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If ever there were an argument for privatizing Social Security... I am 55 years old. For over 20 years I have made over six figures a year. My mother, who is still alive at 86 and is getting my deceased father's social security, receives $1200 a month from the government. My father was an uneducated blue collar worker who never made more than 8 bucks an hour base pay. He retired at 62 back in the mid 80s, so he didn't get the full benefit. My mother never worked...a home maker her entire life. So...$1200 a month...which is based on meager increases over the last 15 years. Now me, I have worked constantly since I was 15 years old, the only gap is when I took a year off while going to school when I was in my early 20s. Over 20 years now I have made over $100K a year each year. According to the SSA.gov web site, my benefit if I retire at the same age that my dad did will be $1900 a month. Yes, only $700 more than my mother who never worked and my father who was a low income worker who retired early over 30 years ago.
I am speechless. Where the heck has all our money gone for these decades paying into the government fund? This is a lesson to everyone out there in their 30s and younger. Don't even consider SS as potential income in retirement. Save as much as you possibly can as early as you can and take advantage of as many investment opportunities as you can - like 401K and Roth IRAs. Your government is squandering your social security so do not expect to get anything resembling a return on what you are paying in.
The SS is not meant to replace the income of a high earner. It is meant as a safety net. That some people have only their SS benefits to retire on is not the point. You should put money away for the years when you are retired. The SS by itself would probably only provide minimum income and you would need other help, Medicaid perhaps, to live. People who have only their SS income often have to visit food pantries for food, especially if they are by themselves.
Your, and my, taxes from all our years of working go to pay the SS for current retirees, as it has always done. Of course, Congress has chosen to raid the SS fund to pay for things they did not want to raise taxes for. That is a horse that's already out of the barn.
But basically, we all need save for retirement. SS is a help, but it will not pay for an affluent lifestyle.
Seems that something is missing from our educational system.
No doubt.
You'd think that educators would jump on personal finances as a means of teaching math and making it relevant for the students. Budgeting, home-ownership and taxes, savings and investment all employ fractions and decimals, plus some complex components (like Future Value).
Not everyone is going to be a Wall Street Wizard, I get that, but jeez, people should at least be mathematically inclined enough to deal with Life.
Social security only taxes your income up to $118,500. This is a cap that only crossed over in to 6 figures in 2008. Why do you think it should pay benefits in excess of what it has taxed?
Well, SS may be a "crock", but in 16 months that "crock" is due to pay me $ 2,584 per month for the rest of my life according to the notices they send me. That will cover my property taxes, my boat slip, my HOA dues, my utilities and my Medicare with some left over for Vegas. Life is SWEET!
Atlanta - did you know that last year any personal income over $118,500 was not taxed for social security? I am working to figure out indexing of wages and if max SS earnings are limited to the taxable limit of income -$118,500.
It might be a way of limiting the max SS earned so you don't have people drawing 4-$5K of SS a month. Not sure haven't solved the SS puzzle - just started tonight. All that said, not sure how limiting how much income is taxed and capping monthly benefits helps sustain the program. I thought the more you pay the more you draw, which is true but appears to be limited.
The website below is a place to start your own research if you desire.
"The Social Security Administration (SSA) announced that the maximum amount of wages in 2017 subject to the 6.2% Social Security tax (old age, survivor, and disability insurance) will rise from $118,500 to $127,200, an increase of more than 7%."
Well, SS may be a "crock", but in 16 months that "crock" is due to pay me $ 2,584 per month for the rest of my life according to the notices they send me. That will cover my property taxes, my boat slip, my HOA dues, my utilities and my Medicare with some left over for Vegas. Life is SWEET!
Hopefully you are right but I am not so sure that will be the case as the government finally realizes the mess they are in. Something has to give and uncle Sam may renege on a few things.
I really don't know if original poster of this thread is complaining about how much they will get in social security or if the real point of their post is to tell us how successful they have been all their life.
I really don't know if original poster of this thread is complaining about how much they will get in social security or if the real point of their post is to tell us how successful they have been all their life.
yes,
It has been my experience that many people ( both posters and in real life ) love to use complaining as their mechanism to brag.
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SS (OASDI) max
