Are Soc. Sec. and Medicare important to you?
 

Since this topic is current, my oldest son asked if Social Security and Medicare are important to us.
We responded YES in they both provide financial security. We explained the obvious and also said without Soc. Security we could not have purchased the house we did in TV.
But that's us. Have others used Soc. Sec. for other needs or wants?
How about Medicare? Did it have a big impact on you when you joined?

Yes it’s a supplement to my pensions and investments.

those entitlements allow us to be extremely generous with our church and the charities that we choose to support...as did the stimulus checks that we received earlier this year...and as will any future stimulus money

so from that perspective...yes, it's important to us.

The level of importance for Social Security and Medicare is heavily dependent on a person's overall income. Both systems are designed to transfer wealth from higher income people to lower income people. All working people contribute to the system, but the distribution of benefits is very skewed in favor of those who did not contribute as much. In the case of Medicare, most people need it, and everyone receives the same benefits. But, higher income people pay more while working, and when they retire, they may pay as much as about 4 times the monthly Part B premium as those who pay the basic premium.

After paying into these programs for most of my life I just hope there's still something left when we finally retire.

I believe that these programs are important to MANY people, but I do NOT like the term "entitlements", since I paid into them my entire life, I do not consider them entitlements.

Agreed we paid for them and they owe it to us.

Hoping they will do something soon to put both on a firm footing.

We are middle class and Social Security and Medicare are important to our living moderately well with Medicare offsetting a very expensive operation a few years ago.

some get offended by the word entitlement.

:shrug:by definition, they are entitlements.



noun
noun: entitlement; plural noun: entitlements


ththe fact of having a right to something.

Good explanation
 

Overall a good explanation. Many Villagers would be “in a world of hurt” without S. S. and Medicare. Especially Medicare.

my bad I absolutely did not intend to refer to them as 'entitlements'....I object to that term also...and for the life of me, I don't know why I used that term

We all paid into these systems with the expectation that when we retired we would benefit from having paid into them

sorry...I didn't mean to create controversy

Yes they are "entitlements" because we paid for them and therefore we are entitled to get our money back.

And for those who say, you're getting more back than you paid in, yes BUT, had we invested our payments at only 3% per year we would have had much more than SSA pays us today.

Not everyone is financially literate or disciplined enough to do this so there should have been a 2 tiered system for SSA. But since it's a Government run Ponzi Scheme that will never happen.

I know you did not mean anything by it but around here how does one not create controversy?:)

Great perspective but SS is not an ENTITLEMENT. That’s our money even as mismanaged as it has been over decades.

Here is what happens when we put people who really are not disciplined in charge of SS.

Abuse of the Social Security Trust Fund Began in the 1980s
by Allen W. Smith / November 28th, 2009

The mishandling of Social Security funds has been going on since the mid-1980s. As soon as the surpluses, resulting from the 1983 payroll tax hike, first began to flow into the Treasury, politicians from both political parties began using the money like a giant slush fund. At that time, it would be at least 30 years before the funds would actually be needed for Social Security, so politicians developed the bad habit of “temporarily borrowing” the money and using it for non-Social Security purposes. That bad habit never was broken, and every dollar of the $2.5 trillion in surplus Social Security revenue, generated by the tax hike, has been spent, leaving no real assets in the trust fund.

This is where the continuing problem started.

If the US Govt, specifically, the military, had kept the promise of free medical care for the life of a retiree, I would not need Medicare.

For most it’s perhaps a ok deal. But to be self employed and pay in 15.3 percent 12.4 is as ss and 2.9 as Medicare is high. A person making good money and wise investing all those years would be a fortune ahead to invest that 15.3 percent. To buy land 50 years ago and sell it today would have been great! Possibly millions ahead of the game. I know I could have made a lot of money on that 15.3 percent for 50 years. Some people may have been broke with nothing while others would have been millionaires many times over. Just think most collect a check for 10 years n more while others pass before their first check. How sad is that investment!

And they entitled themselves to my paycheck for 48 years also.

Indeed. I was born with cerebral palsy and my wife has two chronic, progressive illnesses -- I can't imagine us ever being able to afford health care in retirement without Medicare. Prescriptions costs alone already average $800/month.

Social security provides half our income, with savings making up the rest.

So yes, both are critically important to us.

What is the real motive of this thread ? Political ? Ask your question a different way - If you are wealthy enough are you willing to give up your earned benefits for the greater good or no I sacrificed and paid into the system and now it's time to withdraw from my savings account. Almost a Catch 22.

Yes! SS is important and Medicare both were earned. Call it whatever you want but it better be there when we need it or the people who borrowed it better find out in advance how to get canes and crutches and assorted medical devices removed from their posteriors. :boom: :1rotfl: Can you imagine the uproar if every nickel promised isn't paid. The money will be there. I'm not losing any sleep over it.

Our savings is taking a hit because of the Bang - Bang Shrimp Day. 4% Rule Forgetaboutit it's been about 40%. :ohdear:

Both are insurance as I see it. Once a person gets sufficient QCs, in the unfortunate event one becomes disabled both Social Security and Medicare kick in; at least they did for my daughter. If we pay SS until we reach full retirement age we collect a certain amount based largely on our earning history. Of course we have from age 62 to 70 to start collecting SS. Some do not live long enough to collect a dime, but they pay based on their earned income until they die.

Medicare started for me at age 65 and was I ever happy about that! I was paying over $10,000/year for a Blue Cross policy which was not all that great. I buy a United Healthcare supplement as well. So far I have been fortunate medically but one never knows and the most medical costs statistically usually occur during the last three years of life. I am not happy about paying far more for my medicare policy than I would if I had less income. That is essentially additional income tax IMHO. I am also not happy that SS and Medicare funds have been gutted by politicians.

My parents both needed and benefitted from SS and Medicare. I would have had to help them financially had they not had it. I believe both programs are conceptually wonderful but they have been mismanaged and abused.

Please don’t call them entitlements. Entitlements are things that people expect as handouts. My wife and I paid into the system for our entire working lives and are not entitled to SS or Medicare, we are OWED it. If they never took all that $$$ out of out earnings then they would not be important to us because we would have invested it wisely and would not need it.

Even though some do not like the term, by law they are entitlements. Research the law that established them, it stipulates they are entitlements

Correct for the most part, but it was LBJ in the 60's with a House and Senate on his side that rolled the SS 'Fund" and the Highway Gas Tax "Fund" into the general budget. Fortunately they did not get their hands on the aviation gas tax fund.

Words have many different interpretations and it all depends on who wants is saying the word:

Noun: the belief that one is inherently deserving of privileges or special treatment

I for one and think you would agree, its NOT special treatment,but the law which I had no choice but to be in and pay into, with the promise I would get back an agreed upon amount.

True, they are NOT entitlements. The government does not pay for them; we and our employers paid into them and it’s our money.

While this was true, the Social Security Administration says that nearly all of that money has been repaid and used. If there is a temporary surplus in the federal government, it is not allowed to just put the money in stocks or something.

There is an easy solution to the “Social Security crisis”. Raise the withholding tax for both employees and employers by 0.2% a year for five years, then keep it there. That extra total of 2% per year from us to our Social Security fund will do the trick. Starting next year, I think, the full retirement benefit age will be 67. It’s 66 at present. That helps a lot, too. If everyone waited until then instead of drawing money at 62, that would help.

In twenty years, most Baby Boomers will be dead, and there will be less demand.

Social security is not an entitlement!!! You paid for it.
 

Social security is NOT an entitlement. You paid for it.

The SS is just spare cents for entertainment. No one could live on it without other pensions, savings or income. Medicare is ok but had better insurance when I was working. Neither is a big deal

My entire Social Security check goes to pay for my mortgage on my home in The Villages, the amenities fee, electricity, gardening, mowing, spraying, pool cleaning. If it ended, I could sell it all and move back to my modest paid-for house in Pennsylvania and get by on the growth of my investments, but things would be tight. Most people aren’t so fortunate.

As for the person who says some of us are paying four times as much for Medicare Part B as others, you must be bringing in at least half a million per year, and I assume you can afford it. Maintaining an income level similar to what I earned before retirement (with Social Security now making up about 40% of my total income), my Part B went up from the $144 a month everyone who is single pays to $204 a month. I can afford that. I know a lot of people can’t manage $144. I feel blessed to live in America.

I do think that those paying the most in Social Security (several times more than I ever paid) should receive much larger payments. Isn’t the maximum now around $3,070 a month? That’s about twice the average, yes, but people pay Social Security taxes while working on up to $137,500. (If you were earning, say, $75,000 a year before retirement, your Social Security check would be about 80% that high.) When they retire, they will end up paying taxes on much or most of their income. People who paid at the top level get a monthly Social Security payment equal to about 25% of their previous income. Those at the bottom, about 60%. I don’t think those at the bottom should receive less, and I’m willing to have those with larger incomes pay on more than $137,500, but they should also get larger benefits when they retire. So if they pay the tax on their half a million a year instead of on $137,500, at least double their monthly check. It’s only fair.

The Social Security Administration says that without Social Security checks, 38% of retired people would be living under the poverty line. With it as it is, only 10% of retirees are under the poverty line, and most of those were In poverty before they retired, too.

Policy Basics: Top Ten Facts about Social Security | Center on Budget and Policy Priorities

Way off the topic here. The question was do you rely on it. No one is debating if there is a problem with it. As usual, looking at the glass half empty

SS and Medicare
 

Social Security is somewhat important, but medicare is really important. Medicare plus my Federal employee Blue Cross means I won't get wiped out with really high medical bills.

Social Security and Medicare .... both need more funding .... both should have been addressed decades ago but politicians have been unwilling to fix either of them.

If the kindergarten class is 30 instead of the normal 20 ... the school can figure out that the first grade will be larger "next year" ... so "get ready people" should be the model. Ignoring the problems that we can see clearly ... how does that make any sense?

is your son a self-supporting adult ? i can't imagine our daughters asking such. does he not realize by now no one worries about YOUR $ other than YOU ? am mystified of course,,, its so basic 1 might as well ask 'are your lungs important to your daily life ?'

For many, this may come as a shock..For many it is their main income. Have seen situations when a spouse dies and pension or SS dies with that person the survivor cannot continue to keep their homes. Those " hated" apartments may become more affordable to a person whose income is cut. Maybe here in The Villages most use SS as play money buy I would bet without it many would be very concerned. How many use SS to support their adult offspring? Supplement for Healthcare that high debatable chip away at savings? Maybe the son who asked if these are important would benefit from some financial lessons? SS and Medicare are not perfect but think how currently your financial health would be without them. Ever notice some of your neighbors work? Maybe because even with SS things are tight. Not everyone was blessed with government pensions or big corp packages upon retirement. Yet they were blessed with the ability to manage to live here in a comfortable way. Yes some of you are financial wizards and mega solvent. You are often unaware not everyone is like you. Be grateful and kind to others.

Social Security and Medicare are not entitlements. If anything they are lifetime taxes that generally fail to reach the payout of a lifetime of conservative investments. I resent the implication advanced by an effete ruling elite that after 55 years of contribution to the programs i have become a burden on the system.

Social Security is extremely important to us, about 1/2 our monthly income. So, yes, Medicare is important too. The property values around here would plummet if these programs were diminished. Indeed, for all of Florida.

They are very important. "Public service messages" saying they are about to be gutted are lies, proven lies, funded by partisans. Do your own research of sources, looking at more than one "side" and you can confirm they are lying.

Good luck to all of us in keeping our social security. A promise has already been made to abolish the payroll tax which funds it in the new year. Hopefully new leadership will avert this catastrophe.