[cwmmfink]

My wife going to work is my Plan B also!😁

[defrey12]

Originally Posted by Michael G.

If the doom and gloom is correct and Social Security is in trouble will be cut
by 2032, could you afford to stay in the Villages with a 20% cut in benefits?

No one's benefits are ever going to be cut. The optics alone wouldn't play well on the world 🌎 stage and that is deterrent enough for the power-that-be to figure out another way. Let's not even talk about the political fall-out on our own soil. Get real, people! Think!

[defrey12]

Originally Posted by retiredguy123

there will be no 20 percent cut in benefits.

ever!

[defrey12]

Originally Posted by ThirdOfFive

Not going to happen. If you are already receiving benefits your SS income, as well as your COLA increases, is as secure as the gold in Fort Knox...all 5,480 tons of it.

That's not to say that there won't be changes that may negatively affect those who are not yet drawing Social Security.

"MAY negatively"...not GUARANTEED.

[Rainger99]

Originally Posted by defrey12

No one's benefits are ever going to be cut. The optics alone wouldn't play well on the world 🌎 stage and that is deterrent enough for the power-that-be to figure out another way. Let's not even talk about the political fall-out on our own soil. Get real, people! Think!

If the trust fund falls short, it would be a lot easier to just print the money rather than cut benefits. Although that has hidden ramifications.

[defrey12]

Originally Posted by asianthree

House in TV by far more affordable than condo in Madeira Beach. Or lake house in Northern MI.

20% isn’t going to happen to some because who knows what 6 years will bring. Not that I believe it will happen to already active accounts. Thread does give some a scare.

If it gives some a scare it's because they don't know how to think and believe anything and everything they're told.

[Caymus]

Originally Posted by BrianL99

So you're suggesting go we should turn the clocks back 120 years?

Instead of sticking with the other 169 countries in the world, that have a national retirement program?

Most folks feel society has progressed from the early 1900's.

The United States ranks 33rd out of the 50 ranked countries for National Retirement Plans ... surpassed by countries such as:
Chile, Kazakhstan, Kuwait & Malaysia. (Marsh CFA Institute Global Pension Index)

We're supposedly the greatest country in the world. The way Seniors are treated in the USA, is embarrassing.

How many people are flooding into those countries?

[nhkim]

Originally Posted by elle123

Household Income Distribution in The Villages according to Census.

• Under $50,000: ~30% of households
• $50,000 – $100,000: ~32% of households
• $100,000 – $200,000: ~28% of households
• Over $200,000: ~9% of households
(Note: Because The Villages is a master-planned active adult retirement community, a large portion of residents live on fixed incomes, pensions, Social Security, or retirement investments rather than traditional active-labor wages.)

More than 30% of The Villages population would be destitute if there was a 20% SS reduction.

I think these numbers are skewed because they don't include snowbirds whose primary residence is elsewhere (and therefore aren't included in the census) and probably have higher incomes if they can afford two homes.

[BrianL99]

Originally Posted by Worldseries27

of course it's not tenable. Any cut bipartisan or not would cause the party in power to be decimated in future elections.
Here's a thought. How about charging the free loader nations of the world who have survived only because of our nuclear umbrella for this service..how about we tack on a surcharge to their economies to pay down our own national debt in part created by defense of these freeloaders so that we can entertain a future of universal medical Care and improve social security benefits for our own citizens and pay down our own national debt. It's better than doing nothing.

Let's not try to bring common sense and progress, into TOTV conversations.

& you're correct, that we've been the defender of the "free world" for nearly a century and we should charge for that defense ... or least be recompensed reasonably.

[BrianL99]

Originally Posted by elle123

Household Income Distribution in The Villages according to Census.

• Under $50,000: ~30% of households
• $50,000 – $100,000: ~32% of households
• $100,000 – $200,000: ~28% of households
• Over $200,000: ~9% of households


More than 30% of The Villages population would be destitute if there was a 20% SS reduction.

That's a leap of gargantuan proportions.

[manaboutown]

Originally Posted by BrianL99

You're happy about how you're treated as a senior, but opposed to paying your fair share?

I won an award for an affordable housing project I developed. At the award ceremony, a blowhard Selectman gave a little speech. I remember it like it was yesterday. He started off by saying, "as we all try to climb that ladder of success, sometimes we have to look back and extend a hand, for those who aren't doing as well climbing the ladder".

The older I get, the more I realize he wasn't just being a blow-hard, he was right.

It is easy to feel morally superior if one does not actually bear the cost of the "sharing" that one advocates. IRMAA is essentially confiscatory as it charges some far more for the very same medical services than others. An analogy might be one having to pay $20 or more for a Big Mac that costs $10 just because one earns above a certain income.

[BrianL99]

Originally Posted by BrianL99

So you're suggesting go we should turn the clocks back 120 years?

Instead of sticking with the other 169 countries in the world, that have a national retirement program?

Most folks feel society has progressed from the early 1900's.

The United States ranks 33rd out of the 50 ranked countries for National Retirement Plans ... surpassed by countries such as: Chile, Kazakhstan, Kuwait & Malaysia. (Marsh CFA Institute Global Pension Index)

We're supposedly the greatest country in the world. The way Seniors are treated in the USA, is embarrassing.

Originally Posted by Caymus

How many people are flooding into those countries?

Leaving out Kazakhstan, the other 3 countries have a higher or equal % of incoming immigration.

Facts matter.

[rustyp]

Originally Posted by asianthree

House in TV by far more affordable than condo in Madeira Beach. Or lake house in Northern MI.

20% isn’t going to happen to some because who knows what 6 years will bring. Not that I believe it will happen to already active accounts. Thread does give some a scare.

Exactly what the thread was designed to do - click bait. Of what value is the question? What does one do with the information if you can afford the Villages? The sky is falling!

[BrianL99]

Originally Posted by manaboutown

It is easy to feel morally superior if one does not actually bear the cost of the "sharing" that one advocates. IRMAA is essentially confiscatory as it charges some far more for the very same medical services than others. An analogy might be one having to pay $20 or more for a Big Mac that costs $10 just because one earns above a certain income.

I've been at maximum IRMAA for most of the last 8 years and for 40 years, been self-employed and paying DOUBLE FICA. (& therefore, double the rate of tax you've been paying on FICA.)

Please don't make assumptions based on your perceived "moral superiority" or assumed financial superiority.

[BrianL99]

Originally Posted by Caymus

How many people are flooding into those countries?

Originally Posted by BrianL99

Leaving out Kazakhstan, the other 3 countries have a higher or equal % of incoming immigration.

Facts matter.

Why do people think the USA is the only country folks want to move to? Don't believe everything you hear on the streets of the USA. The USA doesn't make the Top 10.