Agree on Social Security, Micro. Throw in the dollars that also go to Medicare (not medic-aid).
Walter, and everybody else for the most part, also miss the BY FAR LARGEST THEFT that the government perpetrates. And that is MONETARY INFLATION.
Through that mechanism alone, every EIGHT YEARS, the government steals ONE HALF of everything you have ever saved - and no, property doesn't prevent that theft-because your property value gets inflated and the taxes on it increase.
Capital Gains ? For the most part, they don't exist -but you will still be income taxed on gains that are no more than dollar devaluation.
Yes - the REAL INFLATION RATE is 8% to 9% - not the bogus 'comsumer price index' rates that have been continually falsified.
The ONLY reason that 'cpi' is lower than it ought to be is because HYDROCARBON ENERGY has gotten MUCH CHEAPER in the past three decades in REAL MONEY COST.
We would be FAR wealthier if the government theft through money inflation was brought to a screeching halt. The only way to do that is cut spending and balance the budget - make deficit spending ILLEGAL ... and ELIMINATE THE FEDERAL RESERVE.
None of those things are going to happen. Period.
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