AARP - The Big Fear Campaign Begins...

One of things in this whole Social Security debate that really pisses me off is how the AARP is in such denial about the crisis that this country will be facing in the near future. Not their current members, mind you, but their offspring and their children's children. And so on , and so on...

Anyway, the AARP - which exists only to fund the most powerful lobbying group in Washington - loves to release press releases on the "dangers" and "risks" of private savings accounts, one of the proposed reforms for the existing Social Security system. They scare seniors on their website with this kind of crap:

"Under privatization, current workers will have to pay three times," says Certner. "Once to ensure the benefits for those currently at or near retirement, once for themselves, and once more for those whose investments didn't pan out."

In the current Social Security system, the risk is near zero. You know it will be there regardless of what the market does. That's because U.S. Treasury bonds don't crash when the stock market does.

Guess what? In about thirty years the return will be zero as well. In fact, after that, the average person will collect less money in his retirement than he put into the system in their working years.

And here's the real hypocrisy. The AARP will go to great lengths to warn its members of the "risks" of putting private investment in the stock market and on the same website they offer their members the AARP Investment Program.

What's this you ask? Oh nothing, just a simple lucrative service the organization offers - the chance to invest in a selection of 38 mutual funds. Hey, last time I checked mutual funds are portfolios of stock, publicly traded on Wall Street.

So spare me with the "risky" scheme pitch. And stop LYING to your members. Those currently collecting Social Security checks will have NO change to their benefits under any of the proposed plans. They'll get theirs. But maybe the younger members of society will get a chance at a better deal - and keep the system from imploding as well.

The only thing the AARP is trying to protect is its own survival. Because without programs like the current Social Security system - there's no need for it.

Posted by: Gary at 11:01 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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