The Absence of Support: A New Thought Experiment on the Nature of Gravity

The Ilardi Theory of Gravity

By Kate Ilardi, 2025


Introduction

For decades I’ve walked the line between system design and metaphysics, between structured thought and intuitive knowing. Recently, I had a flash of insight during a quiet moment of internal contemplation. A new way of seeing gravity came into focus—not as a force or a quantum field, but as a consequence of a structural void within the fabric of spacetime.

This is not a formal scientific paper—this is a thought experiment, inspired by Einstein, resonant with metaphysical dimensional theories, but rooted in personal logic and systems intuition. It came to me in a moment, but its implications have taken days to unwind in my mind. Below is both the idea and the breakdown of its components.


The Core Insight

Gravity is not a force pulling us down. It is a condition created by the absence of upward support from spacetime, which is displaced by the curvature induced by mass.

Restated:

Massive objects bend spacetime downward, and in doing so, they create a void beneath them. Objects in the vicinity of this deformation are not “pulled” so much as they fall into the void where there is no longer sufficient spacetime to hold them in position.

In this model, spacetime functions as a structural medium, a scaffold that holds matter in a given position. When that support is warped or removed by nearby curvature, the matter collapses into the resulting absence.


Spacetime as a Holding Structure

Traditionally, general relativity describes mass as curving spacetime, and objects as following geodesics through this curvature. But this model suggests something subtly but significantly different:

Matter does not move through curved space because of a force; it descends into a loss of support created by the deformation of spacetime by mass.

Imagine spacetime as a three-dimensional, flexible net. All matter rests in balance on this net. Massive bodies deform the net downward. Nearby matter then collapses toward the deformation not because of attraction, but because the structural integrity beneath it has been removed.

It is not pulled. It falls into unsupported space.


What Lies Beneath Spacetime?

This model implies something profound:

If spacetime “holds up” matter, what is it holding it up from?

Answer: the dimensional field outside our known spacetime. Call it subspace, hyperspace, quantum foam, or the multiversal substrate. In mystic language: the Void.

This is the space that exists outside the domain of general relativity. The downward curvature created by mass doesn’t just create a slope—it creates an opening. The more massive the object, the more spacetime is displaced, and the greater the opening into whatever lies beyond.

Gravity, in this framing, becomes a topological vulnerability in the geometry of reality. Not a force. Not a field. But a puncture in the container of reality.


Gravity as an Emergent Absence

So what does this reframe offer?

  • It bypasses the graviton problem. There is no need for a quantum carrier particle for gravity if gravity is not a force.
  • It provides a bridge to metaphysics. The curvature is not “attraction,” it is exposure—the exposure of the localized space to the deeper field beneath reality.
  • It clarifies the role of mass. The more mass, the deeper the void, and the greater the exposure.

In this model, mass doesn’t attract. Mass displaces. Matter then descends into the displacement.


Why This Stands Out From Existing Theories

While aspects of this framing may resonate with certain speculative or emergent gravity theories, to my knowledge, no existing framework has articulated gravity in this precise way. Here is how this concept differs:

FeatureExisting TheoryIlardi Model
Gravity as pull/force?Yes (Newton); No, geodesics (Einstein)No — structural collapse
Quantized or emergent?Often emergent; attempts at quantizationNeither — fundamental topology
Multiverse/subspace included?Not usuallyCentral part of the model
Void/absence as cause?NoYes
  • General Relativity: Gravity as curved spacetime; does not describe gravity as a loss of support.
  • Emergent Gravity (e.g., Verlinde): Attempts to derive gravity from entropy/information; does not treat it as topological structural loss.
  • Geometrodynamics / Shape Dynamics: Emphasizes form and relational geometry; does not include exposure to deeper layers of dimensional space.
  • Loop Quantum Gravity / Quantum Foam: Treats spacetime as quantized; I propose gravity needs no quantization at all.

Summary: The Ilardi Gravity Thought Model

ConceptReframe
GravityA condition of loss of support due to spacetime displacement
MassNot attractive, but structurally displacing of spacetime
FallingCollapsing into a void, not being pulled down
SpacetimeA holding scaffold, not a static background
Beneath spacetimeSubspace, hyperspace, the quantum foam—the unstructured domain

Final Thoughts

This is only a beginning. But I believe this framing could open the door to deeper conversations not only in physics, but in metaphysical theory, dimensional topology, and the nature of emergence.

If gravity is a topological symptom, not a quantum force, then perhaps it is not meant to be quantized at all. Perhaps it is the one thing in physics that has always been whispering, *”I am the edge of your known world.”

And perhaps we fall not because we are being pulled, but because the universe simply can no longer hold us in place.


Copyright 2025 © Kate Ilardi, blog.ilardi.com

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Who is Kate?

Kate Ilardi formerly known as Robert Ilardi

 

 

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The American Family 2024

Dear Friends and Family,

As you all are aware, Donald Trump won the 2024 election this past Tuesday. No matter who you voted for, please remember that we’re all in this together as Americans.

Our nation’s identity isn’t entirely on the right or the left; it’s somewhere in the center, a blend of values that include both conservative and progressive ideas. The political “spectrum” isn’t a simple left-right line; it’s more like a circle. Push too far to either extreme, and you eventually reach the same place: authoritarianism. Staying engaged with a balanced perspective helps us avoid that and protect our freedoms.

While some of us saw our candidate win, and others did not, one thing remains true: the American Republic is still standing strong and will continue to do so. Our founders set up a system that makes change happen deliberately and slowly, which means that, once rights are granted by Congress, they’re deeply embedded and very hard to reverse. If you fear we’re moving backwards, remember: these systems are designed to prevent any sweeping changes from happening overnight.

Looking back, I acknowledge, as I always have, that in January 2021, President Trump could have taken a more graceful approach to his loss. Yes, there was a riot at the Capitol, and it shouldn’t have happened—protesting is fine, but the unlawful associated activities were not acceptable. However, it wasn’t an “insurrection” as some media and politicians labeled it. Despite that day, there was a peaceful transfer of power, as there has been with every change in presidency over nearly 250 years. Trump left the White House without incident, and while his exit could have been more graceful, Biden took office at the proper date and time as always planned—without incident. I fully expect the same come January 2025, when Biden hands the keys to the Oval Office back to President Trump for his second and final term.

Take a look back at President Trump’s first term in 2016, and then at Biden’s in 2020. While there were shifts, they were modest overall, and most of the fears stirred up by the media didn’t come true. Today, if you look outside, life continues. There aren’t tanks rolling down the streets; our neighborhoods are calm, just as they were when Biden was elected in 2020.

If you’re disappointed because your candidate didn’t win, that’s okay. Some of the changes you may have hoped for might take longer, but we are still living in one of the freest nations in the world. Take pride in that, and let’s work together to keep moving forward—slowly but surely.

So let’s all take a deep breath and relax. Our country is built to endure, to stay strong, and to support us all.

God Bless The United States of America!

~Robert Ilardi

 

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Nonna’s Eulogy

The Eulogy I gave at the Funeral of my Grandmother (Nonna in Italian) in January 2021:

So, when I was thinking of what to say today, I was faced with a choice to either share my memories of Nonna, or talk about who she was and how she lived her life. Then I thought that over the next few weeks, we will all be sharing our memories and stories about our Nonna, our Mother. So instead of doing that here, I want to give all of you an insight into the woman who was my second mother.

Nonna was a strong woman, stronger than most of you might realize, but I guarantee if you think about my words here today and then remember back to your own experiences with her you will understand what I mean.

Everyone knew Nonna as the strict, sometimes over the top, Italian grandmother and mother, the matriarch of our family, and I know all of you saw through the tough Italian Woman veneer to the loving person she really was.

Think back to everything she did over her lifetime with us. You might first think about how she was a master cook that ruled over the kitchen and cleaned the house 3 times a day while dinner was cooking, or how she would pray morning, noon, and night, but she was much more than a housewife and a woman of great faith.

We often think of Nonno first, as the person that keeps our family together, and that is true, but what is also true is that his marriage to Nonna was a partnership and they ran our family together. I don’t think Nonno alone could keep a family of us nuts sailing straight without his wife by his side. I don’t think there is a better example of the yin and yang, than Nonna and Nonno. Our family needed a woman like Nonna, I know I did.

In many ways Nonna ruled over our family with a tighter fist than Nonno, when she saw you not going to Church, or doing bad in School, or being lazy, she was the first person to tell you, you are going to hell, or you are a delinquent, or you are a bum. In fact, when I was a kid, she called me a bum every summer for not having a job since I was 8 years old.

Nonna never complained, about anything really. She was selfless when it came to her family. Whatever we needed, she would find a way, working with her husband to give it to us. She did so happily, she wanted to be the person behind the scenes making sure every Holiday, every life event went perfectly. And if you did something wrong to screw up, she would let you know, harshly, in front of everyone.

Nonna was fearless unless harm was going to come to her family, and she did everything in her power to make sure nothing ever did, she protected us and loved us all.

Today’s young women should learn from Nonna’s life as an example of how to be strong women. I think most problems we see in the world today, is because we have lost the ideal of the family. Family was the most important key to success throughout human history, and that is what each of us need to get back to. Success through the family, not of the self.

This was success and happiness to Nonna. Not the job she did, or the education she had, or how much money she had, but how she could create a warm, loving, and safe home for her family. In the end there were only two things she truly loved, her family and God.

This selflessness, this love of Nonna’s is what I will miss the most, and I just want to thank Nonna for the love and faith she gave to her family. Nonna, we love you; we miss you, and until we meet again, may you enjoy all the riches, wonders, and understanding of the universe, God gives to you in heaven.

~ Robert Ilardi

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Building a PC – Part 0

The first step in building a PC is deciding what kind of computer you actually need. This is why I have labeled this as Part 0 (Zero) instead of Part 1, as it really is a pre-step in your Custom PC Build Project.

For this post we will talk about the following PC Build Types:

  • Budget PC
  • Basic Desktop
  • Workstation / Power User Desktop
  • Gaming PC
  • Home Server

The first type of of Custom PC Build is the “Budget PC”. It is a very basic PC that is mostly used as an Internet Browsing PC, although with the level of hardware available today even a Budget PC can do basic School (Primary School tasks should be fine, however some more advanced High School tasks might be slow to do) and Home office tasks and probably be OK to use as a “Work from Home” PC if your Internet is fast enough. It should be able to stream 1080p video but it would struggle to keep up with 4K videos and video conferences probably will look very fuzzy and choppy. Specs in 2020 for a Budget PC are not as bad as they were in the past. You are probably looking at a 4-core / 4-thread CPU (possibly a 2-core CPU, but they are getting more difficult to find, and really not worth the money anymore), and somewhere between 4GB and 8GB of RAM (a Store Bought Budget PC will probably have between 4GB and 6GB, but the cost of 6GB vs 8GB is so small a difference in a custom build even in the budget range you will probably opt for 8GB if you go for more than 4GB). You probably will only have 1 storage device so it probably will be a hard drive (probably between 1TB and 2TB) not an SSD, although you could get a 32GB – 128GB SSD for under $100 these days if you look, good enough to boot from, but again since we are talking about building a budget PC, lets assume SSD is off the table, but in the future could be a nice upgrade. A budget PC will definitely not have a discrete graphics card so you will have whatever Integrated Graphics comes with the CPU you buy.

The second type of Custom PC Build is the “Basic Desktop”. It is your everyday home PC that can be used to Browse the Internet, Watch Videos, Stream at 4K (if your Internet Connection Speed is fast enough), participate in Video Conference and calls, Edit Photos, and do basic School (both Primary and Secondary, and probably most basic college projects that don’t require any specialized software) and Home Office tasks like using Microsoft Office to edit documents, spreadsheets and presentations or to use as a “Work from Home” computer. It’s a relatively powerful computer, can be used for basic software development and some basic video editing, but you probably won’t do heavy video editing or play the latest games on this type of computer. It is one step above a “Budget PC Build”, but this kind of PC will definitely last you quite a bit longer as it should be able to keep up with the times better than a Budget PC. In 2020 a Basic Desktop will have between 8 to 16GB or RAM (with 16GB recommending by the Author), a SSD (between 256GB and 512GB) and possibly a second Hard Drive for additional storage (between 2TB and 4TB). The CPU will have between 4 and 8 cores and 8 to 16 threads (the author recommends at least 6-cores), and it may or may not have a discrete graphics card (if a discrete graphics card is used probably at previous generation GPU with 4GB to 8GB of VRAM).

The third type of Custom PC Build is the “Workstation” or “Power User Desktop”. It is a very powerful desktop computer for the home, that is on par or better than Workstations used in most large corporations. It can handle 3D CAD, heavy video editing and rendering, be used for advanced software development, and pretty much handle anything you can throw at it, including play most of the new games on the market. The biggest difference between a Workstation and a Gaming PC will be how much you spend on the graphics card (you are still going to get a relatively power graphics card for rendering and other GPU tasks, but it might not need to be the latest and greatest card on the market) and the “coolness” factor. The Workstation in 2020 will have a lot of RAM at least 32GB, multiple SSDs and secondary Hard Drives, at least 8-cores and 16-threads, plus a Graphics Card with at least 8GB of VRAM.

The fourth type of Custom PC Build is the Gaming PC. It is basically a workstation build but has the most powerful graphics card you can budget for and it will have the coolness factor added in. Most probably you will want to go for a Case with a Glass or Clear Plastic side and the cables, fans, and other parts will have multi-colored LEDs, some even have mini-LCDs integrated on the motherboard for effects. Water-Cooling will be used most probably, because gamers like to overclock their CPUs, RAM, and Graphics Cards. If you aren’t going to overclock, water-cooling is still typically used for gaming PCs for the coolness factor as the tubing and other components are usually translucent and lit up for effect, although if you aren’t going to overclock, water-cooling is not necessarily required, even basic overclocking can be achieved with passing cooling given enough fans and the right CPU Cooler (heatsink).

The fifth and final type of Custom PC Build is the Home Server. Here you want to get a Server level motherboard used for small businesses or an AMD Threadripper, and you want to spend more money RAM, CPU, and Storage, and not so much on the graphics. In 2020, we are talking about specs like a CPU with at least 16 Cores and 32 threads (although the author recommends a 32-core 64-thread CPU) and somewhere between 64GB and 256GB of RAM (the author recommends between 126GB and 256GB so you can run multiple VMs simultaneously). You will be running either Microsoft Windows Server (Microsoft offers a version called “Essentials” which is cheap enough and powerful enough for a Home setup) or you can run a Linux Server installation. With this type of hardware you can run a Hypervisor and run both Windows Server and a Linux Server simultaneously, again the reason for maxing out the RAM and giving it as many CPU cores you can afford. This kind of setup you want to consider multiple physical network cards one for each OS you will be running, a very good power supply, and top of the line fans, because it will be running 24/7 as your home server. I do not recommend water cooling for this same reason, I don’t trust water-cooling solution for 24/7 machines. You don’t want it leaking and destroying your server in the middle of the night.

The next parts in this blog series will discuss building a “Basic Desktop”, as this is the most common setup you will find in most people’s homes.

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Caesar Cipher in C

A simple C implementation of the Caesar Cipher. Supports full wrap around for Alpha Numerics. Does Modulus for shifts larger than 26 for Alphas and 10 for Digits.

Background on Caesar Cipher: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caesar_cipher

/*
 Copyright 2019 Robert C. Ilardi

 Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
 you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
 You may obtain a copy of the License at

 http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0

 Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
 distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
 WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
 See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 limitations under the License.
*/

//To Compile: gcc CaesarCipher.c -o CaesarCipher

/*
 Usage: ./CaesarCipher [SHIFT] [MESSAGE]

 A nice generic Caesar Cipher C program I just wrote
 for the hell of it.

 Use negative numbers to reverse the shifting.
*/

#include <stdlib.h>
#include <stdio.h>
#include <string.h>

typedef unsigned int bool;

const bool TRUE=1;
const bool FALSE=0;

int main(int argc, char* argv[])
{
	int shift, tmpShift;
	char *mesg;
	char *outputMesg;
	char ch;
	bool isAlpha, isUpper, isLower, isDigit;

	if (argc!=3)
	{
		fprintf(stderr, "Usage: %s [SHIFT] [MESSAGE]\n", argv[0]);
		return EXIT_FAILURE;
	}
	
	shift=atoi(argv[1]);
	mesg=argv[2];

	printf("Shift Amount: %d\n", shift);
	printf("Message: %s\n", mesg);

	outputMesg = (char*)malloc(strlen(mesg)+1);

	for (int i=0; i<strlen(mesg); i++)
	{
		ch=mesg[i];
		isUpper = (ch >= 'A' && ch <='Z');
		isLower = (ch >= 'a' && ch <='z');
		isAlpha = ((ch >= 'A' && ch <='Z') || (ch >= 'a' && ch <='z'));
		isDigit = (ch >= '0' && ch <= '9');

		if (isAlpha)
		{
			if (shift > 0)
			{
				if (shift>26)
				{
					tmpShift=shift % 26;
				}
				else
				{
					tmpShift=shift;
				}

				if (isUpper && (ch + tmpShift) > 'Z')
				{
					ch = 'A' + ((tmpShift - ('Z' - ch)) - 1);
				}
				else if (isLower && (ch + tmpShift) > 'z')
				{
					ch = 'a' + ((tmpShift - ('z' - ch)) - 1);
				}
				else
				{
					ch += tmpShift;
				}
			}
			else if (shift < 0)
			{
				if (abs(shift)>26)
				{
					tmpShift=shift % 26;
				}
				else
				{
					tmpShift=shift;
				}

				if (isUpper && (ch + tmpShift) < 'A')
				{
					ch = 'Z' - (('A' - ch) + abs(tmpShift) - 1);
				}
				else if (isLower && (ch + tmpShift) < 'a')
				{
					ch = 'z' - (('a' - ch) + abs(tmpShift) - 1);
				}
				else
				{
					 ch += tmpShift;
				}
			}
		}
		else if (isDigit)
		{
			if (shift>0)
			{
				if (shift>10)
				{
					tmpShift=shift % 10;
				}
				else
				{
					tmpShift=shift;
				}

				if ((ch + tmpShift) > '9')
				{
					ch = '0' + ((tmpShift - ('9' - ch)) - 1);
				}
				else
				{
					ch += tmpShift;
				}
			}
			else if (shift<0)
			{
				if (abs(shift)>10)
				{
					tmpShift=shift % 10;
				}
				else
				{
					tmpShift=shift;
				}

				if ((ch + tmpShift) < '0')
				{
					ch = '9' - (('0' - ch) + abs(tmpShift) - 1);
				}
				else
				{
					ch += tmpShift;
				}
			}
		}

		outputMesg[i]=ch;
	}

	outputMesg[strlen(outputMesg)]='\0';

	printf("Output Message: %s\n", outputMesg);

	free(outputMesg);

	return EXIT_SUCCESS;
}

Posted in Computer Fun Stuff, Development, Programming General, Security, Technology | Leave a comment

As a red blooded American Capitalist why read Karl Marx?

So some of you may be asking yourself why I have read Marx and why am I even willing to go see his statue while I’m in town in Berlin, the answer is simple: “Know thy self, know thy enemy. A thousand battles, a thousand victories.” – Sun Tzu; The Art of War. And yes Socialism in all its forms is my enemy. Why because socialism is the enemy of individual freedom by its very definition. And an enemy of freedom is also my enemy…

Know thy Enemy…

~Robert; Germany, July 2018

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We Need An Internet First Amendment NOW!

Let’s get the Hashtag: #InternetFirstAmendment trending!

Today, Alex Jones’ InfoWars was removed from the social media platforms: Facebook, Spotify, YouTube, and Apple iTunes PodCasts. This is a major attack on the freedom of expression on today’s Internet.

You don’t need to like Alex Jone’s or agree with him, but he does have the right to his opinions and he should have the protected right to say what he wishes on the Internet.

It should be up to the consumer to “change the channel” if they don’t like what his brand of content says. We cannot give up our right to share ideas and read other people’s ideas to a handful of big tech firms. The Internet has become the new Public Forum, and therefore our speech and writing on the Internet needs to be protected by the First Amendment.

When I started creating content on the Internet back in 1994, I was in high school and was creating HTML pages by hand on a web hosting platform was known as GeoCities.

On Today’s Internet, users do not need to know how to code even a simple markup language like HTML, and instead can use “Social Media” tools like Facebook and Twitter, or post Videos to YouTube and other video hosting sites.

It has become easier than ever to use the Internet to share our ideas and for the most of us, at least in the Western world, the majority of our daily communications is now done on the Internet, and usually it is made via a couple of dozen web sites at most.

Internet Censorship is on the rise, and we need to put a stop to it once an for all.

I am a capitalist through and through, but more than that I’m an American and somewhat of a Constitutionalist, especially when it comes to our rights, like Freedom of Speech and Freedom of the Press.

I know the First Amendment is meant to protect speech in the public square, however the new public square are these Social Media sites.

So I’m asking everyone who believes in their own right to their ability to share your thoughts, your passions, and your opinions, to start making calls and writing to your Senators and your Representatives, at the Federal level, but also at the State less as well. Please ask them to work towards a bill and hopefully an Amendment that basically says if a Technology Company, Web Hosting Service, Domain Registrar, Social Media Platform, and Media Sharing Platform like YouTube and Apple’s iTunes, as well as Search Engines like Google and Bing, that if they want to continue to operate within the United States, they MUST respect the first amendment.

We aren’t talking about making private companies government owned, but just like any other telecommunications company like your Land Line Phone Company, Cellular Phone Company, your Cable Company, and Broadcast Radio and TV, among others, they need to be regulated to prevent them from removing anyone’s content.

Let it fall to the realm of the US Courts to determine if someone’s account violates an actual Law. This way everyone’s Due Process Rights are protected, and everyone’s rights to a fair and free Public Forum on the Internet are protected.

Level’s of Internet Censorship Slide:

 

 

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Calculating the value of Phi aka the Golden Ratio in Perl

I was watching a video by 3blue1brown and decided to code up the Continued Fraction of “phi” aka “The Golden Ratio“. It’s pretty simple, it’s basically a recursive function (Here’s a link to the Mathematical Definition of a Recursion and the Programming Definition of Recursion) of 1 + 1/x. But you can code it in a loop. I did a quick Perl Script using an infinite loop. You first hit the golden ratio at 9 iterations, and at 11 iterations of the loop the value becomes metastable at a precision of 6. Here’s the script and output:

Perl Script to calculate Phi using the Continued Fraction (a function call in a loop here):

Standard Output paused at 21 iterations of the loop:

 

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Planning on NOT having Social Security and Having Personal Savings

Disclaimer Notice:

  • None of this is financial advice, what is presented in this blog are simply observations, commentary on Social Security in the United States, and some basic math from the given data on Social Security taxes.
  • You can calculate your own projected savings using the Government’s own compound interest calculator here: https://www.investor.gov/additional-resources/free-financial-planning-tools/compound-interest-calculator
  • Remember to speak with a certified financial advisor or planner regarding your own personal savings, it’s worth the time.
  • Important: Any investment or savings is subject to market conditions and banking regulations and all investments come with risk of loss of principal including up to your entire principal amount invested.

Before we begin, bottom line: It’s probably best to have multiple sources of income during retirement, instead of planning just one, such as Social Security.

Should you depend on Social Security for your retirement? Well in my opinion, as most financial planners would tell you, no, not alone, you definitely need additional savings. Yes, I do know this is hard to do for most Americans. Also will Social Security even be there when you retire? Well that depends on when you are going to retire, and I also believe that it will exist in some form for some time to come. If there’s ever going to be an end of Social Security it has to be wind down appropriately otherwise the Congress and President who preside over that time would be kicked out of office quicker than you can blink an eye.

Here’s how I imagine a process to wind down Social Security would go:

  1. Most likely those currently receiving Social Security would continue to do so for the reminder of their life.
  2. Those closely approaching retirement age and who are eligible to receive social security would probably receive their benefits from the program.
  3. Some cut off birth year would probably be set given those people ample time to participate in some other replacement plan or other independent retirement and savings plan. Say the bill to wind down Social Security would set some birth year where anyone who has at least 20 years or more before retirement will be excluded from receiving Social Security.
  4. Those who have at least 20 years or more left before retirement and who have paid into the Social Security system would receive some type of one time Lump Sum payment to be reinvested in an IRA or their 401Ks some similar retirement accounts.
  5. Social Security Tax would end however the American people who are still working would still be on the hook  via normal income tax for paying current retirees and those near retirement (less than the 20 year mark mentioned above) via debt issued by the Federal Government to continue to pay for those peoples’ Social Security benefits.
  6. 401K and other retirement pre-tax retirement savings limits would probably be increased considerable by the same bill that winds down Social Security.

Quick Facts:

  • As of 2018 Max Social Security Tax is $7960.80 / year or $663.40 a month.
  • That is based on Social Security Tax of 7.3% capped to $128,400 of gross income.
  • If you just save that amount over 30 Years it’s $238,824 in principal (savings without interest).
  • If you can get an average of 5% return (we are picking 5% out of thin air just to run the Compound Interest Calculator on Investor.gov. You need to speak with a financial advisor and work with them to figure out what investments or savings plans work for your individual situation and risk appetite. Remember Interest is not guaranteed, you can get 0% return or even negative, potentially losing your entire savings, everything depends on Market Conditions, Banking Regulations and your individual choices.) year over year over that 30 year period, starting with ZERO in your retirement account contributing $663.40 a month getting compound interest annually you will have: $528,906.38 for retirement.
  • For more Return on Investment interest percentage numbers you can use that are realistic when playing with the Investor.gov’s calculator, you can Google: “what is the average return on 401k”
  • Since all retirement income calculators use 20 years of retirement, if you have a savings of $528,906.38 for retirement that would give you a yearly income in retirement of $26,445.32 / year. This doesn’t include continued interest on your remaining savings each year while you are retired.
  • The maximum social security benefit as of 2018 is $2,788 / month or $33,456, however the average monthly payout is $1,372 or $16,464 / year.
  • Our own savings plan listed above yielding a savings of $528,906.28 in total savings is slightly above the mean of those two numbers ($24,960). So you are doing much better than the average Social Security recipient but you are getting  less than the maximum benefit.
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