The Future of Social Security

Social Security Persuasive Essay

By: Cody Hudson

COM/172

February 12, 2011

Ms. Neff

Social Security Persuasive Essay

For young Americans like me, retirement is an idea that does not seem relevant. For most young Americans retirement is so far off that it is not a major concern for individuals living in the here and now. The reality is that young Americans in their twenties and thirties should be very concerned. Young adults should not count on the government to support them when they retire. In this essay we will begin to understand why social security is not a valid retirement option. One will also learn how social security will decline in reliability and the options that the United States government has to possibly fix the problem, if it is fixable at all. Finally individuals will begin to understand how that they can ensure a healthy retirement without depending on social security.

The Bernie Madoff hedge fund scandal was a very prominent unethical scandal that is fresh in the back of every individuals mind. Bernie was running an elaborate Ponzi scheme. This scandal involved thousands of investors that paid into a hedge fund that was not able to collect on their investment because it was paid out to earlier investors. Bernie promised 13% returns on investments, this return lured billions of dollars of investments. Bernie’s mismanagement of the funds and the inability to pay the promised returns left the hedge fund empty and left investors penniless. Bernie was prosecuted in a federal court and sentenced to 150 years in federal prison. The irony to Bernie Madoff’s situation is that the same federal government that prosecuted him is guilty of the same thing.

The social security system is technically the same as Bernie Madoff’s Ponzi scheme. Millions of Americans pay into social security that can promise no return to the individuals that pay into the system. According to New York Life (2010):

“According to the 2007 Social Security Trustees' Report, the...