Personal Finance QuickTake: Insolvant Government Programs

In a new report and interview Treasury Secretary Paulson again rang the bell the both Medicare and Social Security are quickly coming to riding off the rails.

Basically Medicare will begin to spend more money then it takes in this year! Reserves will be 100% depleted, completely spent by 2019. Just 11 short years from now.

Social Security will begin to spend more then it takes in by 2017 and by completely out of funds by 2041, as 78 million baby boomers are knee deep into retirement. Given that for many Social Security is there only retirement funds it could get very bleak.

But the Government won't just turn off the spigot on those dates. Your Social Security checks will still come and a couple of things will happen:

• We will all pay more...a lot more - Expect much higher taxes, and new ones as well. Must feed the Monster.
• The retirement age will have to increase - the program was designed to be right at the end of your life cycle, not for 30+ years of withdrawals. Expect it to go to 70, then 75, maybe even 80.
• Benefits (at least in real dollars) may have to be cut - It will be very tempting for Congress to under find and inflation increase as they will not have the money. They will be...
• Borrowing the money - The government won't cut off you or your grand kids. They will though have to use more and more of the Federal budget for these programs.
• Insolvency - Eventually if nothing is done, you flat run out of money. Or course before this the economy will be wrecked, unemployment will skyrocket, and inflation rampant.

If this isn't solved, the future of our country is at stake, period.

At least the country as we know it. Rampant inflation and class struggle happened less than 100 years ago and led to the rise of Communism and National Socialism.

Whoever you vote for, hold your Representatives feet to the fire on this, the feet you save may be your own!