About Rod D. Martin
Praise for Rod D. Martin
Book Rod to Speak
Politics & Economics
Technology & Markets
Faith & Cultureby Rod D. Martin
November 21, 1997
Alan Greenspan’s announcement Thursday that Social Security is in trouble told us nothing most Americans didn’t already know, but did underscore one of the most vital facts of our day: Social Security is the greatest pyramid scam of all time, and it’s time to quit stealing from the old.
Greenspan didn’t say that. But he should have.
Social Security is not at all what it appears to be. People are told that they pay into a “trust fund” which will provide for them in old age, but of course this is lie: whatever monies Social Security taxes take in are spent immediately, both on the program itself and on other federal programs as well. This should be obvious. If your money was really in a trust fund, there would be no issue as to whether it would be there when you retired.
Social Security’s less intelligent (or more dishonest) defenders sometimes claim that you will receive far more from the program upon retirement than you paid in. This is true, but only in a Machiavellian sense. At present, your Social Security “investment” earns a 2.2 percent return. In short, you would earn more with a passbook savings account. Adjusted for inflation, you will lose money. Meanwhile, the government will use your retirement savings to fund $15,000 hammers and NEA grants for people who dip crucifixes in urine. If your private fund-manager tried this, he would go to jail.
Scams like this are illegal in every state. Only the federal government retains the “right” to commit securities fraud. The result is a nightmare, a nation full of young people who can’t afford to save and old people who can’t afford to eat. But we can set things right. And anyone who owns an IRA knows how.
Amazingly, anyone who makes minimum wage can and would under a privatized system retire a millionaire. This is because of the miracle of compound interest. Suppose you are 20 years old and earning $10,000 a year. You and your employer are paying $1,240 a year in Social Security taxes. That’s 12.4 percent of your hard-earned income, for benefits that you will likely never see.
Suppose instead you could invest that same $1,240, as well as an additional $2.50 a week. By the time you are 65, thanks to the magic of compound interest, you would be a millionaire. You would be assured a comfortable retirement. You certainly wouldn’t be subsisting on the subhuman pittance Social Security doles out.
Let’s look at the math, assuming a long-term return on your investments of 8 percent a year. (This is a prudent assumption: the annual return on the Standard & Poor’s 500 over the past 70 years, including the Great Depression, is actually 10.19 percent.) If you can save $30 a week ($1,560 a year), after 10 years the value of your portfolio is $29,000. After 20 years, it is $110,000. After 30 years, it is $318,000. Forty years — $822,000. And 45 years — the normal working lifetime — $1.3 million. After 50 years, if you work until age 70, the value of your portfolio jumps all the way to $2 million.
This is, by the way, your money. Not a federal welfare check.
Now let’s adjust this for inflation, assuming a historically reasonable 4 percent long-term rate. Your portfolio of $1.3 million after 45 years would be closer to $230,000. That’s still a larger nest egg than most working Americans even dream of. With that amount of capital, you could purchase an annuity at age 65 that would give you $18,256 a year (in today’s dollars) during your retirement years.
Note that this $18,256 is almost double the $10,000 annual income we assumed at the beginning. Pick an income any income, save a proportionate amount for your retirement, and under a private Social Security system you will retire on almost double. This would utterly eradicate poverty among the old, resolve most of the problems in our health care system, and allow people to look forward to their futures with excitement and hope.
State monopolies didn’t work in Russia, and they don’t work here. Moreover, God promises curses on societies that rob the widow and the orphan, as well as blessings on the just. Social Security is both the crime and the curse, and it is time to replace it once and for all. If there is to be a new Contract With America, Republicans should make this one of its central promises.
Rod is one of our nation’s leading minds. He’s smart, original, and very committed—a combination that one rarely finds.
Rod Martin and [former Howard Dean campaign manager] Joe Trippi are America’s two foremost experts on online politics.
Rod Martin is a Reaganite-Thatcherite conservative…[and] a man who has spent much of his life ministering to and working for the benefit of others. I know Rod as an advocate for freedom, a leader who understands the real changes we need in Washington, and who has the drive and ability to make those changes happen.
Rod Martin is the kind of dynamic leader who has the knowledge, ability and experience to lead us successfully into the 21st Century. His vision for America is compelling.
Rod Martin literally wrote the book on excellence. Humble yet brilliant, a man of love and compassion, with penetrating clarity he illuminates the world around us, and we are both stirred and enlightened.
Rod Martin is a born leader and an outstanding political mind. Anyone who takes him on is going to have a serious fight on their hands.
Rod Martin is a man of uncommon vision and character. Ever since I first worked alongside Rod in the early days of PayPal, I’ve been struck by his powerful vision for the future. Rod understands the intersection of technology, politics and culture in a way that few others do.
Rod Martin wears with uncommon grace an uncanny ability to link his vigorous faith to the practical challenges of both the business world and the political arena. Yet the respect he shows for others carries a warmth and modesty that are both too rare among those who are strong advocates of feisty positions.
America badly needs more leaders who really get the future. We need more Rod Martins.
Rod Martin is a modern day philosopher-statesman. He is a capitalist intellectual, a conservative iconoclast, a gentle adversary and a kind prophet. He inspires us towards a fresh national vision built upon the original founding principles.
Rod Martin is not only effective and efficient, but he is also perceptive, wise and gracious. He gets things done. He is a great friend and a great ally.
Rod is one of the sharpest, most gracious men I know, and one of the most gifted political thinkers today. His ability to analyze issues and communicate thoughtful insights on them have earned him the respect of people across the political spectrum.
I am proud to have been Rod Martin’s friend for a quarter century, and I can tell you that he is one of the finest men and most outstanding leaders in our church and in our country today. He has a knack for turning everything he touches to success.
Rod Martin is a cornucopian entrepreneur and eutropic thinker whose influence radiates through an array of companies, institutions, movements and churches. A renaissance American, he is also a prolific friend of freedom and faith around the globe.
If Rod Martin represents the next generation of leaders, America has nothing to worry about.
A leader and a servant, in public life and in private, Rod Martin strides at the top of his profession, and has nowhere to go but up. He is in the truest sense of the word ‘outstanding’.
Rod Martin is undoubtedly one of the most accomplished thought leaders today. He is a wonderful mentor, a humble role model, and a deep inspiration for the next generation of scientific innovators and entrepreneurs.
Rod’s achievements pale beside his character and his brilliance. He sees what others can’t. He leads when others won’t.
Rod Martin is one of America’s finest young minds.