Tariffs and sky high audio prices.

Too many electronic pieces are not made in US , even can not be made in
US, to look forward  to anything but trouble .

Anyway, are you going to buy equipment full of Chinese parts or not ? Or it depends, including on quality and price ? Mining practices, forced labor, abuses etc., remember ? Yes, you will. Chinese know it, they are clever, and they are cleverer. They also think centuries and millennia not short or even long term goals.  

@ghasley 
I thank you as well for your well reasoned and eloquent responses. A welcome relief from the tendency of most debate these days to devolve into real life versions of the movie "Idiocracy." It would be wonderful if all publicly debated disagreements were as logical, and level headed as yours. 

Working as an independent contractor for the last 40 years of my working life, I paid into Social Security 15% of my gross taxable income. I started paying in at the age of 14 and stopped paying into Social Security two years ago at the age of 78 when health problems forced my retirement. I haven't figured it out, but I may still be on the losing end of the proverbial stick.  One thing for sure ... I wish I were still working. I never worked a job that I didn't like. I had parents that instilled a good work ethic into their kids. 

After reading through these posts, it is very apparent that we have a set of very knowledgable, intelligent and well-written members on board here. I love learning experiences, and it is very much appreciated by me.

Frank 

@oregonpapa 

Frank, you are an exceptional man and thank you for the contributions you make toward furthering the hobby. I wish the self employed were not slammed with both sides of the SS tax. I also regret hearing that your working days ended before you were ready. Me, I love my work and I hope that I get to continue until I'm ready to hang it up.

@rodman99999 

Social Security is not a Ponzi scheme, it has been politicized, mischaracterized by many and mismanaged from its optimal outcome but it is not your money. It is a tax on today's workers paid out to yesterday's workers. That's the deal that was made for us all 80 years ago and that's the way it goes.  It is not a savings account that you somehow have a right to direct. No offense intended, but your math may also be incorrect. The example you cite shows the money growing at 5% compounded. While that is a safe assumption for market returns over time, it is not a safe assumption for a risk free rate...you would need to drop in the average return for TBills over that time to achieve that. Additionally, you are assuming that returns grow tax deferred. In order to purchase an annuity, the funds would have been taxed at the time of the annuity purchase, significantly reducing the buying power and thus, the payout. It would have been far wiser to purchase the annuity with annual payments rather than a lump sum at end of career, which would have required after tax contributions. Still might have exceeded the returns one gets from SS BUT, you also offload the risk that you buy your annuity from the wrong company and they go out of business or become insolvent. There is a reason the best insurance companies pay far less on returns in annuities because they are conservative and prepare for material market fluctuations. I retired a pension plan at my last job and we paid over $1 million more to purchase annuities from John Hancock when compared to the next company (on a $7 million dollar purchase). Hancock was the highest bidder but they were the highest rated for financial strength. (Oh, and as the fiduciary, I would personally be on the hook in the event of a default by the annuity provider, LOL)

@inna 

Everything happens in due course. Most populations will eventually strike a good balance between the workforce and the overall good of society. You cite China and some of their poor practices and yet, they have come so far so quickly. Do they have a long way to go, I certainly think so but they are an economic anomoly the likes of which the world has never seen over the past 25 years. That will be eclipsed over the next 25 years. It was ok while the west built factories and profited but when the Chinese do it themselves it not ok? Listen, I don't agree with much of their human rights but they are better today than when the west was building factories there. Are they better because of the influence of the west or in spite of the west?

@photon46 

Thank you for the kind words. I love a good reasoned discussion on almost any topic. I learn so much, I really appreciate the opportunity.