From The Patriot Post:
Strictly speaking, Social Security is not a Ponzi scheme, in part because it’s not against the law. Indeed, it is the law. (Try not paying payroll taxes — i.e., “investing” in the system.) But it is structured exactly like a Ponzi scheme, and it will eventually fail for the same reasons. Today’s workers are paying for the checks of today’s retirees, and it has always been that way. From the start, politicians have raided the Social Security “trust fund” and spent the money on other general fund projects. What was left were worthless IOUs. Now that benefits paid exceed taxes collected, that problem has become acute. According to the Social Security board of trustees, in 1945, there were 42 workers for every retiree; the current ratio of three workers to every retiree is unsustainable.
Emphasis added.
If I had all the money I *poured* into SS since I first started working………I’d have a LOT of money, even in today’s inflated dollars.
And if I had invested it in even an “average” performing stock, or a mutual fund, I’d have a lot MORE money than I’ll EVER see.
Heck, I probably could have retired at 45!
Before I retired, I did an exercise on investing my SS contributions into a managed payout mutual fund – a low risk payout focused fund – if I had been able to transfer all the SS contributions, I would be able to take 150% more in distributions than I receive now from SS.
Tell me about your maritime internet connection. How does that work?
We’re using a New Skies satellite, not sure which one. We just tore apart the back-end of the satcom system about 6 months ago, and replaced all the antiquated “TMS” equipment with a new IP-based routed system.
We’re also using “Carrier-in-Carrier” to save on transponder bandwidth charges, but it’s *very* picky about having a clean signal. A few years ago we junked our original klystron-based amplifiers and antenna system, and went with a completely new antenna system from Sea Tel that includes the up/down converters and some Solid-State power amplifiers. Well, Solid-State amps are NOISY, and the C-in-C system doesn’t like it.
It’s probably going to be cheaper in the long run to go back to separate uplink/downlink frequencies, and pay more to the satellite operator, but we NEED a reliable connection to flow real-time telemetry and other data off the ship.