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i disagree with you the bush tax cuts. ($1.3T i believe) i don't care who the hurt or benefited... they were not prudent during war times. but we'll agree that all employed citizens should pay federal income taxes. our system makes no sense to me. it's bad business!
Re: Bush tax cuts:
-How many rich are in the 10% bracket that is going away ?
-Child tax credit ....only the rich have kids and take the deduction ?
-Marriage penalty coming back...only the rich are married ?
-Capital Gains....only the rich have stocks/mutual funds/investments ?
Yes, I do know they were not permanent. But I would say at the time they were implemented the future was not known and I think that, financially, the country is in worse shape than when they were implemented.
It's a lose-lose no matter which way it goes.
Let them expire and most people will pay more in taxes.
Keep them and that's lost revenue to Uncle Sam, although it's revenue they haven't had for near a decade.
I would rather they keep the cuts and make them permanent and institute NEW taxes based on consumption. If you have money to spend you have money to pay taxes. If you don't then you are not effected.
***Sorry..I just realized this threadjack so I'll end here on this topic.
SS needs to find fresh money besides FICA. The boomers have big numbers while the generations following them are smaller in population.
There needs to be another source for SS because if each succeeding generation is smaller they have to foot a bigger bill.
Good point and I'm with you for those of you starting out. Believe me...you will be dead before you ever see any of that money back unless your lineage tends to live to 100 and by then, with the increasing alzheimer's you won't even know you received it, if you DO live long enough to get it. You should be able to opt out and save THAT money for retirement in some other way.
Well that opinion contradicts your desire to not have the retirement age raised. Because if that opt is allowed then you can bet your bottom dollar that no one is going to be collecting social security at age 65 or even age 70.
SS is doomed. It was a scam from the get-go when people who never paid into the system received benefits.
They need to not only raise the retirement age, but also make ALL income subject to FICA/SS tax (not just the first ~$112K/year or so), and take a closer look at who is receiving the benefits. Why are we giving benefits to people who, in retirement, are earning $200k/year? Do they really need SS benefits? I know, I know.... they paid into the system with the promise that they would receive benefits when they retire, but the money is no longer there. I think those cuts make the most sense and help out the people who really need it the most. I'd be just as happy getting rid of SS altogether though or at least an opt-out option, but that won't ever happen.
SS is doomed. It was a scam from the get-go when people who never paid into the system received benefits.
They need to not only raise the retirement age, but also make ALL income subject to FICA/SS tax (not just the first ~$112K/year or so), and take a closer look at who is receiving the benefits. Why are we giving benefits to people who, in retirement, are earning $200k/year? Do they really need SS benefits? I know, I know.... they paid into the system with the promise that they would receive benefits when they retire, but the money is no longer there. I think those cuts make the most sense and help out the people who really need it the most. I'd be just as happy getting rid of SS altogether though or at least an opt-out option, but that won't ever happen.
It is a scam. It is a pyramid scheme, which would not attract any investors if they had a choice.
It is clear that the whole system will go broke and should just be stopped altogether. I have paid in the max that someone could pay in and will get nothing- it is just another cynical tax with an empty promise.
Here is a radical idea- why don't people start living within thier means and saving themselves!!?!?! It sounds crazy- it sounds like being responsible.
As a pyramid scheme it worked when more put in than took out.
But now the pyramid is inverted; more taking out than putting in.
And I'm not even including the US Government who took the liberty of "borrowing" it for other purposes.
Don't worry it's just a Republican agenda, and you can thank John Boehner for that one, plus many more. Republican's are trying to re-launch the story and play down Boehner's part in it.
Sad really.
hmmm
biden...wants to raise the age
pelosi...has talked about raising the age
reid...has talked about raising the age
schumer...has talked about raisng the age
and obama in 2007 " we rule out nothing , to include rasing the retirnemt age"
I think that allowing people to opt out of paying for Social Security would just leave millions of Americans in old age with no way of taking care of themselves. I can totally picture people opting out of the system for the large tax break, telling themselves "Oh, I'll just take this extra cash for now and save for retirement later" and then when retirement comes they still haven't saved any money and there is no means for them to take care of themselves. Those people are still going to fall into the state's care, only it is going to be much more expensive than if they had a SS check coming into their pocket every month.
As for the increasing age to claim benefits, I think 70 is still too low. The year that you can claim social security should scale with the increases in life expectancy. When social security was implemented over half a century ago, it wasn't all that common for people to live into their 70s, let alone 80s. Now, I bet most of those baby boomers will live into their 80s. Such a system is bound to break unless the retirement age is raised.
If you want to be totally actuary about it, they should make a higher retirement age for women since they statistically live much longer than men. Just walk into any Senior Center or Independent/Assisted Living facility and you will see what I mean. Why should men collect at the same age as women when we don't live as long? They should also reduce the amount that widows that never worked can collect off of their dead husband's benefits. My 95 year old grandmother's check is something like $1300/mo even though she only worked for a few years in the 1930s. Meanwhile, single taxpayers get SS taxed and lose ALL CONTRIBUTIONS if they should die before the retirement age. They should allow a single taxpayer to name a beneficiary to receive at least part of the SS contributions.
Also, people who are in their 50s and 60s now are having difficulty in finding work. How are they going to survive if you raise the retirement age? Some of them perform manual labor. Our bodies can only take so much.
If you are basing your entire opinion on the belief you'll get nothing then all your conclusions are derived from a false premise.
Right.............
I will get nothing. Given that the system is going broke, those making over $250-$500K will get nothing.
But that is not the point- what I will get. The point is that the system is headed to insolvency.
1. When it was initiated, the ratio of workers to retirees was 16:1. Now it is 3-4:1 and will be 1:1 in 2040. It is unsustainable demographically.
2. When it was initiated, the life expectancy of a male was 62. That is why they chose 65 for retirement age. Now the life expectancy of a male is 78. If we were to continue the philosphy of social security when it was started, the retirement age now should be 80, not 65 or 70.
No one is "preventing" people from retiring. The only people that are preventing people from retiriing is themselves. If they have not saved enough- keep working. That is what happened in previous generations. Take more time off along the way, but don't count on a government parachute and a sunny life of lethagy in Florida or Arizona. That is all gone.
Honestly I think I will prefer working then hanging out anyway. After 2 weeks of doing nothing I get pretty bored. I know a lot of people who have related stories of how their parents or someone they knew aged very quickly once they retired, because they did not feel useful anymore.
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