Taxes are confiscatory and IRMAA is a tax confiscated by the government. You can be positive and think of it as doing something for the common good.

What would be for the common good is charging everyone the same for medicare, groceries, gasoline, whatever.

Inflation report
 

It’s a great time to hunt for high yield accounts. The Fed just received their inflation report. It’s up slightly to3% for January. A far cry from the desired 2%. So look for rates to stay the same or be raised next month. Your browser is not supported | usatoday.com

By definition, IT IS an entitlement.

:shrug:

Emotional market.

:crap2:

True
 

We will always see emotional swings in the market. That’s where the money can steadily be made.

It is exactly and precisely the opposite of what you posted. An entitlement is something you are entitled to. People who have paid into social security, are entitled to receive social security.

No one is "entitled" to SNAP payments or Section 8 housing or welfare. That's something you get when you are living in poverty. If you want a piece of that, feel free to give me all your money and investments, live in poverty, and apply for government assistance.

Surprisingly, not everybody does know that. The idea of Social Security was/is to provide a safety net for our nation's poorest and most needy citizens. If you are fortunate enough to have tons of money, you don't need SS money and may not get any. But if, for whatever reason, you have little or no other source of income, or have special needs, SS can make the difference between survival or being thrown in the street. Seems very Christian spirited of our government to me.
But, in the past, should the markets fail and hundreds of thousands loose everything they own, jobs, savings, investments, property, etc, (great depression) choose suicide, crime, prostitution, gangs.
One of the biggest surprises to me is how many folks that actually need or even rely on SS have been fooled into voting against their own best interests and their Christian principles. That's the way it looks to me.

Common good. Like sharing the load. Give everyone a chance to contribute to make this the best we can be. Civilized and socially responsible.
Unfortunately, some see life as a game of Monopoly.
"Grab all I can and to hell with everyone else".

That and a nickel, I mean $12.50, will get you a cup of coffee.

(Did I just show my age?)

Yes, if only it worked that way is would be very generous of all of us. But the reality check here is the number of people receiving SSI that don't qualify for the benefits. There are so many people on the disability lunch wagon who could be working but they learned how to play the system.:22yikes:

Always...It is by design...All fiat goes to zero.

There still is a lot of investment capital from overseas coming in looking for yield. I think we will be OK. Mag7 P/E isn't too ridiculous except for TSLA and maybe NVDA.

Count on higher inflation.

I am counting on tax free SS in the future...I think it might pass Congress this year.

Yes we have a real sheet show from the policies of the last 4 years. All by design. Corrections are in order. Life will be very good.

Millions of spouses, divorced spouses, widows, and widowers are receiving a Social Security check every month who never paid anything into the system.