Touching the Third Rail of Politics - 7 ways to save Social Security

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Welcome to Something More with Chris Boyd.

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Chris Boyd is a certified financial planner, practitioner,

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and senior vice president and financial advisor at

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Wealth Enhancement Group, one of the nation's largest

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registered investment advisors.

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We call it Something More because we'd like

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to talk not only about those important dollar

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and cents issues, but also the quality of

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life issues that make the money matters matter.

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Here he is, your fulfillment facilitator, your partner

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in prosperity, advising clients on Cape Cod and

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across the country.

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Here's your host, Jay Christopher Boyd.

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Welcome to another edition of Something More with

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Chris Boyd.

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I'm Jeff Perry.

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I'm sitting in for Chris, who is in

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Tennessee, the volunteer state at a conference for

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Wealth Enhancement.

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And I'm happy to have with me my

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co-host today, Russ Ball, part of the

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AMR team at Wealth Enhancement.

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Thanks for joining us, Russ.

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Of course.

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Happy to be joining you, Jeff.

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I am live from Florida.

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I hope I'm alive in Florida.

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And you are in?

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Hyannis, Cape Cod.

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So our team is spread out all over

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the place.

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Brian's up in Boston today.

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And Chris and Kristen are in Tennessee.

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So we are covering the East Coast.

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Yeah.

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We've got it locked down.

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Anywhere you are along the East Coast, you

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can find one of us.

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Hopefully, they're having a good conference.

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And I was glad to see that they

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were able to fly down there.

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There's so many things with this government shutdown

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that are like, is that going to be

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affected by the government shutdown?

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I was watching CNBC this morning.

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We're recording on the 16th of November here

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and waiting for the CPI report to come

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out this week.

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And oh, yeah, we're not going to get

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a report this week because the government is

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shut down.

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I saw on the news this morning, they

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had a News Nation, which is a news

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station that I prefer, had a town hall

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meeting last night with Democrats and Republicans talking

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about the shutdown, maybe how they can get

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it resolved.

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There was an air traffic controller who came

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up to the podium and asked the question,

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like, when do you think this will be

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over?

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I am not getting paid.

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I have to work.

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I'm not getting paid.

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And I have to I'm doing DoorDash now

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because my bills aren't waiting, right?

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The grocery bill still needs to be paid.

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The rent still needs to be paid.

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And if it doesn't affect you, if you're

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not a federal employee or you're not impacted

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by a federal employee, which is, I would

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say, a lot of most people like it

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doesn't directly impact them every day.

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But if you are somehow connected to a

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federal employee, if your job's related to it

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or your business is related to some approval

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from the federal government, or, you know, we

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even saw the stories earlier this week, which

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appear to be resolved about the military not

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getting paid.

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There's so many tentacles to this.

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And it's very frustrating.

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And at some point, you know, it hasn't

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affected the markets yet.

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But at some point, you think it would.

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Yeah, absolutely.

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And the longer this stretches out, the more

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people get nervous and the more, you know,

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government workers aren't getting paid.

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And it starts off as like, Oh, okay,

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I have like, a, you know, a week

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of downtime.

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And then it starts stretching more and more.

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I have friends who work in the government.

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And, you know, they've been through it before

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some of them.

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But this one, it feels like it's no

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real telling when it's going to be wrapping

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up.

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And there's seems to be a huge gap

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there that needs to be reached.

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So thought it would be a good time

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to bring up an article that you wrote

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recently, Jeff, talking a little bit about the

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concerns with the inefficiencies and ineffectiveness of government

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and a lot of frustration these days that

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the government shut down, I thought it would

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be timely to bring up this article you

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wrote recently called touching the third rail of

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politics.

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I think most of our listeners know, because

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we talk about social security frequently.

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And even if we didn't, they get it

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from all the various news sources that social

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security as we know it, the benefits that

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are being paid now are related to the

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money that comes in from workers and the

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money that goes out to retirees, there is

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a demographic change, the country's getting older, we

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have less people contributing than we used to,

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we're living longer.

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That's good.

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That's the good news.

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We're living longer.

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So Social Security's paying out more than they,

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you know, initially projected.

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And so the Social Security Administration predicts that

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it by 2023, I'm sorry, 2033 2034 ish,

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it changes, you know, once in a while,

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maybe 2032.

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The funds available will not be enough to

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pay the current benefit levels.

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Sometimes the headlight headlines say Social Security is

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going bankrupt in 2032.

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That's not accurate.

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The accurate threat is that benefits with if

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there's no reforms, if there's nothing done by

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the federal government to sure up or change

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the structure of Social Security, benefits would reduce

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be reduced to probably 70 to 76 somewhere

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in that range percent it's it changes, you

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know, with each report.

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I think I noted 77% in my

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article that is so if you get $100

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from Social Security, you would only be getting

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77.

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Now, most people including myself don't think that'll

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happen.

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I mean, which political party wants to be

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the party in power to reduce benefits on

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Social Security?

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Yeah, not a popular move.

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We know that this is a big issue

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for voting.

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And we know that people who collect Social

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Security, meaning older folks, not that far away,

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so I should watch my terms, but people

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available to collect Social Security vote in a

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high percentage.

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So I think it would be almost a

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revolt at the ballot box if either party

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was in office and didn't do something to

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change this potential decline.

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Yeah.

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So I thought, well, yeah, before before President

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Trump took office, I think my general feeling

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was they'll fix it.

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They'll fix it like three minutes after it

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would happen, you know, just like the government

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shutdown.

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So I think your comparison is great.

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You know, like the government shut down because

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they can't agree.

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Right.

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So the same things I thought would happen,

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the same thing would happen with Social Security.

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They can't reform it because they can't agree

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on what reforms.

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Therefore, they won't fix it until they absolutely

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have to.

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Right.

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But when President Trump and the Republicans were

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able to pass the one big, beautiful bill

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successfully and they did some very controversial things

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in that bill, keeping the tax rates where

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they were and now are wasn't the most

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controversial thing by any means.

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And now we're seeing some of the things

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like the cuts to health care programs, the

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cuts to Medicaid that were done in that

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bill are part of the debate about the

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government shutdown.

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And so they passed this very substantial bill

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that had a lot of new policies in

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it and a big reform, good or bad,

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you like it or don't.

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There's some big things in there, big changes.

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And they were able to get it done.

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So that got me wondering, would President Trump

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and this Congress have the political courage, I

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guess we'll call it, to take on a

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reform of Social Security eight years, nine years,

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whatever it is, before they need to?

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Because obviously, when you reform something, you know,

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this is like a big ship sailing across

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the ocean, right?

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This Social Security thing.

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And if you get to the shore and

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you're about to crash, it takes a lot

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of energy, a lot of change to maneuver

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that ship so it doesn't crash if you're

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about two minutes from the shore.

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Yeah, that's a good analogy.

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Yeah.

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But we're eight or nine years away.

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So wouldn't it be prudent to make some

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of these reforms that we'll talk about now

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and be able to take this issue off

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the table and have those extra eight or

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nine years to generate more income, reduce benefits,

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whatever the agreed upon solution is, and so

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that people don't have to worry about this

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for the next eight or nine years?

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Absolutely.

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And you mentioned in the article, too, that

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the longer period of time you have, the

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more options you have available to you.

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And as that window closes, the options become

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fewer and fewer.

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So the last thing we'd want is to

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be at that final hour and really have

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one or maybe two maximum of these options

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that you laid out for us available.

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But yeah.

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It's like someone who's thinking about retirement.

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Two people think about retirement.

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One of them is a 35-year-old

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couple and they come in and say, you

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know, we'd like to retire in 30 years.

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How can we get there?

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And we've got a lot of solutions for

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them, right?

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We've got a great opportunity to have a

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robust plan and make them, help them become

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super wealthy and live the retirement that they

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want.

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Or you've got the 60-year-old couple

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that comes in and say, yes, we think

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we're retiring next year.

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We don't have any money yet and we

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have a lot of debt, but what do

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you think we can do?

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It's the options, just like with Social Security,

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with eight years planning time and time to

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raise additional revenue, cut benefits, things we'll talk

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about.

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It's just so much easier than facing that,

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what do we do?

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You can't make small changes if it's a

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crisis.

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Absolutely.

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Maybe we can jump into some of these

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solutions that you were thinking about, Jeff.

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So I have seven.

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I'm sure there's more, but I like the

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number seven.

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I have seven.

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And so, you know, being a former political

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figure, I have to put out a disclaimer.

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I don't like all these ideas.

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These are not all Jeff Perry endorsed ideas.

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So don't tweet about it.

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Don't say, Jeff Perry wants to reduce your

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Social Security benefits.

275
00:10:02,670 --> 00:10:04,230
That's how it works in politics.

276
00:10:04,230 --> 00:10:05,950
You talk about something and then you get

277
00:10:05,950 --> 00:10:07,030
a video clip of you.

278
00:10:07,630 --> 00:10:09,350
I'll put the link to the article in

279
00:10:09,350 --> 00:10:10,670
the show notes if people want to read.

280
00:10:11,090 --> 00:10:13,490
And these are in no order of importance

281
00:10:13,490 --> 00:10:13,890
to me.

282
00:10:14,290 --> 00:10:17,170
Number one is something that George W.

283
00:10:17,250 --> 00:10:20,270
Bush talked about when he was president.

284
00:10:20,430 --> 00:10:23,310
And that was adding a bit of an

285
00:10:23,310 --> 00:10:27,690
investment component, investment diversification into the funds that

286
00:10:27,690 --> 00:10:28,870
Social Security holds.

287
00:10:29,770 --> 00:10:31,750
Right now, all of the Social Security trust

288
00:10:31,750 --> 00:10:34,810
fund, quote unquote, is held in U.S.

289
00:10:34,910 --> 00:10:35,310
treasuries.

290
00:10:36,570 --> 00:10:37,850
So super safe, right?

291
00:10:38,090 --> 00:10:40,230
I mean, if somebody wants to lock some

292
00:10:40,230 --> 00:10:43,510
money up, get maybe a rate of inflation,

293
00:10:43,670 --> 00:10:46,050
maybe a little bit better, a point better,

294
00:10:46,830 --> 00:10:50,050
guaranteed by the U.S. government, there you

295
00:10:50,050 --> 00:10:50,490
go, right?

296
00:10:50,690 --> 00:10:53,290
So locking in a 4% return for

297
00:10:53,290 --> 00:10:56,270
10 years may be safe, but it may

298
00:10:56,270 --> 00:10:58,010
not be the best use of that money

299
00:10:58,010 --> 00:11:00,150
for 10 years, depending on if you're an

300
00:11:00,150 --> 00:11:02,570
individual, lots of things that we talk about

301
00:11:02,570 --> 00:11:03,290
with our clients.

302
00:11:04,770 --> 00:11:06,890
But President Bush talked about and others have

303
00:11:06,890 --> 00:11:09,430
talked about, and I'm including it here, why

304
00:11:09,430 --> 00:11:12,890
not add an element of risk to it,

305
00:11:13,690 --> 00:11:16,150
S&P 500 fund or whatever they could

306
00:11:16,150 --> 00:11:18,270
agree upon, the whole market, maybe the whole

307
00:11:18,270 --> 00:11:20,450
stock and bond market, maybe it's a 50

308
00:11:20,450 --> 00:11:22,070
-50 mix of that 25%.

309
00:11:22,070 --> 00:11:23,270
I don't know, it doesn't matter.

310
00:11:24,150 --> 00:11:25,930
But we know from the last time we've

311
00:11:25,930 --> 00:11:27,430
reviewed it, since the beginning of the stock

312
00:11:27,430 --> 00:11:29,110
market, it's a roller coaster ride.

313
00:11:29,290 --> 00:11:31,710
But over long periods of times, it is

314
00:11:31,710 --> 00:11:33,650
the best place to get a return for

315
00:11:33,650 --> 00:11:34,010
your money.

316
00:11:34,130 --> 00:11:36,050
And this Social Security is obviously a long

317
00:11:36,050 --> 00:11:40,450
term investment in the workers and citizens of

318
00:11:40,450 --> 00:11:41,250
the United States.

319
00:11:41,970 --> 00:11:45,970
So I'm suggesting, for example, but take 25

320
00:11:45,970 --> 00:11:48,970
% of the new Social Security contributions that

321
00:11:48,970 --> 00:11:51,450
are coming in and diversify them in a

322
00:11:51,450 --> 00:11:52,850
super broad base index.

323
00:11:53,630 --> 00:11:54,970
If it was up to me, I'd buy

324
00:11:54,970 --> 00:11:55,790
an S&P fund.

325
00:11:56,970 --> 00:11:59,530
Maybe that's too narrow, maybe it's not diversified

326
00:11:59,530 --> 00:12:02,910
enough, but whatever, some type of equity exposure,

327
00:12:03,550 --> 00:12:07,510
so that over time, getting a better return,

328
00:12:07,730 --> 00:12:12,330
which leads to some additional funds to reduce

329
00:12:12,330 --> 00:12:13,650
the Social Security deficit.

330
00:12:14,770 --> 00:12:16,170
Yeah, I mean, I think that makes a

331
00:12:16,170 --> 00:12:16,650
lot of sense.

332
00:12:16,970 --> 00:12:19,010
And it's not saying we're taking the entire

333
00:12:19,010 --> 00:12:20,990
pool of money and investing it.

334
00:12:21,110 --> 00:12:25,090
We're just saying there's the 75% in

335
00:12:25,090 --> 00:12:28,370
what we've been doing in the Treasury bonds

336
00:12:28,370 --> 00:12:29,550
and Treasury notes.

337
00:12:29,710 --> 00:12:32,510
And then the 25% could be, it

338
00:12:32,510 --> 00:12:35,090
might not even be all stock, per se.

339
00:12:35,370 --> 00:12:38,150
It might be a mix, but basically generating

340
00:12:38,150 --> 00:12:41,310
a higher rate of return for that 25%.

341
00:12:41,310 --> 00:12:45,630
I mean, yeah, I think doing the math,

342
00:12:45,690 --> 00:12:49,370
I'm sure you could get the benefits up

343
00:12:49,370 --> 00:12:50,830
to where you need them to be.

344
00:12:51,250 --> 00:12:53,390
I don't know if within that timeframe, maybe.

345
00:12:53,830 --> 00:12:57,590
But yeah, I think that's definitely, it would

346
00:12:57,590 --> 00:12:59,750
have to take a lot of work, I

347
00:12:59,750 --> 00:13:02,670
think, on the people agreeing to things in

348
00:13:02,670 --> 00:13:03,090
Washington.

349
00:13:03,270 --> 00:13:06,150
But I think that would definitely increase the

350
00:13:06,150 --> 00:13:08,970
probability of the long term solvency of Social

351
00:13:08,970 --> 00:13:09,390
Security.

352
00:13:10,130 --> 00:13:11,630
Now, there's people a lot smarter than me

353
00:13:11,630 --> 00:13:15,210
that could figure out what that number, I

354
00:13:15,210 --> 00:13:17,850
said 25%, which should be.

355
00:13:19,890 --> 00:13:22,810
For example, perhaps they would agree to hold

356
00:13:22,810 --> 00:13:26,810
five years of money in Treasuries for the

357
00:13:26,810 --> 00:13:27,530
next five years.

358
00:13:28,130 --> 00:13:32,510
And funds above that five year lockbox, we'll

359
00:13:32,510 --> 00:13:35,530
call it, could be invested.

360
00:13:35,770 --> 00:13:37,330
So maybe it's higher or maybe it's lower.

361
00:13:37,670 --> 00:13:40,790
I'm just saying, let's add some diversification with

362
00:13:40,790 --> 00:13:45,190
the proven equity exposure that could boost up

363
00:13:45,190 --> 00:13:47,850
this return rather than just thinking 4%

364
00:13:47,850 --> 00:13:49,190
is the best that we can do.

365
00:13:49,670 --> 00:13:52,730
It's not advice we'd give clients.

366
00:13:52,910 --> 00:13:53,610
It's not advice.

367
00:13:54,750 --> 00:13:57,990
I would suspect that the representatives and senators

368
00:13:57,990 --> 00:14:00,650
don't have 100% in US Treasuries and

369
00:14:00,650 --> 00:14:07,230
no investment to more equity exposed mutual funds,

370
00:14:07,290 --> 00:14:08,470
ETFs, whatever they have.

371
00:14:09,190 --> 00:14:09,530
Yeah.

372
00:14:10,290 --> 00:14:12,250
It would be sort of like how we

373
00:14:12,250 --> 00:14:14,650
would work with the client who's extremely conservative.

374
00:14:15,590 --> 00:14:18,530
We'd want to preserve the capital that they've

375
00:14:18,530 --> 00:14:21,510
built up, the wealth that they've created, but

376
00:14:21,510 --> 00:14:23,930
get some level of return as well.

377
00:14:24,790 --> 00:14:28,030
It's not crazy to think that way.

378
00:14:29,170 --> 00:14:30,390
Pension funds do it.

379
00:14:30,650 --> 00:14:32,750
It's not like it's unheard of.

380
00:14:33,330 --> 00:14:34,970
And Social Security is not a pension.

381
00:14:35,270 --> 00:14:36,130
I understand that.

382
00:14:36,530 --> 00:14:37,730
But it's the same theory.

383
00:14:38,030 --> 00:14:40,390
We're taking pools of money to pay out

384
00:14:40,390 --> 00:14:42,590
the recipients over long periods of time.

385
00:14:43,190 --> 00:14:43,990
Yeah, that's a good point.

386
00:14:44,450 --> 00:14:44,570
Yeah.

387
00:14:45,450 --> 00:14:47,030
Number two, that's number one.

388
00:14:47,150 --> 00:14:49,990
Number two is probably my most dangerous one

389
00:14:49,990 --> 00:14:52,370
to talk about because I'm a Republican and

390
00:14:52,370 --> 00:14:53,530
I'm talking about raising taxes.

391
00:14:54,630 --> 00:14:57,770
But to really reform Social Security, it's going

392
00:14:57,770 --> 00:15:00,450
to have to be a combination of these

393
00:15:00,450 --> 00:15:05,150
seven things, maybe others, and not just increasing

394
00:15:05,150 --> 00:15:08,350
the return or reducing benefits.

395
00:15:08,870 --> 00:15:10,650
There needs to be more money coming into

396
00:15:10,650 --> 00:15:12,350
the system because of the change in our

397
00:15:12,350 --> 00:15:13,030
demographics.

398
00:15:13,350 --> 00:15:14,910
You have less people paying in.

399
00:15:15,990 --> 00:15:18,490
And so, as I say, this is the

400
00:15:18,490 --> 00:15:20,890
quickest and most direct, or probably the least

401
00:15:20,890 --> 00:15:23,050
popular.

402
00:15:23,950 --> 00:15:24,910
And that's the increase.

403
00:15:25,030 --> 00:15:26,590
And they did this during the last period

404
00:15:26,590 --> 00:15:27,690
of Social Security reform.

405
00:15:27,750 --> 00:15:29,350
They raised the payroll tax.

406
00:15:30,750 --> 00:15:32,570
I'm just talking about a small increase.

407
00:15:33,230 --> 00:15:35,350
I'm not talking about a significant increase.

408
00:15:35,470 --> 00:15:37,150
But I think as part of the solution,

409
00:15:37,710 --> 00:15:39,430
the payroll tax rate is going to have

410
00:15:39,430 --> 00:15:41,350
to go up a little bit to add

411
00:15:41,350 --> 00:15:43,870
a little bit more revenue to this pool

412
00:15:43,870 --> 00:15:44,270
of money.

413
00:15:45,530 --> 00:15:45,630
Yeah.

414
00:15:45,690 --> 00:15:46,830
I mean, you could definitely see that as

415
00:15:46,830 --> 00:15:49,650
a likely outcome or likely possibility.

416
00:15:49,790 --> 00:15:52,270
If there's not enough people working to cover

417
00:15:52,270 --> 00:15:54,770
the people who are retiring, then something's got

418
00:15:54,770 --> 00:15:55,510
to give there, right?

419
00:15:55,990 --> 00:16:00,850
So, marginally increasing, no one's going to be

420
00:16:00,850 --> 00:16:04,550
happy about it, but it is an option

421
00:16:04,550 --> 00:16:05,570
that might make sense.

422
00:16:05,830 --> 00:16:08,310
Especially, like you said, that would be the

423
00:16:08,310 --> 00:16:10,690
option that becomes more and more, as the

424
00:16:10,690 --> 00:16:12,390
window becomes more and more narrow, that's probably

425
00:16:12,390 --> 00:16:14,410
going to be where most people are looking.

426
00:16:15,070 --> 00:16:15,390
Right.

427
00:16:15,550 --> 00:16:17,090
If we're up against this, if it's six

428
00:16:17,090 --> 00:16:20,970
months out, you're not going to get extra

429
00:16:20,970 --> 00:16:24,410
funds by diversification or reducing fraud or other

430
00:16:24,410 --> 00:16:25,350
things we're going to talk about.

431
00:16:26,410 --> 00:16:29,390
This is really the most easiest and direct

432
00:16:29,390 --> 00:16:30,010
way to do it.

433
00:16:30,050 --> 00:16:31,150
And I think it's going to have to

434
00:16:31,150 --> 00:16:32,110
be part of the solution.

435
00:16:32,350 --> 00:16:35,210
And maybe it's typically something the Democrats would

436
00:16:35,210 --> 00:16:35,430
offer.

437
00:16:35,590 --> 00:16:36,910
So, this is going to have to be

438
00:16:36,910 --> 00:16:37,350
a compromise.

439
00:16:37,550 --> 00:16:38,810
So, maybe this is one of the things

440
00:16:38,810 --> 00:16:42,190
that the compromise can happen because of it.

441
00:16:42,950 --> 00:16:45,830
And the other piece, I don't think you

442
00:16:45,830 --> 00:16:48,630
mentioned in this article, but it's not just

443
00:16:48,630 --> 00:16:51,470
Social Security, but it's also Medicare that's running

444
00:16:51,470 --> 00:16:52,890
low on funding.

445
00:16:53,330 --> 00:16:54,730
Around the same time, I think it's going

446
00:16:54,730 --> 00:16:57,310
to be in trouble.

447
00:16:57,830 --> 00:16:59,430
Yeah, it's a few years behind, but it's

448
00:16:59,430 --> 00:16:59,710
coming.

449
00:16:59,970 --> 00:17:01,250
And I hesitated.

450
00:17:01,530 --> 00:17:05,089
I thought about writing it together, but I

451
00:17:05,089 --> 00:17:06,670
didn't want to confuse the issues because some

452
00:17:06,670 --> 00:17:09,369
of these solutions are not relevant to Medicare.

453
00:17:09,650 --> 00:17:10,410
So, I made it separate.

454
00:17:12,089 --> 00:17:16,130
The next one, number three, is raising or

455
00:17:16,130 --> 00:17:18,530
eliminating the taxable earnings cap.

456
00:17:19,569 --> 00:17:23,790
So, right now, you pay taxes, payroll taxes,

457
00:17:24,050 --> 00:17:26,690
and the employee pays them, the employer pays

458
00:17:26,690 --> 00:17:26,810
them.

459
00:17:26,890 --> 00:17:29,750
If you're self-employed, the owner pays both

460
00:17:29,750 --> 00:17:30,090
of them.

461
00:17:31,950 --> 00:17:34,490
But your Social Security taxes only apply up

462
00:17:34,490 --> 00:17:36,990
to $176,100.

463
00:17:37,650 --> 00:17:39,930
So, you're paying your Social Security payroll tax

464
00:17:39,930 --> 00:17:42,230
up to that when your earnings over it

465
00:17:42,230 --> 00:17:45,490
are not taxed to Social Security.

466
00:17:45,870 --> 00:17:50,570
Well, this is another non-popular option probably,

467
00:17:51,010 --> 00:17:55,310
but it does add additional revenue if that

468
00:17:55,310 --> 00:18:00,010
cap was raised a lot a bit or

469
00:18:00,010 --> 00:18:01,010
eliminated altogether.

470
00:18:01,310 --> 00:18:03,990
I mean, it's ripe for debate.

471
00:18:04,690 --> 00:18:06,530
Certainly, we hear about it all the time,

472
00:18:06,750 --> 00:18:09,650
the rich wealth gaps.

473
00:18:10,030 --> 00:18:12,930
It's really ripe for debate of should there

474
00:18:12,930 --> 00:18:14,330
be a limit on how much we pay

475
00:18:14,330 --> 00:18:15,150
into Social Security.

476
00:18:15,790 --> 00:18:18,550
Now, the argument from the conservative side of

477
00:18:18,550 --> 00:18:23,290
the issue, I guess, would be, well, there's

478
00:18:23,290 --> 00:18:24,810
a limit on what you can collect on

479
00:18:24,810 --> 00:18:25,450
Social Security.

480
00:18:25,510 --> 00:18:26,350
There's a maximum.

481
00:18:26,990 --> 00:18:27,430
Yeah.

482
00:18:27,650 --> 00:18:27,930
Right?

483
00:18:28,030 --> 00:18:29,970
So, it's not like, oh, well, I'll contribute

484
00:18:29,970 --> 00:18:31,570
more because I'm going to get more later,

485
00:18:31,650 --> 00:18:33,190
which is kind of the promise of Social

486
00:18:33,190 --> 00:18:34,070
Security to everyone.

487
00:18:34,630 --> 00:18:36,770
But there is a max benefit, no matter

488
00:18:36,770 --> 00:18:38,590
how much you pay into Social Security.

489
00:18:39,190 --> 00:18:39,390
Yeah.

490
00:18:39,630 --> 00:18:41,450
So, that would be the pushback.

491
00:18:42,530 --> 00:18:44,490
But I think if we're looking for additional

492
00:18:44,490 --> 00:18:47,450
revenue, in addition to savings that we're going

493
00:18:47,450 --> 00:18:50,290
to talk about, this one is probably easier

494
00:18:50,290 --> 00:18:52,930
or more likely to happen than just raising

495
00:18:52,930 --> 00:18:56,030
the payroll tax on every American who works.

496
00:18:57,230 --> 00:18:57,330
Right.

497
00:18:57,610 --> 00:18:59,310
I mean, one way to think of it,

498
00:18:59,350 --> 00:19:00,790
and I will touch on this later as

499
00:19:00,790 --> 00:19:04,570
well, but if you're a high income earner,

500
00:19:05,510 --> 00:19:07,930
there's a good chance if you're saving for

501
00:19:07,930 --> 00:19:11,150
retirement and you're planning well, there's a good

502
00:19:11,150 --> 00:19:12,450
chance you're not going to rely on that

503
00:19:12,450 --> 00:19:15,010
Social Security later in life as much as

504
00:19:15,010 --> 00:19:17,230
other people in lower tax brackets would.

505
00:19:17,690 --> 00:19:23,910
So, yeah, definitely something to consider about raising

506
00:19:23,910 --> 00:19:27,850
that limit or just eliminating it altogether, where

507
00:19:27,850 --> 00:19:30,690
everyone, no matter the income, is contributing a

508
00:19:30,690 --> 00:19:32,690
certain percentage to Social Security.

509
00:19:33,330 --> 00:19:33,630
That's right.

510
00:19:35,090 --> 00:19:37,130
You know, none of these seven, we've talked

511
00:19:37,130 --> 00:19:38,750
about three, none of these seven is going

512
00:19:38,750 --> 00:19:41,090
to get me elected, by the way, because

513
00:19:41,090 --> 00:19:43,490
they're all, or get anyone elected.

514
00:19:43,590 --> 00:19:44,910
That's why I call it the third rail

515
00:19:44,910 --> 00:19:45,550
of politics.

516
00:19:46,150 --> 00:19:48,630
None of these, you know, exception of maybe

517
00:19:48,630 --> 00:19:50,890
the last two, but none of these, if

518
00:19:50,890 --> 00:19:52,590
you're talking about them as a political candidate,

519
00:19:52,710 --> 00:19:53,850
you're going to get a lot of applause.

520
00:19:54,010 --> 00:19:54,810
You're going to get a lot of people

521
00:19:54,810 --> 00:19:56,290
looking at you worried, right?

522
00:19:56,810 --> 00:19:56,950
Yep.

523
00:19:57,350 --> 00:20:00,010
And this is one that's probably the most

524
00:20:00,010 --> 00:20:00,530
controversial.

525
00:20:00,710 --> 00:20:03,690
Number four is reducing benefits for future retirees.

526
00:20:04,450 --> 00:20:07,330
And so when I'm talking about reducing benefits,

527
00:20:07,570 --> 00:20:10,630
I'm not per se suggesting by any means

528
00:20:10,630 --> 00:20:15,190
that if grandma's getting $1,000 a month,

529
00:20:15,250 --> 00:20:16,230
that she should get 900.

530
00:20:16,870 --> 00:20:18,330
That's what's going to happen if they don't

531
00:20:18,330 --> 00:20:18,990
do anything.

532
00:20:19,670 --> 00:20:23,210
What I'm talking about is, you know, in

533
00:20:23,210 --> 00:20:26,690
1935, when Social Security started, the life expectancy

534
00:20:26,690 --> 00:20:27,530
was 61.

535
00:20:27,830 --> 00:20:30,370
So all the math was done with very

536
00:20:30,370 --> 00:20:32,890
few, not everyone getting Social Security because you

537
00:20:32,890 --> 00:20:36,170
retired at 65, if you retired at 65.

538
00:20:38,470 --> 00:20:41,970
Now, the average life expectancy is around 76,

539
00:20:42,070 --> 00:20:42,490
77.

540
00:20:43,290 --> 00:20:46,290
So the math is different.

541
00:20:46,830 --> 00:20:48,690
And so maybe the retirement age should be

542
00:20:48,690 --> 00:20:49,030
different.

543
00:20:49,170 --> 00:20:50,830
Now, the last time they did Social Security

544
00:20:50,830 --> 00:20:55,650
reform, they bumped up the full retirement age.

545
00:20:55,990 --> 00:20:58,350
Now it's 66 or 67, depending when you

546
00:20:58,350 --> 00:20:58,790
were born.

547
00:20:59,650 --> 00:21:03,430
I suspect that that number is probably going

548
00:21:03,430 --> 00:21:04,170
to move up again.

549
00:21:04,890 --> 00:21:05,450
Right?

550
00:21:05,510 --> 00:21:09,090
Because, you know, every year you delay paying

551
00:21:09,090 --> 00:21:12,410
benefits, it's a little bit more that Social

552
00:21:12,410 --> 00:21:13,630
Security gets to retain.

553
00:21:14,270 --> 00:21:18,270
Maybe the 62 number disappears, you know, when

554
00:21:18,270 --> 00:21:19,630
you're first eligible, maybe.

555
00:21:19,910 --> 00:21:21,270
I was going to ask, yeah, if everything

556
00:21:21,270 --> 00:21:24,350
gets pushed back, like, instead of it being

557
00:21:24,350 --> 00:21:28,190
62, 70, we're talking about 63 to 71,

558
00:21:28,470 --> 00:21:29,210
or something like that.

559
00:21:29,310 --> 00:21:30,070
Something like that.

560
00:21:30,170 --> 00:21:30,330
Yeah.

561
00:21:30,870 --> 00:21:32,750
I could definitely see that happening.

562
00:21:32,810 --> 00:21:35,610
And that's a significant, you know, not only

563
00:21:35,610 --> 00:21:38,750
are you delaying, it's not just the delaying,

564
00:21:38,810 --> 00:21:41,770
if someone was going to live between 65,

565
00:21:42,010 --> 00:21:44,530
say 66, and they were going to pass

566
00:21:44,530 --> 00:21:47,050
at 90, you take a year out, you're

567
00:21:47,050 --> 00:21:50,690
saving that entire year of paying, right?

568
00:21:50,730 --> 00:21:52,650
It's not just delaying, you're actually saving for

569
00:21:52,650 --> 00:21:54,170
the total cost that you pay out.

570
00:21:55,030 --> 00:21:56,930
So I think that, you know, that would

571
00:21:56,930 --> 00:21:59,590
be probably one of the things they did

572
00:21:59,590 --> 00:22:01,910
before, they'll probably do it again.

573
00:22:03,150 --> 00:22:04,990
Raising that full retirement age number.

574
00:22:05,770 --> 00:22:06,550
I think so.

575
00:22:06,930 --> 00:22:10,250
And, you know, I'm not suggesting that anyone

576
00:22:10,250 --> 00:22:12,050
in or near retirement is affected.

577
00:22:12,630 --> 00:22:14,250
And that's typically the way they do it.

578
00:22:14,330 --> 00:22:16,390
They're not going to say if somebody's, you

579
00:22:16,390 --> 00:22:20,010
know, 65, when this bill passed, if it

580
00:22:20,010 --> 00:22:23,030
passes, they're not going to say, well, the

581
00:22:23,030 --> 00:22:24,650
new age is 67.

582
00:22:25,950 --> 00:22:27,950
They're going to say, all right, anybody 50

583
00:22:27,950 --> 00:22:29,710
and younger, here's the rules, right?

584
00:22:29,750 --> 00:22:31,290
So this is one of those longer term

585
00:22:31,290 --> 00:22:36,570
things that, in theory, could save Social Security

586
00:22:36,570 --> 00:22:39,810
from having to reduce their benefits for everyone.

587
00:22:40,550 --> 00:22:42,010
And those, you know, while those 50 year

588
00:22:42,010 --> 00:22:43,950
olds might not be thrilled about it, they

589
00:22:43,950 --> 00:22:46,710
have time to get used to it, as

590
00:22:46,710 --> 00:22:47,530
you mentioned in the article.

591
00:22:47,850 --> 00:22:50,810
And, you know, there might be initial frustration

592
00:22:50,810 --> 00:22:53,070
and anger, but there's still a pretty big

593
00:22:53,070 --> 00:22:53,670
window for them.

594
00:22:53,670 --> 00:22:54,490
Yeah.

595
00:22:55,210 --> 00:22:56,950
Nobody thinks about the last time they did

596
00:22:56,950 --> 00:22:59,670
retirement reform, Social Security reform.

597
00:22:59,870 --> 00:23:01,790
Nobody's saying, oh, man, I could have retired

598
00:23:01,790 --> 00:23:03,910
now at 65, full retirement age.

599
00:23:04,030 --> 00:23:05,530
It's 66 now.

600
00:23:05,950 --> 00:23:06,190
Yeah.

601
00:23:06,870 --> 00:23:07,070
Yeah.

602
00:23:07,650 --> 00:23:09,990
And in theory, if that person doesn't retire

603
00:23:09,990 --> 00:23:11,870
for the next year, I don't think I

604
00:23:11,870 --> 00:23:13,470
mentioned this yet.

605
00:23:13,590 --> 00:23:15,410
If I did, I'll hear it again.

606
00:23:15,730 --> 00:23:18,150
But not only do they not pay out,

607
00:23:18,250 --> 00:23:19,930
Social Security doesn't pay out for that extra

608
00:23:19,930 --> 00:23:22,910
year, that person likely contributes for that extra

609
00:23:22,910 --> 00:23:23,230
year.

610
00:23:23,790 --> 00:23:26,010
At least statistically, most people, right?

611
00:23:26,490 --> 00:23:26,690
Yeah.

612
00:23:27,790 --> 00:23:29,530
I think people will see this or hear

613
00:23:29,530 --> 00:23:31,910
this and say, you know, I don't want

614
00:23:31,910 --> 00:23:33,570
to be working at 71, 72.

615
00:23:33,670 --> 00:23:34,230
That's crazy.

616
00:23:34,350 --> 00:23:35,490
I don't want to be working all that

617
00:23:35,490 --> 00:23:35,850
time.

618
00:23:35,850 --> 00:23:36,570
I get it.

619
00:23:36,810 --> 00:23:37,430
I get it.

620
00:23:37,630 --> 00:23:41,330
At the same time, you know, people often

621
00:23:41,330 --> 00:23:43,910
think, well, I can only take Social Security

622
00:23:43,910 --> 00:23:44,630
when I retire.

623
00:23:44,770 --> 00:23:47,350
Like, they put them together as one thing.

624
00:23:47,470 --> 00:23:48,890
When I retire, I take Social Security, whether

625
00:23:48,890 --> 00:23:51,590
that means 62 or 65 or 70.

626
00:23:52,290 --> 00:23:55,290
That's not necessarily the case, you know, for

627
00:23:55,290 --> 00:23:56,130
some people it is.

628
00:23:56,310 --> 00:23:58,350
But for others, you know, you might retire

629
00:23:58,350 --> 00:23:59,770
and then wait to take Social Security and

630
00:23:59,770 --> 00:24:00,990
build that benefit up.

631
00:24:01,350 --> 00:24:02,810
So, yeah, a lot of people do that.

632
00:24:02,910 --> 00:24:06,310
And, you know, we have countless clients who

633
00:24:07,290 --> 00:24:09,670
think they're retiring, they're retired and they go

634
00:24:09,670 --> 00:24:11,670
like, I am going back to work.

635
00:24:12,530 --> 00:24:12,930
Right.

636
00:24:13,050 --> 00:24:15,790
So sometimes it's prudent if your cash flow

637
00:24:15,790 --> 00:24:16,510
can handle it.

638
00:24:16,510 --> 00:24:18,770
If you retire, stopping your full time job,

639
00:24:19,410 --> 00:24:21,730
sometimes it's prudent not to take Social Security

640
00:24:21,730 --> 00:24:23,010
until you're sure you're not going to go

641
00:24:23,010 --> 00:24:23,610
back to work.

642
00:24:23,890 --> 00:24:23,990
Yeah.

643
00:24:24,490 --> 00:24:24,710
Yeah.

644
00:24:25,530 --> 00:24:28,410
Another thing that's, you know, more coming from

645
00:24:28,410 --> 00:24:30,330
the left than the right on Social Security

646
00:24:30,330 --> 00:24:32,630
reform is doing some type of means testing.

647
00:24:33,570 --> 00:24:35,770
And so they love to use Warren Buffett

648
00:24:35,770 --> 00:24:37,430
and other, you know, super wealthy people.

649
00:24:38,530 --> 00:24:41,390
But is there a, you know, is there

650
00:24:41,390 --> 00:24:45,470
an appetite to say if you're making, you

651
00:24:45,470 --> 00:24:47,370
know, if you have a certain level of

652
00:24:47,370 --> 00:24:48,910
net worth, if you have a certain level

653
00:24:48,910 --> 00:24:53,290
of income, pension income, whatever it is, should

654
00:24:53,290 --> 00:24:55,510
you get your $3,000 a month of

655
00:24:55,510 --> 00:24:56,090
Social Security?

656
00:24:56,710 --> 00:24:56,850
Right.

657
00:24:57,150 --> 00:24:58,350
Should you get a benefit?

658
00:24:58,610 --> 00:25:01,670
Now, this is where the debate really gets,

659
00:25:01,910 --> 00:25:04,790
really gets emotional and about what Social Security

660
00:25:04,790 --> 00:25:05,510
is.

661
00:25:06,210 --> 00:25:10,430
It's, if you use the word entitlement around

662
00:25:10,430 --> 00:25:15,030
some seniors I know, they'll argue quite strongly

663
00:25:15,030 --> 00:25:16,670
that it's not an entitlement.

664
00:25:17,050 --> 00:25:18,510
They have paid for this.

665
00:25:18,650 --> 00:25:20,650
It's not like a, it's not a handout,

666
00:25:20,910 --> 00:25:21,170
right?

667
00:25:21,330 --> 00:25:24,090
It's not something they paid in.

668
00:25:24,290 --> 00:25:27,290
This is a contract, a social contract that

669
00:25:27,290 --> 00:25:27,890
we paid in.

670
00:25:28,030 --> 00:25:29,070
This is how much we get.

671
00:25:30,430 --> 00:25:32,450
So this one, I think, is a lot

672
00:25:32,450 --> 00:25:34,610
less likely, but it comes from the left

673
00:25:34,610 --> 00:25:38,070
about why should Warren Buffett get Social Security,

674
00:25:38,310 --> 00:25:38,830
right?

675
00:25:39,330 --> 00:25:41,070
Why should, they like to say it about

676
00:25:41,070 --> 00:25:44,010
President Trump or whoever the leader of a

677
00:25:44,010 --> 00:25:45,910
party is, why should Donald Trump get Social

678
00:25:45,910 --> 00:25:48,150
Security when he's ultra wealthy, right?

679
00:25:48,450 --> 00:25:50,030
It's a legitimate question.

680
00:25:51,410 --> 00:25:53,390
I don't favor this because I believe it

681
00:25:53,390 --> 00:25:54,390
is a social contract.

682
00:25:54,490 --> 00:25:56,410
I think if there was means testing, it

683
00:25:56,410 --> 00:25:58,650
would change the whole way the country looks

684
00:25:58,650 --> 00:26:01,990
at Social Security and feels about Social Security

685
00:26:01,990 --> 00:26:03,190
that, you know, that we're all in this

686
00:26:03,190 --> 00:26:05,530
together, you know, us and them would just

687
00:26:05,530 --> 00:26:09,110
expand on this issue because then people would

688
00:26:09,110 --> 00:26:11,310
be paying and never getting the benefit, even

689
00:26:11,310 --> 00:26:13,330
if they don't need it financially.

690
00:26:13,510 --> 00:26:14,670
But this is something, I think, that will

691
00:26:14,670 --> 00:26:17,030
be part of the debate because it's something

692
00:26:17,030 --> 00:26:22,680
the left, the ideological position of the left

693
00:26:22,680 --> 00:26:28,200
is about us versus them, wealth versus non

694
00:26:28,200 --> 00:26:28,500
-wealth.

695
00:26:29,160 --> 00:26:31,700
And so people getting Social Security, taking the

696
00:26:31,700 --> 00:26:35,820
benefit, who have, in some cases, hundreds of

697
00:26:35,820 --> 00:26:38,700
millions of dollars is a part of the

698
00:26:38,700 --> 00:26:40,080
debate that I think we'll see.

699
00:26:40,760 --> 00:26:42,960
Yeah, I think basically what it would be

700
00:26:42,960 --> 00:26:44,580
is, you know, you've paid into Social Security,

701
00:26:44,920 --> 00:26:48,300
you've made your wealth in other ways, and

702
00:26:48,300 --> 00:26:51,180
when you hit that age 70 or whatever

703
00:26:51,180 --> 00:26:55,540
it is, instead of receiving the benefit, you're

704
00:26:55,540 --> 00:26:59,320
essentially ceding it, giving it to those who

705
00:26:59,320 --> 00:27:01,060
might need it more, right?

706
00:27:01,400 --> 00:27:04,640
Because your funding, your payments have been funding

707
00:27:04,640 --> 00:27:05,540
Social Security.

708
00:27:06,480 --> 00:27:08,880
At the same time, I think, you know,

709
00:27:08,920 --> 00:27:12,800
I listened to Howard Marks at Oaktree, he's

710
00:27:12,800 --> 00:27:15,500
a, you know, economist and a commentator and

711
00:27:15,500 --> 00:27:19,700
a longtime investor, and he had a recent,

712
00:27:20,020 --> 00:27:22,080
you know, memo about this where he was

713
00:27:22,080 --> 00:27:24,620
talking about Social Security, he's like, you know,

714
00:27:24,640 --> 00:27:27,240
I've got millions and millions of dollars, like,

715
00:27:27,620 --> 00:27:29,920
$4,000 a month from Social Security, like,

716
00:27:30,340 --> 00:27:31,880
it's not like I could even opt to

717
00:27:31,880 --> 00:27:35,440
not take it, but I don't really, like,

718
00:27:35,520 --> 00:27:37,420
I think it's not something I need.

719
00:27:37,740 --> 00:27:42,960
So I think there are arguments for, you

720
00:27:42,960 --> 00:27:45,420
know, is that really even, like, is that

721
00:27:45,420 --> 00:27:46,660
going to move the needle for people who

722
00:27:46,660 --> 00:27:48,020
have a certain level of wealth?

723
00:27:48,980 --> 00:27:51,620
It's not, you know, financially it's not.

724
00:27:51,620 --> 00:27:53,060
But it's part of that.

725
00:27:53,080 --> 00:27:55,120
But it's part of the social contract, right?

726
00:27:55,580 --> 00:28:01,180
I see this issue, means testing, and the

727
00:28:01,180 --> 00:28:04,700
raising or eliminating the taxable earnings gap of

728
00:28:04,700 --> 00:28:07,100
coming together and that being the compromise.

729
00:28:07,540 --> 00:28:08,380
Interesting, yeah.

730
00:28:08,420 --> 00:28:11,400
And like, okay, we'll pay more in, but

731
00:28:11,400 --> 00:28:13,900
we're still getting something, you know, everybody needs

732
00:28:13,900 --> 00:28:15,120
to be in this pool, right?

733
00:28:15,520 --> 00:28:17,420
You know, it's the same, which I agree,

734
00:28:17,720 --> 00:28:20,800
I agree with this type of philosophy that

735
00:28:20,800 --> 00:28:23,180
everyone should pay a minimum federal tax.

736
00:28:23,620 --> 00:28:25,200
You know, like half the people in the

737
00:28:25,200 --> 00:28:27,120
country don't pay any federal income taxes because

738
00:28:27,120 --> 00:28:27,980
of their income.

739
00:28:28,340 --> 00:28:29,920
And you say, well, you know, they can't

740
00:28:29,920 --> 00:28:30,260
afford it.

741
00:28:30,300 --> 00:28:32,500
But I think everyone, I'm not talking thousands

742
00:28:32,500 --> 00:28:35,120
of dollars, I'm talking like a floor of

743
00:28:35,120 --> 00:28:36,720
$500 or something like that.

744
00:28:36,760 --> 00:28:38,480
I think everyone should be in the game,

745
00:28:38,580 --> 00:28:42,660
everybody should contribute something to the operation of

746
00:28:42,660 --> 00:28:43,360
the federal government.

747
00:28:43,480 --> 00:28:44,860
I don't think there should be people who

748
00:28:44,860 --> 00:28:46,600
pay no federal taxes.

749
00:28:47,380 --> 00:28:49,200
You know, we can be de minimis and

750
00:28:49,200 --> 00:28:51,560
say, people made $10,000 or less, whatever.

751
00:28:51,800 --> 00:28:54,760
But you get my point, everybody should be

752
00:28:54,760 --> 00:28:57,280
in this game, everybody should be contributing for

753
00:28:57,280 --> 00:28:58,440
the greater good of the country.

754
00:28:58,860 --> 00:29:02,400
Yeah, a buy-in to the bigger picture,

755
00:29:02,500 --> 00:29:02,680
right?

756
00:29:03,060 --> 00:29:03,500
That's right.

757
00:29:04,060 --> 00:29:07,440
The last two, which are probably my favorite

758
00:29:07,440 --> 00:29:10,960
two, are number six is reducing fraud and

759
00:29:10,960 --> 00:29:12,340
improving government efficiency.

760
00:29:13,100 --> 00:29:15,060
I got some statistics in the article about

761
00:29:15,060 --> 00:29:18,580
overpayments and fraud involved in this.

762
00:29:19,580 --> 00:29:22,220
The level of fraud in Social Security, especially

763
00:29:22,220 --> 00:29:26,740
SSDI, Social Security Disability Insurance, it's been pretty

764
00:29:26,740 --> 00:29:28,700
well documented and discussed.

765
00:29:29,180 --> 00:29:31,460
I think many of us know, I've heard

766
00:29:31,460 --> 00:29:34,060
individual stories of SSDI and some of the

767
00:29:34,060 --> 00:29:36,780
things that it covers and some of the

768
00:29:36,780 --> 00:29:39,160
lack of follow-ups when people qualify for

769
00:29:39,160 --> 00:29:39,820
SSDI.

770
00:29:40,400 --> 00:29:43,300
And then there's just no real meaningful reevaluation

771
00:29:43,300 --> 00:29:43,800
of it.

772
00:29:44,320 --> 00:29:45,700
And, you know, the only time they get

773
00:29:45,700 --> 00:29:47,620
caught is because they're working full time, you

774
00:29:47,620 --> 00:29:51,080
know, breaking up rocks or something and they

775
00:29:51,080 --> 00:29:52,200
get a bad back, you know.

776
00:29:52,280 --> 00:29:53,680
So there's all these stories out there.

777
00:29:53,780 --> 00:29:55,320
Some of them exaggerated, certainly.

778
00:29:55,980 --> 00:29:57,920
But I think a real effort about Social

779
00:29:57,920 --> 00:30:03,280
Security SSI and SSDI would certainly be well

780
00:30:03,280 --> 00:30:05,360
worth it and should be included in any

781
00:30:05,360 --> 00:30:09,080
type of reform so that we know that

782
00:30:09,080 --> 00:30:13,180
we're using the dollars correctly and that people

783
00:30:13,180 --> 00:30:14,600
aren't taking advantage of the system.

784
00:30:15,520 --> 00:30:19,480
I don't know if there's however many thousands

785
00:30:19,480 --> 00:30:21,720
or hundreds of thousands of people that President

786
00:30:21,720 --> 00:30:24,320
Trump said are dead and still collecting Social

787
00:30:24,320 --> 00:30:24,640
Security.

788
00:30:24,800 --> 00:30:25,500
I don't know that.

789
00:30:25,580 --> 00:30:27,400
But we're smart enough as a nation to

790
00:30:27,400 --> 00:30:29,860
be able to have systems involved with this.

791
00:30:30,000 --> 00:30:33,780
We see certainly with technology, AI and all

792
00:30:33,780 --> 00:30:37,340
these ways to verify things today, we can

793
00:30:37,340 --> 00:30:39,520
use this technology to do a better job

794
00:30:39,520 --> 00:30:42,380
at improving efficiency, which is, you know, the

795
00:30:42,380 --> 00:30:45,440
stewards of taxpayer dollars and contributors dollars in

796
00:30:45,440 --> 00:30:46,860
the case of Social Security.

797
00:30:47,300 --> 00:30:49,840
I think government has a responsibility to be

798
00:30:49,840 --> 00:30:52,620
doing a better job with fraud, waste and

799
00:30:52,620 --> 00:30:52,960
abuse.

800
00:30:54,400 --> 00:30:58,260
So any bill, any compromise should definitely include

801
00:30:58,260 --> 00:31:00,580
a real effort to tackle that.

802
00:31:01,240 --> 00:31:03,060
And maybe, like you said, leaning into that

803
00:31:03,060 --> 00:31:10,040
technology to increase capacity to verify and make

804
00:31:10,040 --> 00:31:11,440
sure everything is working as it should.

805
00:31:12,120 --> 00:31:12,280
Yeah.

806
00:31:12,600 --> 00:31:12,880
Yeah.

807
00:31:12,980 --> 00:31:14,760
I think that's a, I don't know who

808
00:31:14,760 --> 00:31:15,680
would disagree with that.

809
00:31:16,880 --> 00:31:18,940
And the last one is maybe one we

810
00:31:18,940 --> 00:31:21,540
didn't expect to see here, and that's immigration

811
00:31:21,540 --> 00:31:22,020
reform.

812
00:31:23,500 --> 00:31:26,100
So, you know, we're in the middle, so

813
00:31:26,100 --> 00:31:28,400
we're November 16th here recording.

814
00:31:28,580 --> 00:31:30,000
So we're in the middle of the summer

815
00:31:30,000 --> 00:31:33,420
of President Trump sending National Guard troops in,

816
00:31:33,500 --> 00:31:37,180
federal authorities into various cities for, I don't

817
00:31:37,180 --> 00:31:39,020
know, I don't think this is a wrong

818
00:31:39,020 --> 00:31:42,200
term, immigration sweeps, right, to try to root

819
00:31:42,200 --> 00:31:43,260
out illegal immigration.

820
00:31:43,840 --> 00:31:47,880
Certainly the goal of taking people who are

821
00:31:47,880 --> 00:31:50,540
committing crimes, who are dangerous to the community,

822
00:31:50,800 --> 00:31:54,180
who are here illegally is one that most

823
00:31:54,180 --> 00:31:54,900
people agree on.

824
00:31:54,940 --> 00:31:56,400
The polling is really strong.

825
00:31:56,780 --> 00:31:58,140
You know, why should we have people who

826
00:31:58,140 --> 00:32:02,340
are harming Americans taking advantage of us in

827
00:32:02,340 --> 00:32:02,780
our country?

828
00:32:03,000 --> 00:32:05,540
And certainly that's happening.

829
00:32:06,560 --> 00:32:10,740
Along with this immigration sweep, we're starting to

830
00:32:10,740 --> 00:32:14,640
see stories of farmers having trouble, certain industries

831
00:32:14,640 --> 00:32:18,780
having trouble with getting workers and so forth.

832
00:32:18,940 --> 00:32:22,640
So touching the third rail politics, right?

833
00:32:23,960 --> 00:32:27,120
I think that it's appropriate for President Trump

834
00:32:27,120 --> 00:32:30,560
and the administration to be talking about immigration

835
00:32:30,560 --> 00:32:34,400
reform and not just kicking out the people

836
00:32:34,400 --> 00:32:36,560
who shouldn't be here, which I support, but

837
00:32:36,560 --> 00:32:39,340
also about developing a real, not a fake,

838
00:32:39,400 --> 00:32:41,440
which we've done before in this country, a

839
00:32:41,440 --> 00:32:46,680
real worker program, a real system that allows

840
00:32:46,680 --> 00:32:48,260
people to work in the United States.

841
00:32:48,600 --> 00:32:49,920
I mean, we have to be real about

842
00:32:49,920 --> 00:32:50,260
this.

843
00:32:50,500 --> 00:32:53,360
There are jobs that Americans just aren't going

844
00:32:53,360 --> 00:32:55,960
to do anymore, either because they don't live

845
00:32:55,960 --> 00:32:59,020
where those jobs are, you know, the middle

846
00:32:59,020 --> 00:33:01,020
of the country, the breadbasket of the country,

847
00:33:01,780 --> 00:33:02,580
a lot of farms.

848
00:33:03,660 --> 00:33:05,260
And, you know, I don't know too many

849
00:33:05,260 --> 00:33:06,740
people are willing to live on a farm

850
00:33:06,740 --> 00:33:07,440
and work, right?

851
00:33:08,440 --> 00:33:10,000
And, you know, some of the other jobs

852
00:33:10,000 --> 00:33:12,740
that we have, it sounds terrible, but it's

853
00:33:12,740 --> 00:33:13,660
truth.

854
00:33:14,060 --> 00:33:15,540
Like a lot of the jobs that immigrants

855
00:33:15,540 --> 00:33:18,540
are doing, just like, you know, throughout the

856
00:33:18,540 --> 00:33:20,740
history of the country, immigrants came here to

857
00:33:20,740 --> 00:33:22,180
work really hard to make a better life

858
00:33:22,180 --> 00:33:24,220
for their family and have the opportunities of

859
00:33:24,220 --> 00:33:25,520
being in the United States.

860
00:33:25,540 --> 00:33:26,820
That's not different now.

861
00:33:27,600 --> 00:33:32,020
In most cases, the gang stuff is separate,

862
00:33:32,120 --> 00:33:32,320
right?

863
00:33:33,700 --> 00:33:36,460
So it was really a real immigration reform

864
00:33:36,460 --> 00:33:39,700
that would allow a path to legally work

865
00:33:39,700 --> 00:33:42,820
in the United States, pay federal taxes, pay

866
00:33:42,820 --> 00:33:45,140
into Social Security, some type of use tax.

867
00:33:45,560 --> 00:33:47,860
They shouldn't be able to collect Social Security

868
00:33:47,860 --> 00:33:52,820
unless they are later become a citizen, you

869
00:33:52,820 --> 00:33:55,440
know, the permanent residency or some form.

870
00:33:55,680 --> 00:33:57,840
But even I think anyone who is working

871
00:33:57,840 --> 00:33:59,140
in that state should pay at least a

872
00:33:59,140 --> 00:34:01,660
use tax because you are replacing a worker

873
00:34:01,660 --> 00:34:04,100
that could be working.

874
00:34:04,980 --> 00:34:07,800
So having an above board system of taking

875
00:34:07,800 --> 00:34:10,500
some of this work that is underground, putting

876
00:34:10,500 --> 00:34:13,400
it above ground, I think would add to

877
00:34:13,400 --> 00:34:16,639
the strength of our tax system, our Social

878
00:34:16,639 --> 00:34:19,699
Security system, and allow American companies who want

879
00:34:19,699 --> 00:34:21,760
to follow the rules, who should follow the

880
00:34:21,760 --> 00:34:25,520
rules, to be able to do so.

881
00:34:26,179 --> 00:34:28,020
Yeah, I think it goes back to your

882
00:34:28,020 --> 00:34:32,400
point about everyone working towards a common good

883
00:34:32,400 --> 00:34:35,040
in a way, you know, and everyone chipping

884
00:34:35,040 --> 00:34:37,860
into the future of themselves and others.

885
00:34:38,219 --> 00:34:43,659
So definitely a lot of interesting ideas that

886
00:34:43,659 --> 00:34:46,340
hopefully are being considered in Washington, hopefully are

887
00:34:46,340 --> 00:34:47,000
being discussed.

888
00:34:47,719 --> 00:34:50,000
As you said, it could be a combination

889
00:34:50,000 --> 00:34:53,580
of one or more of these options.

890
00:34:53,679 --> 00:34:55,659
And maybe there are things that you didn't

891
00:34:55,659 --> 00:34:57,800
even include in here, Jeff, that might come

892
00:34:57,800 --> 00:34:58,380
up in the future.

893
00:34:58,740 --> 00:35:00,760
I'm sure they have some great ideas and

894
00:35:00,760 --> 00:35:02,340
probably a lot of bad ideas too.

895
00:35:02,460 --> 00:35:03,680
And like I said, I don't agree with

896
00:35:03,680 --> 00:35:03,800
it.

897
00:35:03,840 --> 00:35:05,980
If I was forming the solution, you know,

898
00:35:06,020 --> 00:35:07,360
if you and I said we're given the

899
00:35:07,360 --> 00:35:09,780
task of fixing Social Security, I think after

900
00:35:09,780 --> 00:35:12,040
a day or two after going through these

901
00:35:12,040 --> 00:35:13,560
and having the math worked out, we could

902
00:35:13,560 --> 00:35:14,320
figure it out.

903
00:35:15,280 --> 00:35:17,500
But it's, you know, you can be an

904
00:35:17,500 --> 00:35:20,740
ideologue, you can be right or left, you

905
00:35:20,740 --> 00:35:22,400
can be whatever you want to be.

906
00:35:22,780 --> 00:35:24,600
But this is going to happen.

907
00:35:25,060 --> 00:35:27,380
It's just math, people, like Christmas.

908
00:35:27,820 --> 00:35:30,200
Christmas isn't math, but Christmas is coming in

909
00:35:30,200 --> 00:35:30,560
December.

910
00:35:30,900 --> 00:35:32,060
So be prepared.

911
00:35:32,620 --> 00:35:36,180
This is coming in eight years or whatever

912
00:35:36,180 --> 00:35:36,760
it is.

913
00:35:37,220 --> 00:35:38,300
So we have the opportunity.

914
00:35:38,620 --> 00:35:41,660
We have a bold president who seems to

915
00:35:41,660 --> 00:35:43,480
be willing to take on tough things.

916
00:35:44,320 --> 00:35:47,540
So let's hope that he decides to touch

917
00:35:47,540 --> 00:35:50,340
this third rail politics and can have some

918
00:35:50,340 --> 00:35:52,900
responsible members of Congress go along with it

919
00:35:52,900 --> 00:35:53,800
from both parties.

920
00:35:54,020 --> 00:35:56,600
And knowing that no single solution is going

921
00:35:56,600 --> 00:35:58,160
to fix this and that it's going to

922
00:35:58,160 --> 00:35:59,340
take some compromise.

923
00:36:00,400 --> 00:36:02,020
And this isn't something they should kick down

924
00:36:02,020 --> 00:36:04,200
the road, kick the can down the road,

925
00:36:04,200 --> 00:36:05,700
because it's going to be a lot more

926
00:36:05,700 --> 00:36:08,740
difficult and devastating if they decide to wait

927
00:36:08,740 --> 00:36:10,120
until the next one's in office.

928
00:36:11,380 --> 00:36:11,560
Absolutely.

929
00:36:11,740 --> 00:36:12,600
I totally agree.

930
00:36:13,020 --> 00:36:15,880
And if you'd like to check out Jeff's

931
00:36:15,880 --> 00:36:18,660
article, we're going to put the link in

932
00:36:18,660 --> 00:36:20,500
the show notes so you can read more

933
00:36:20,500 --> 00:36:21,920
on these things that we discussed.

934
00:36:22,200 --> 00:36:23,600
I thought it was a really insightful article.

935
00:36:24,000 --> 00:36:26,200
And some of these things you mentioned weren't

936
00:36:26,200 --> 00:36:27,000
really even on my radar.

937
00:36:27,240 --> 00:36:29,740
So good to be able to talk about

938
00:36:29,740 --> 00:36:30,180
it with you, Jeff.

939
00:36:30,740 --> 00:36:31,100
Great.

940
00:36:31,260 --> 00:36:32,580
Thanks for us for the conversation.

941
00:36:32,720 --> 00:36:33,660
And thank you for listening.

942
00:36:33,760 --> 00:36:34,580
We appreciate it.

943
00:36:34,840 --> 00:36:38,180
Please follow us on your favorite podcast venue.

944
00:36:39,000 --> 00:36:41,220
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945
00:36:41,220 --> 00:36:42,200
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946
00:36:43,100 --> 00:36:44,560
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947
00:36:44,560 --> 00:36:45,480
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948
00:36:46,600 --> 00:36:49,140
And we're getting some traction on YouTube, too.

949
00:36:49,300 --> 00:36:50,680
So I hope you might, if you want

950
00:36:50,680 --> 00:36:52,400
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951
00:36:52,400 --> 00:36:54,360
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952
00:36:54,360 --> 00:36:54,600
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953
00:36:55,360 --> 00:36:57,320
We have a playlist under Wealth Enhancement.

954
00:36:57,540 --> 00:36:58,520
We appreciate you listening.

955
00:36:58,920 --> 00:37:01,940
Until next time, keep striving for something more.

956
00:37:03,560 --> 00:37:05,680
Thank you for listening to Something More with

957
00:37:05,680 --> 00:37:06,380
Chris Boyd.

958
00:37:06,680 --> 00:37:08,860
Call us for help, whether it's for financial

959
00:37:08,860 --> 00:37:12,780
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960
00:37:12,780 --> 00:37:14,820
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961
00:37:14,820 --> 00:37:15,920
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962
00:37:16,240 --> 00:37:19,540
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963
00:37:19,540 --> 00:37:22,740
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964
00:37:22,740 --> 00:37:26,400
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965
00:37:26,520 --> 00:37:30,300
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966
00:37:30,300 --> 00:37:32,220
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967
00:37:32,320 --> 00:37:34,360
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968
00:37:34,360 --> 00:37:35,200
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969
00:37:35,300 --> 00:37:37,800
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970
00:37:37,800 --> 00:37:40,120
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971
00:37:40,120 --> 00:37:40,660
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972
00:37:40,820 --> 00:37:42,820
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973
00:37:42,820 --> 00:37:43,980
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974
00:37:44,300 --> 00:37:46,100
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975
00:37:46,100 --> 00:37:48,140
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976
00:37:48,140 --> 00:37:49,700
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977
00:37:49,940 --> 00:37:51,900
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982
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