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I was given the scare tactic in my 20's that social security wouldn't be there for me when I became eligible to receive it. I believed the prophecy and planned accordingly.
We don't need it to live and if I do collect something relatively small, then great. At least John won't miss that income when I kick the bucket before him.
I'll never understand the manna from heaven mentality. We should all be responsible for our future and I wish I had not been forced to pay into social security. I believe that money could have bought us another income property and paid us more in the long run.
And believing that even a majority of people would be fine without social security is delusional.
Perhaps, people ought to save. Perhaps, people ought to be more frugal. I go on forever.
The reason we have social security is that it was evident even in the 1930's with a far smaller aging population that the majority of people could not/ would not prepare for retirement on their own. There are also issues that concern low income retirees. Some of these people would lack the means to put a roof over their heads and food on their table if they attempted even minimal saving for retirement.
If you were able to save enough for your own retirement than terrific. The fact is that a majority of people never fit into that category. Abolishing social security or making it voluntary is literally formula for widespread poverty and perhaps starvation among aging people. Its just that simple.
very few actually only live on just their ss . most who only have ss income get subsidized in other ways making that income appear far greater .
as i pointed out it takes my wife and i 300k in savings alone to generate enough just to pay our health insurance costs .
someone living on ss only with an income low enough gets subsidy's or medicaid . that can represent as much as 10-12k in additional income to a couple .
"If you can’t afford to pay your Medicare premiums and
other medical costs, you may be able to get help from your
state. States offer programs for people entitled to Medicare
who have low income. Some programs may pay for
Medicare premiums and some pay Medicare deductibles and
coinsurance. To qualify, you must have Medicare hospital
insurance (Part A) and have limited income and resources. "
there are many programs in place depending on area from housing to utilty costs that can be subsidized or reduced for them .
get in a nyc housing project and rent is based on income and subsidized as an example .
at the end of the day someone with ss that is low enough can see the equal to 30k plus incomes
Last edited by mathjak107; 03-20-2016 at 05:36 AM..
And believing that even a majority of people would be fine without social security is delusional.
Perhaps, people ought to save. Perhaps, people ought to be more frugal. I go on forever.
The reason we have social security is that it was evident even in the 1930's with a far smaller aging population that the majority of people could not/ would not prepare for retirement on their own. There are also issues that concern low income retirees. Some of these people would lack the means to put a roof over their heads and food on their table if they attempted even minimal saving for retirement.
If you were able to save enough for your own retirement than terrific. The fact is that a majority of people never fit into that category. Abolishing social security or making it voluntary is literally formula for widespread poverty and perhaps starvation among aging people. Its just that simple.
Not sure why this is hard for anyone to understand. Right on point Mark.
With the elimination of pensions SS will be very important to a lot of retirees. The 401 was never meant to be the sole retirement vessel. And unless you're very high on the income scale you're unlikely to really save much of anything. And all it takes is for one market crash to wipe out everything in there. A lot of low-income workers at least had a pension to look forward too years ago, today not so much.
very few actually only live on just their ss . most who only have ss income get subsidized in other ways making that income appear far greater .
as i pointed out it takes my wife and i 300k in savings alone to generate enough just to pay our health insurance costs .
someone living on ss only with an income low enough gets subsidy's or medicaid . that can represent as much as 10-12k in additional income to a couple .
"If you can’t afford to pay your Medicare premiums and
other medical costs, you may be able to get help from your
state. States offer programs for people entitled to Medicare
who have low income. Some programs may pay for
Medicare premiums and some pay Medicare deductibles and
coinsurance. To qualify, you must have Medicare hospital
insurance (Part A) and have limited income and resources. "
there are many programs in place depending on area from housing to utilty costs that can be subsidized or reduced for them .
get in a nyc housing project and rent is based on income and subsidized as an example .
at the end of the day someone with ss that is low enough can see the equal to 30k plus incomes
At over 200k seniors on wait lists for public or subsidized housing with an average wait of seven years it is fair to say many will die before being placed. In the meanwhile they have no other choice but to pay rent where they are or hit the bricks.
Getting Medicaid or whatever obviously is a help but it doesn't go far enough to address the financial issues affecting many low, working or even middle income seniors, at least in NYC area.
Programs like SCRIE are only available for a target demographic and only prevent further rent increases. That is all very well but if you are paying 3/4's your monthly income for rent.....
With the elimination of pensions SS will be very important to a lot of retirees. The 401 was never meant to be the sole retirement vessel. And unless you're very high on the income scale you're unlikely to really save much of anything. And all it takes is for one market crash to wipe out everything in there. A lot of low-income workers at least had a pension to look forward too years ago, today not so much.
IIRC those who left their 401k accounts alone after this last fiscal upheaval have made their lost money back and then some over the past few years.
Also when it comes to 401ks employees need to do some very good due diligence and research, not just trust what employers or the picked advisors say. For instance many do not look at how fees charged by the brokerage handling these investments can (and often do if you aren't careful) eat up returns.
medicare and medicaid subsidy can be worth as much as 12k in income alone for a couple . throw in medicaid for long term care as well and that is another 8k a ltc policy cost us . this alone can make just ss a much increased income .
we have to commit 450,000 in savings to cover those items they may get free .
medicare and medicaid subsidy can be worth as much as 12k in income alone for a couple . throw in medicaid for long term care as well and that is another 8k a ltc policy cost us . this alone can make just ss a much increased income .
we have to commit 450,000 in savings to cover those items they may get free .
Am not disputing the value but many low to middle income seniors *still* would have huge holes in their budgets regardless.
living on ss even with the subsidy's would not be a life i would want in nyc . folks do it but that does not mean it represents a quality of life that many of us would want as the culmination and reward for working decades .
At over 200k seniors on wait lists for public or subsidized housing with an average wait of seven years it is fair to say many will die before being placed. In the meanwhile they have no other choice but to pay rent where they are or hit the bricks.
Getting Medicaid or whatever obviously is a help but it doesn't go far enough to address the financial issues affecting many low, working or even middle income seniors, at least in NYC area.
Programs like SCRIE are only available for a target demographic and only prevent further rent increases. That is all very well but if you are paying 3/4's your monthly income for rent.....
It's a nationwide problem. If you look at the demographics of the late-Boomers and Gen Xers, there will probably be 10 broke retirees for every public housing unit 15 years from now. Something more than half will run out of money fairly early in their retirement. Many will be working minimum wage service sector jobs for as long as they can to supplement their Social Security check.
At age 51, I lined up my low cost of ownership housing. If disaster strikes, I at least know I have a roof over my head for the rest of my life. Assuming I defer collecting Social Security until age 70, my all-in housing cost will only be 10% to 15% of my Social Security check. Even collecting at age 62, it's less than 25% of my Social Security check.
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