Investments more lucrative than Social Security, institute alleges
If firefighters invested their payroll taxes in stocks and government bonds, retirement income would be greater than that derived from Social Security, according to the Heritage Foundation, a research institute based in Washington, D.C.
The Foundation cites the example of a “typical” 45-year-old firefighter, married with two children, earning $48,426 a year, who will pay $214,939 in lifetime Social Security taxes and get back $504,671 in benefits. According to the Foundation, if that firefighter were allowed to invest his payroll taxes in a portfolio divided evenly between 30-year U.S. Treasury Bonds and blue-chip stocks, he would retire with $810,577. The Foundation`s research and publications are available on the Internet: http://www.townhall.com or http://www.heritage.org.
