Posted on 12/26/2017 9:36:29 PM PST by Kaslin
The number of Social Security beneficiaries hit a record 61,859,250 in November, according to data released by the Social Security Administration.
At the same time, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, with unemployment at the lowest rate since 2000 (4.1 percent), there were 126,827,000 full-time workers in the United States (including government workers). Yet that equaled only 2.05 full-time workers for each person receiving Social Security benefits.
Even when all 153,918,000 people who had jobs in November are considered (counting both full- and part-time workers), the ratio of workers to Social Security beneficiaries was about 2.49 to 1.
The record 61,859,250 Social Security beneficiaries in November, included 45,439,781 retired workers and their dependents; 5,992,862 survivors of deceased workers; and 10,426,607 disabled workers and their dependents.
The Social Security program has two primary elements: Old Age and Survivors Insurance and Disability Insurance. Each of these are supposed to be supported by a "payroll tax" imposed on a worker's earnings.
The payroll tax for the OASI is 10.03 percent and is split so that one half is deducted from a worker's paycheck and the other half is paid to the government by the employer. The payroll tax for DI is 2.37 percent and, like the OASI tax, is split between a deduction from a worker's paycheck and a payment made directly by the employer.
In total, the worker and employer must pay the government 12.4 percent in taxes (on the first $127,200 a worker makes) for the combined OASDI tax. Self-employed Americans pay the entire 12.4 percent directly.
But this is no longer enough, says the Social Security board of trustees, which includes the commissioner of Social Security and the secretaries of the Treasury, Labor and Health and Human Services.
In the past, when Social Security ran surpluses, the federal government loaned the surplus to itself so it could spend it immediately on other government programs.
In their 2017 report, the Social Security board of trustees puts it this way: "The Department of the Treasury invests trust fund reserves in interest-bearing securities issued by the U.S. Government."
Without the "interest" the government pays itself back on the money it has already spent from previous Social Security surpluses, the Social Security program would not have enough money now to pay all the current benefits it owes.
"The 2016 excess of total income over cost for the year was $35 billion," said the trustees' report. But "total income" -- as the report calls it -- includes the interest the government pays itself.
"However, when interest income is excluded," the report admitted, "Social Security's cost is projected to exceed its non-interest income throughout the projection period, as it has since 2010. For 2016, cost for the year exceeded non-interest income by $53 billion. For 2017, total income for the program is projected to exceed cost for the year by $59 billion, and non-interest income is projected to be $27 billion less than program cost for the year."
The trustees' report estimated that the Social Security program faces a $12.5 trillion shortfall over 75 years.
"Through the end of 2091, the combined funds have a present-value unfunded obligation of $12.5 trillion," said the report.
"If actions are deferred for several years, the changes necessary to maintain Social Security solvency become concentrated on fewer years and fewer generations," it said.
The report politely recommended that Congress raise taxes, cut benefits, take money from elsewhere, or use a combination of these means, to pay for Social Security.
Going into the Christmas weekend, the federal debt was $20,492,874,492,282.58.
That equaled approximately $133,142 in debt for each of 153,918,000 people who had a full- or part-time kind of job in the United States in November.
Finally, at 67 years old....I be one of em.
Another reason to loathe the Democrat elite.
poor young people....getting screwed again I'm sure...
I am 72 and have been collecting since 62.
I opted to take it early for a lot of reasons, the biggest one being that when the government tells me I am better off to wait, I am really better off to take it right away.
I'll try to hold out at least a year I think...
I don’t even consider that SS will be an option for me if the day comes in the future for me to retire. I am just saving and investing with the idea that these are the only funds that will be available for me. I don’t expect to get anything from SS if I someday make it to retirement age - though I certainly pay into it. I just consider it another tax, from which I will likely never get anything back.
Collecting about $32K/year SS plus still working full time. Prolly do this a couple years before I quit working.
I’m 50 and pretty much planning for 0 SS to be around by the time I get there. Trying to make it on my own well enough that SS would just be my fun money to use on the kids/grandkids/vacations, etc.
So, how many illegal immigrants are getting our SS? And how many people faking illness are on disability?
That’s a wise approach in my opinion. That said, consider that the Congressional retirement benefit is 80% of salary ($174,000/year in 2016) for life! That’s $139,200/year for life - in addition to the other perks they have. Also consider that the median net worth for a Congressman exceeded $1 million already in 2013. Something is gravely wrong with this picture.
Waaaay too many. And they're proud of it. Just ask them.
My husband and I already are. He’ll be 81 next April and I turned 76 this past August
So did I
If I wanted to, I couln’t even work anymore as I am handicapped with degenerative disk disease, and degenerative hip joint disease. It’s very hard for me to walk without a cane. I still can drive though.
It can't possibly last. Not sustainable.
Omugabe did a great job of destruction.
Sorry to hear. At least you provide us a service in your posts.
>>>And how many people faking illness are on disability?<<<
Most don’t fake Physical Illness, they get “diagnosed” with Bi-Polar or a vast array of made up Mental Ailments.
In S. CA there is a Disability Lawyer who has Commercials running on daytime TV over and over again. His big line “I’m not just a Lawyer, I’m a Psychologist, and I’ll come to you!”. It’s like ordering on Amazon and getting paid to do so.
I was diagnosed with Leukemia when I was 52, so I took SS as soon as I could at age 62, which also happened to be my estimated “Expiration Date” when I was originally Diagnosed.
Two of my closest Childhood Friends died before they could collect a dime. Their Families got $255 to pay for the Flowers at their Funerals. All that money, in the Hundreds of Thousands that they paid into SS and Medicare GONE.
I’ll end up getting fraction of what I “invested” into the system, and a whole lot less than what that Money would have grown to if Invested over the past 45 Years.
The only good news is that I’ll be on Medicare come next July which should save us some of the $2,100 a Month that we are currently paying for our Medical Insurance thanks to “The Affordable Health Act”, AKA Obamacare.
I probably won’t be on Medicare for the long haul due to my affliction, but every dollar saved helps.
bmp
When I applied, I discovered that my youngest son will also draw a dependent benefit until he graduates from high school in 2 1/2 years.
Don't gripe at me, just following the rules, and I paid in for 40 years.
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