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Old 11-17-2018, 01:17 PM
 
6,503 posts, read 3,410,265 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by djplourd View Post
https://www.fedsmith.com/2018/09/09/...cial-security/

Saving Social Security comes down to two choices. We can cut the benefits of those who have already paid an enormous price to fix Social Security once, or we can ask workers who don’t believe that they will ever get paid to contribute more.

Author’s note: Readers are going to ask about increasing the cap on taxable wages. I suspect that some change in the tax base is unavoidable, but (1) Eliminating the cap doesn’t fix the problem. It does not even officially kick the can anymore. (2) The policy introduces structural changes to the program which will over time crash the program. This solution appeals to the people who wish to throw other people’s money at the problem. I am happy to take questions in the comments.
Aren't the funds for Social Security now so commingled that it's essentially this big slush fund that other programs can dip into for practically anything?

Not saying it should be part of my plan when budgeting retirement (it's not) but I'm still going to "do everything right" and try to max out SS for at least 35 working years so I can be in a place to collect the maximum benefit from both credited earnings and starting late.
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Old 11-17-2018, 01:38 PM
 
106,205 posts, read 108,191,934 times
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that is false . ss money can only go for ss retirement ,ssdi and ss survivor benefits . any excess buys interest paying bonds. all this crap about it being stolen is hog wash political crap
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Old 11-17-2018, 01:45 PM
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mathjak107 View Post
that is false . ss money can only go for ss retirement ,ssdi and ss survivor benefits . any excess buys interest paying bonds. all this crap about it being stolen is hog wash political crap
"The Trust Fund represents a legal obligation of the federal government to program beneficiaries. The government has borrowed nearly $2.8 trillion as of 2014 from the Trust Fund and used the money for other purposes. Under current law, when the program goes into an annual cash deficit, the government has to seek alternate funding beyond the payroll taxes dedicated to the program to cover the shortfall. This reduces the trust fund balance to the extent this occurs. The program deficits are expected to exhaust the fund by 2034. Thereafter, since Social Security is only authorized to pay beneficiaries what it collects in payroll taxes dedicated to the program, program payouts will fall by an estimated 21%."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social..._Fund#Overview
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Old 11-17-2018, 01:55 PM
 
Location: Podunk, IA
6,143 posts, read 5,210,095 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by RJ312 View Post
I wish that Millennials and Generation Z were allowed to opt out of SS deductions. I remember being upset as a teenager about SS deductions. No one in Congress has ever supported the idea.
That's because Congress knows the money that wasn't deducted will be spent and not saved or invested.
There will be a whole generation of destitute people with no income who are too old to work.
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Old 11-17-2018, 02:01 PM
 
Location: California side of the Sierras
11,162 posts, read 7,610,152 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by RJ312 View Post
Throughout the entirety of my working career, I have been unhappy with paying the SS deductions from my paycheck. I wish that Millennials and Generation Z were allowed to opt out of SS deductions. I remember being upset as a teenager about SS deductions. No one in Congress has ever supported the idea.
And that is a good thing.
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Old 11-17-2018, 02:31 PM
 
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I suppose if I go work for the railroad I won't have to worry about SS...
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Old 11-17-2018, 03:09 PM
 
Location: On the Chesapeake
45,102 posts, read 60,184,690 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ddm2k View Post
I suppose if I go work for the railroad I won't have to worry about SS...
Don't be so sure:

https://www.ssa.gov/policy/docs/ssb/v68n2/v68n2p41.html
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Old 11-17-2018, 03:35 PM
 
Location: Central IL
20,726 posts, read 16,275,356 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by eaton53 View Post
Absolutely not.
They'll fix it, but will wait until the last possible moment.
Don't expect anything to happen for quite some time.
The problem is that the "fix" will have to be more extreme the longer we/they wait - I would rather start fixing NOW.
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Old 11-17-2018, 03:37 PM
 
Location: western East Roman Empire
9,324 posts, read 14,240,741 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by djplourd View Post
https://www.fedsmith.com/2018/09/09/...cial-security/

Saving Social Security comes down to two choices. We can cut the benefits of those who have already paid an enormous price to fix Social Security once, or we can ask workers who don’t believe that they will ever get paid to contribute more.
The average social security check is about $1,400. That about pays for utilities and food, but not rent (or equivalents).

Money supply, as such, is fungible.

Another possibility ("choice"), in 20-30 years from now, the average social security check could still be around $1,400 and contributions could still be the same, but that $1,400 could possibly buy just food, and nothing else. In other words, the road to stagnation and decline that we have been on for at least a couple of generations.

More and more retirees may have to group together and live in multi-household dwellings with communal kitchens and shared utility expenses. I have heard of such communities springing up already not far from where I live.

Another possibility ("choice") is an economic policy aimed at restoring growth in real incomes from real work among average people on US soil, instead of demeaning them in a shroud of money illusion in the form of credit and junk products from abroad.
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Old 11-17-2018, 03:44 PM
 
Location: Central IL
20,726 posts, read 16,275,356 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by pvande55 View Post
Of course, that's great. And then SS will be a bonus. Millennials will get it as long as we all vote out politicians who threaten to gut it.

Oh, and here's another proposal: keep increasing initial benefits after 70. Right now everyone over 70 takes SS, even if working. But if the benefits kept increasing, maybe 5% in real terms, many would put it off. Many until death.
No, they won't. VERY few people wait until 70 (4% of women and 2% of men) , even if they say that they plan to - I can't imagine many would go later than that.

I wonder if it's because so many can't afford to wait and for the rest it makes up such a small percentage of their retirement income that they just don't bother?
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