SS Trust Fund DIED in 2009

[ThePythonicCow]

Re: SS Trust Fund DIED in 2009

Cow, You got a piece of land that I can park an RV on, in say, 6 months?:eek:

Nah, sorry. I rent my trailer lot from some high falutin park that don't allow no cheap RV's. We only take nice looking trailers manufactured homes here .

I've noticed a couple of my neighbors getting kicked out, I suspect for non-payment of the lot rent. So I'm sure you could find an empty lot, or an existing "well used" trailer for sale for just a handful of your golden coins.

[shiny!]

Re: SS Trust Fund DIED in 2009

Nah, sorry. I rent my trailer lot from some high falutin park that don't allow no cheap RV's. We only take nice looking trailers manufactured homes here .

I've noticed a couple of my neighbors getting kicked out, I suspect for non-payment of the lot rent. So I'm sure you could find an empty lot, or an existing "well used" trailer for sale for just a handful of your golden coins.

I live in the same kind of place you do, mine is an age 55+ park. I work for the company that owns/manages this park, and a bunch of other ones in the area. We still call them trailers and mobile homes; manufactured homes is just too much of a mouthful.

Lot rents are in the low end of the mid-range for our area. Still our elderly tenants depending on Social Security, mostly widows, are having a hard time. SS is already a joke, especially for women who stayed at home and depended on their husbands to provide for them. My next-door neighbor, a young guy on permanent SS disability from a workplace accident (broke his back), wrecked his car the other day. He has broken ribs but didn't go to the hospital because he's afraid of the bill. My other next-door neighbor, also living on SS disability, was in tears yesterday after paying her rent. She had a few unexpected expenses and now doesn't have enough money for groceries this month.

Our business has changed in the last year, especially in the last six months or so. We used to depend mostly on the winter "snowbird" business, with few full-time tenants. Now the parks are filling up with full-timers as company-owned rentals are being purchased by people who can't afford their homes anymore. Most of them are still working but have lost their good jobs and are now earning a fraction of what they used to make. They discovered that they could own a mobile home for less than paying rent on an apartment.

I think that this industry, ammunition manufacturers and pawn shops are going to do well in this economy. I wish I had something to contribute in the way of charts and numbers, but I don't. I'm just observing from the trenches...

[dcarrigg]

Re: SS Trust Fund DIED in 2009

They might also be useful as kindling, although I haven't tested that out yet.

As a practical matter, all this means is that the Fed will have to step up its quantitative easing to another level to buy the Treasuries that the "excess" social security tax receipts used to fund.

I would think that Congress will eliminate the income cap on social security taxes this year to buy more time (among all the other tax hikes coming).

Also watch out for new "liquidity requirements" for banks that will effectively force them to use your deposits to buy Treasuries rather than making loans. Don't worry though, your deposits will still be guaranteed by the FDIC, which is effectively backed by those same highly secure Treasury bonds.

Well put - agreed.

[ThePythonicCow]

Re: SS Trust Fund DIED in 2009

I'm just observing from the trenches...

Thanks for the observations.

[Roughneck]

Re: SS Trust Fund DIED in 2009

What trust fund? They take the money and buy bonds to finance current spending. It's kinda like this 500B they are going to"cut" from medicare to pay for national health care. If you borrow 500B to pay for medicare or a new entitlement your still borrowing the money.