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I am 44 years old and retired from the military (as is my spouse) and while I was in the Social Security office applying for a replacement card, I asked employees about their thoughts whether SS will be available for our generation. Now I know they are not necessarily the guru's, nor can they predict the future, but they all indicated it will not be around for my generation.
I understand the original purpose of SS when it was instituted by Roosevelt. But doesn't it stink to think you pay all that in and get nothing? SS for me in my 60's would make all the difference in the world to supplement my families military retirement income. Just curious on peoples thoughts and are you including SS in their individual retirrement plans? Also is it true you can SS early at age 62?
Everyone who pays into social security gets to collect something if they accumulate enough "quarters" and live to the qualifying age, and yes, you can still start collecting at 62, though at a significantly reduced rate.
I could give you a more detailed answer, but explanations of how the system works are everywhere on the internet, including the SSA site itself, so it is easy enough to learn the basics if you want.
Oh, and military retirees who also collect SS are called "double dippers".
Yes you can collect at 62-benefits would be somewhat reduced but if you calculate the difference between 62, 65, 67-you'd probably be money ahead.
I don't believe that military retirees are dubbed "double dippers"-the only way that would be if a mil retiree was to take a Federal job and get a Federal pension.
Military lifers pay into SS just as normal people do.
Social Security will continue to operate for the foreseeable future. Budget pressures will probably force changes in the rules for both SS and Medicare but do not expect an end to the programs.
Social Security will continue to operate for the foreseeable future. Budget pressures will probably force changes in the rules for both SS and Medicare but do not expect an end to the programs.
I agree. It WILL be there. It may end up being trimmed a bit but it is NOT going away.
'Double-dipping' is going from one 20-year pension, and working in another field where they also provide a second 20-year pension; then you can get two separate pensions form different sources before hitting SSA age.
Also keep in mind that you do not get a Federal pension added onto SSA. When you become eligible for SSA, you get that amount but your Federal pensions each drop by that same amount.
It was explained to me when I retired [they required that I attend a one-week course on how to retire], that my take home pay would remain the same. SSA would kick-in at some amount, and that my Navy paycheck would drop by that amount. In such a way that my Gross pay would remain consistent.
that's odd.... it was explained to me that I would get my military retirement check and then I would get an additional SS check when I apply at the appropriate age. I'll do some research..... Anybody else have experience with this?
My husband is retired military. He receives his full military pension, a second pension from his job after retirement-which he had for 20+ yrs. and full social security.
From what I understand if you are retired military and then take another Fed position there would be adjustments.
Hope this helps-make double check with your military ombudsman.
If we would just tax salaries over $90,000 (you don't pay SS over that amount of salary), we'd be in fine shape.
So, why don't we do it? I have to pay on 100% of my salary, why not them?
About a third of retirees live ONLY on social security. I doubt the Baby Boomers will EVER let it go. Of course, Bush, the lame duck, was trying to take everything away that FDR did to leave some kind of "legacy" - a legacy of what, I don't know.
People like him don't have to deal with social security - he's from money - he has NO idea what people are up against.
If we would just tax salaries over $90,000 (you don't pay SS over that amount of salary), we'd be in fine shape.
So, why don't we do it? I have to pay on 100% of my salary, why not them?
About a third of retirees live ONLY on social security. I doubt the Baby Boomers will EVER let it go. Of course, Bush, the lame duck, was trying to take everything away that FDR did to leave some kind of "legacy" - a legacy of what, I don't know.
People like him don't have to deal with social security - he's from money - he has NO idea what people are up against.
That is incorrect. Once you earn over $90,000 in a year, only then you stop paying social security on all paychecks for the rest of that year. What's more, people in that income range only get out of social security what they put into it. Further, social security was set up under the notion that you would draw benefits based on what was put into it.
However, you can blame FDR and LBJ for creating a situation that is financially untenable. The worker/beneficiary ratio has narrowed dramatically over the past 60 years. Further, LBJ decided that it was perfectly okay to pillage the Social Security funds in order to pay for his Great Society program. While I'm not a Republican, why you're laying this at the feet of George Bush is beyond me. What you have on your hands is the world's largest Ponzi scheme, one that will fall apart in my lifetime. And, as voters, we are all responsible for the coming fallout.
What's more, this is a crisis that has formed in slow motion. Twenty-five YEARS ago, people were pointing to the looming demographic crisis, and nobody had the political courage to do anything about it then. It has been absolute public knowledge that Social Security would be insolvent by the time the Baby Boomers died, even if SS taxes were raised 50%. Every financial magazine, financial planner, bank, and personal finance guru has been screaming it from the housetops since the early 1980s. Why weren't you paying attention? When I was 22, I knew the Social Security wasn't going to be around.
Of course, there are plenty of bright spots, namely that household wealth has soared over the past 25 years, and 70% of all workers now have investment accounts.
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