[Nucky]

I didn't cry when it was next to NOTHING. I'm not doing the jig down the street because it's a whopper this time.

I have learned one thing, on here, you just can't win.

I rest my case.

[Love2Swim]

Originally Posted by coconutmama

Totally agree.
Plus there should be no ceiling on income levels paying into the program. Why stop at $137,700? Presently the lower income folks get the SS tax taken from their income. Yet those who can afford it the most do not. This change would take care of any shortfall easily

The most common sense comment on this thread...

[biker1]

Since the benefit is computed from the amount contributed, there would also be an increase in the amount paid out. I am also too lazy to put together any numbers. The benefit calculation may also need to be modified to maximize the impact. That is going to need some spin.

Originally Posted by jdulej

There may be some truth to that (I am too lazy to check) but so what? It would be even more true and better for the fund if they eliminated the cap and let people/companies contribute for every $ they earned.

[retiredguy123]

Originally Posted by biker1

Since the benefit is computed from the amount contributed, there would also be an increase in the amount paid out. I am also too lazy to put together any numbers. The benefit calculation may also need to be modified to maximize the impact. That is going to need some spin.

Correct, the payout is computed from the amount contributed. But, the payout to the lowest income bracket is 90 percent of the income, while the payout to the highest income bracket is only 15 percent of the income. Very skewed in favor of those who are in the low income contribution bracket. Also, the high income people pay income tax on their payout, but the the low income people are exempt from the income tax.

[jdulej]

Originally Posted by retiredguy123

Correct, the payout is computed from the amount contributed. But, the payout to the lowest income bracket is 90 percent of the income, while the payout to the highest income bracket is only 15 percent of the income. Very skewed in favor of those who are in the low income contribution bracket. Also, the high income people pay income tax on their payout, but the the low income people are exempt from the income tax.

Wasn't the original (at least, maybe not now) goal of SS to be a safety net so people with very little, or nothing, would not starve on the streets. It was never meant to be someone's entire retirement plan. Given that, the system seems to be working fine. If you made a million dollars a year, your pay in stopped at $100,000-ish (don't recall the number) and you will get around $50,000/year. You can use that to buy your new Porsche every 3 years. The extra you paid in goes to the good of your fellow Americans, and you should be happy to do it.
It works the other way around, just as it was meant to, for people on the lowest end of the income scale.

[retiredguy123]

Originally Posted by jdulej

Wasn't the original (at least, maybe not now) goal of SS to be a safety net so people with very little, or nothing, would not starve on the streets. It was never meant to be someone's entire retirement plan. Given that, the system seems to be working fine. If you made a million dollars a year, your pay in stopped at $100,000-ish (don't recall the number) and you will get around $50,000/year. You can use that to buy your new Porsche every 3 years. The extra you paid in goes to the good of your fellow Americans, and you should be happy to do it.
It works the other way around, just as it was meant to, for people on the lowest end of the income scale.

Today, the maximum SS payout at full retirement age, is about $37,000 per year, before taxes. I think the original goal of SS is irrelevant. But, the real goal for most Government programs is to get votes.

[dewilson58]

Originally Posted by thevillages2013

Where B Sumpter Country?

All around Lake Sumpter.

[manaboutown]

Originally Posted by dewilson58

All around Lake Sumpter.

So finally there is "p" in Lake Sumter?

[OrangeBlossomBaby]

Originally Posted by jdulej

Another source of inflow to SS and Medicare is non-citizen workers. Be they legal or illegal, if they have a legit job in the US, they (and the company they work for) pay into the funds. Few will ever see any of it. Certainly not the illegal ones, and the rules for legal (non green-card holders, with just a work visa) are pretty strict as I recall. Admittedly I have not checked the rules since I retired 8 years ago.

Yup. All those "illegals with fake social security numbers" who use their fake IDs to get legitimate jobs - have social security taxes deducted from their paychecks. That money goes into SS and they'll never see a dime of it.

And MOST non-citizen workers who are here totally legally, pay in to SS out of their paychecks, and also will never see a dime of it.

There were also states where teachers and other municipal employees had pensions and were considered "exempt" - meaning, they would not get any social security benefits when they retired because their municipality paid their pension. But - they still had social security taxes deducted from their paychecks. I don't know if any states still do that, but some used to.

[OrangeBlossomBaby]

Originally Posted by retiredguy123

Today, the maximum SS payout at full retirement age, is about $37,000 per year, before taxes. I think the original goal of SS is irrelevant. But, the real goal for most Government programs is to get votes.

The maximum you can possibly get, if you wait until you're 70 to take social security, is $46,740/year ($3895/month).

At full retirement age, which is 66 and 2 months, is $37,776/year (3148/month).

In order to get that, you need to have earned over $100,000/year for around 30 years.

There is also a maximum family benefit - which is the most a family can receive off of a single person's social security, including minor children, disability, spousal and survivor benefits. That maximum is between 150% and 180% of the breadwinner's primary amount.

And so that person who is getting $1500 for herself, plus $1500 for EACH of her twins? It's not happening. It just flat out ain't happening. The formula doesn't go up that high. That'd be 300% of the base, and the maximum is only 180% of the base.

[jdulej]

Originally Posted by DAVES

People do not seem to understand. Social Security, first of all is a graduated tax. People who earn more pay more per increasing benefit. Close enough numbers, social security was a 7% tax for people who worked for someone else. Your employer paid another 7% for you-essentially tax free income. I was self employed and paid 13%.

Many think there is an account, a pile of money that you paid in. I paid in for 45 years.
That is not the case, they use money coming in to pay the money going out. I did not have a choice. If, we think of social security as insurance, I/we who earned middle class income or more could have bought the same coverage as private insurance for less.

That covid check, first of all I did not qualify. I agree it was ridiculous. Retired people being paid for inability to work due to covid. Truth had I qualified for a check, I would have taken it and cashed it.

Just a minor item about the stimulus checks. The point of them was for people to get out and spend the money to help stimulate the economy. It wasn't meant only to help less fortunate. So giving it to old people in the Villages was good IMO if it resulted in more people going out to dinner or hitting the shops o even spending it on Amazon. The worst thing one could have done with those checks would have been to just deposit them into a savings account.

[dewilson58]

Originally Posted by OrangeBlossomBaby

In order to get that, you need to have earned over $100,000/year for around 30 years.

Nope.

[Shutterbug]

Originally Posted by Michael G.

Whoo Whoo, you're getting a raise Village people.


Social Security Cost-of-Living Adjustment for 2022 Is 5.9% - Clark Howard

Yeah. Medicare will take 4.9 percent of it.

[dewilson58]

Originally Posted by Shutterbug

Yeah. Medicare will take 4.9 percent of it.

Nope.

The math does not work that way.

[Dana1963]

Originally Posted by manaboutown

So finally there is "p" in Lake Sumter?

Who cares we all know what he means or does he need to stay after school