On 2008-10-11 01:53:20 -0400, "Steve Lusardi" said:

First, any pensioner that collect social security will not collect even
the bank interest of their contributions, let alone the principle, even
if the person lives to the age of 100. That's a wrong. So, we have now
determined that the social security contributions are in fact a tax,
not an investment.

This bears repeating. If you want to feel sick, take the last, say, 10
years of your 401k contributions and add the 15% the government has
taxed you and your employer in that time.

I'll pretty much guarantee you could have retired a very long time ago
with no need for government handouts via the magic of compound interest.

--
Jere Lull
Xan-à-Deux -- Tanzer 28 #4 out of Tolchester, MD
Xan's pages: http://web.mac.com/jerelull/iWeb/Xan/
Our BVI trips & tips: http://homepage.mac.com/jerelull/BVI/