houston is a relative term." Then it went on to say, effectively, don't expect much.  The inner city is quite walkable.  But any walkable area is quite expensive, even relative to high prices now.

[41_swish]

I think Texas attitude toward infrastructure and public services can be summed up by the fact that most of their highway 'rest stops' have no toilets. That's Texas in a nutshell.

what...???  How do people go to the bathroom then?

I dont think I've gone to the bathroom at a rest stop more than maybe twice in my life.  I go to the bathroom when I stop for food. And if for some reason I have to go between meals, I'll stop for gas and go there.

Texans have Buc-ees for such purposes.

Texas is peak car dependency. I had family who lived in Houston, and it felt like all we ever did was drive there. Texas just isn't for me.

Much of Houston is that way, but not all of it.  I live in one of the few places that isn't.  I have 3 grocery stores within a half mile of my house, with wide sidewalks to bike or walk to.

But we had to look hard to find it.

I am sure pockets of it are good. Making a broad generalization, like I did, will neglect that parts of H-Town are actually fine. My aunt lived by the Airport, so I think that explains some things. I am not trying to exagerate. I think the closest Walmart was like 16 minutes away.

When we were looking in Houston, the gentle wording that the neighborhood scoring website used was: "walkability in Houston is a relative term." Then it went on to say, effectively, don't expect much.  The inner city is quite walkable.  But any walkable area is quite expensive, even relative to high prices now.

Any nice and walkable part of town will be more expensive. The best example I can think of is the York-Crosstown neighborhood in Toronto. That city is already absurd, but a home there is easily 1.5 million plus.

Walkable neighborhoods are so expensive because they are illegal to build now because of zoning laws and minimum parking requirements.