Looking at Social Security for Future Generations

How can the Opinion page article "Fallacies of `Geezer Bashing' ," Sept. 28, defend the present Social Security system? It is a system with a built-in bankruptcy plan that has continued because people today are misinformed. The author states: "Adjustments made in 1983 put Social Security on sound financial footing for now, and we will have plenty of warning if the situation changes."

I retired in 1982 and in the past 10 years have received about five times the money I paid in my working life. But it is the working people who are paying Social Security taxes and are thinking that they are saving for their own retirement. It has been calculated that between the years 2030 and 2050, a younger generation will finally find the pot empty.

If we want a sound Social Security system based on the principle that we support older people because they have carried the load of society for a generation, we can look to the Netherlands: All people, employed or self-employed, upon reaching the retirement age receive an equal pension and pay taxes according to their income. The money to pay for this comes out of general revenue. Pieter van Heerden, Woodinville, Wash.

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