Turns out it’s not baby boomers who have taken the most from Social Security (generations, school)
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The thinking typically goes that boomers have put undue pressure on the system because of the size of their generation.
About 10,000 people turn 65 every day. Many of those individuals are claiming Social Security retirement benefits, which has created the perception that they are draining the system.
However, the Center for Retirement Research found the boomer cohort born between 1946 and 1964 will actually have paid more into the system than they will receive in benefits.
There is a group of retirees, however, who did receive more money than they contributed: people who lived through the Great Depression of the 1930s. That’s because they generally worked for fewer years before collecting benefits. https://www.cnbc.com/2019/06/10/its-...-security.html
Well, I may be one of the guilty, since I was born in 1937 and I drew out more than I contributed a long time back. So, my only comment is , thank you.
Well, I may be one of the guilty, since I was born in 1937 and I drew out more than I contributed a long time back. So, my only comment is , thank you.
Many have died before they drew out much of what they paid in. What about that money?
Since I was self employed and paid in all of mine, I would have to live to 90 to get all of mine back.
Thing is, virtually no one that has paid into SS for retirement will ever see a fair return for their "investment". Yes-you may get out more than you paid in....but a tiny, tiny fraction of what you'd get back if you invested the same amount in even an index fund tied to the DOW. Worse, when you die, all of your "investment" reverts to the government.
What is growing in an out-of-control manner is SSDI. The claims on disability are one of the biggest drains on the system. People can collect disability at any age, unlike "retirement" SS. They are the ones that get back more than they paid in. And far too many are receiving disability through fraud when they are capable of working.
Thing is, virtually no one that has paid into SS for retirement will ever see a fair return for their "investment". Yes-you may get out more than you paid in....but a tiny, tiny fraction of what you'd get back if you invested the same amount in even an index fund tied to the DOW. Worse, when you die, all of your "investment" reverts to the government.
What is growing in an out-of-control manner is SSDI. The claims on disability are one of the biggest drains on the system. People can collect disability at any age, unlike "retirement" SS. They are the ones that get back more than they paid in. And far too many are receiving disability through fraud when they are capable of working.
All of what you say is true, however during the meltdown of 2008-2009 my SS didn’t go down, but my index funds sure did.
Many have died before they drew out much of what they paid in. What about that money?
Since I was self employed and paid in all of mine, I would have to live to 90 to get all of mine back.
I'm pretty much in the same position as you are. I was mostly self-employed too.
The thing about the tail end of the 'Greatest Generation' I've noticed is if they didn't die young, younger than the Baby Boomers, they tend to live quite long lives.
All my immediate ancestors were from that generation, and while some of them lost brothers and sisters young, actually quite a few, the ones who lived all made it well into their 80s before they began showing the signs of wearing out.
I'm 75 now, and in just the past few years, they all started dying almost as a group in their 90s. I've noticed this is true with other families I know as well.
They were the first generation to really benefit from the advances in medicine, the great rise of the middle class, and as a generation, seemed to lead more physically active lives than the generations who followed them.
I guess when all that is added up, it gave them longetivity. Over the past decade, I've watched my own generation lose more of us than they did. Many of the kids I knew in school didn't make it to 70.
In 1976 Sixty Minutes did an expose on Social Security. They showed this old guy who was like 106 years old. He paid in one payment after Social Security was implemented and then retired. He had been cashing checks ever since.
I'm pretty much in the same position as you are. I was mostly self-employed too.
The thing about the tail end of the 'Greatest Generation' I've noticed is if they didn't die young, younger than the Baby Boomers, they tend to live quite long lives.
All my immediate ancestors were from that generation, and while some of them lost brothers and sisters young, actually quite a few, the ones who lived all made it well into their 80s before they began showing the signs of wearing out.
I'm 75 now, and in just the past few years, they all started dying almost as a group in their 90s. I've noticed this is true with other families I know as well.
They were the first generation to really benefit from the advances in medicine, the great rise of the middle class, and as a generation, seemed to lead more physically active lives than the generations who followed them.
I guess when all that is added up, it gave them longetivity. Over the past decade, I've watched my own generation lose more of us than they did. Many of the kids I knew in school didn't make it to 70.
I am 71. I have lived longer than my parents and grandparents did. All my close friends are gone. The "greatest generation" that I knew, all died in their 50s and 60s.
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