Yep. I turn 66 in two years. I can live in central KY on SS alone when you factor in mine and my wife’s. And if they were to gut it, well, that would be the least of my problems because the country would be in civil war. The hot kind.
I used to say to my classmates in high school who were worried about US savings bonds not being honored by the government that if that ever happened, that would be the least of their problems.
There are two ways they may try to kick this can down the road:
1. For new recipients, keep moving the eligibility year back, like they’ve been doing.
2. For existing recipients, do math magic to keep the CPI percentage increase behind the REALY cost of living percentage increase. Eventually, SS will become a very small number relative to the actually cost of living. Imagine getting $3,500 a month in SS but the minimum wage is $100 an hour and the cost of living reflects that.
Sound crazy? Hop in your Delorean and go back to 1960 and ask the average person what they think about a $10 an hour minimum wage.
Yer damn right “the hot kind”
It’s MY damn money, I want it.
Tired of people calling me a fool for wanting what is mine.
To kind of springboard off your post, I started paying into SS at age 15. At that time I earned something like $1.60 per hour. Sure sounds crazy compared to a $10 an hour minimum wage some kid may get today, but in reality, that $1.60 in 1973 would be the equivalent of about $8.60 today, so not really too far off your $10 comparative wage. Also, I think the federal minimum wage today is actually $7.25, which would have been $1.35 back then (although I don’t think many employers are actually paying the federal minimum these days).
I did that and they all told me that if they could only get $10 an hour at their job, that they would be "set for life."
I laughed as I got back into my Delorean to come back to 2018. They also thought I had a really ugly car.