Posted on 09/01/2021 6:17:41 AM PDT by artichokegrower
All the articles I see regarding when to retire and take SS benefits suggest waiting until later to get increased benefits. I haven’t seen one yet that acknowledges the elephant in the room, the upcoming insolvency of the system and the almost certainty of reduced benefits.
Yeah, I’ve been at max contribution since the 90’s and figured out a couple years ago I would have to draw to estimated amount until age 103 to recover what I’ve paid in not counting any interest or inflation
I agree with other posters here that Social Security will not get reduced in 2034 - or whenever. It's too much of a political football. What is likely to happen however is that we will get FICA taxed to a higher income. I think the current FICA max income is around $142,800. (That is when FICA taxes stop getting deducted from your income.) I see that going to say $250,000 or higher real soon.
They might also start raising the FRA age again. It's currently 67 for most people getting ready to retire today. I see it going as high as 70 for those workers just starting out.
Never any talk of reducing welfare or foreign aid.
UFOs are real. I just don’t think aliens, or people, are in them.
Unlike all other social program, Social security is an Earned benefits. People actually spend money to earn benefits!
And the benefits are not really that big. If you take a liberal mantra that $15 is the minimum living wage, (<=> $30,000/year) then almost all social security recipients live below living minimum. (SS average is below $20,000/year).
In Europe, the SS equivalent is a lot larger compared to average/minimum income. It bankrupts the European states, but it is.
What I want to say, that there are 1000’s of programs which deserve cutting before anybody should touch SS!
See post 18.
There is no “system” to be “insolvent”.
Governments funds are fungible.
There is no rational way to understand a fundamentally irrational (political) system.
The politicians will pay benefits when they want to, as much as they want to—that is all that can be honestly concluded on this topic.
After a lot of thought and doing the math I took ‘early’ retirement ....never looked back nor regretted doing so. I could still work part-time and sock away/invest that money which exceeds what % SS says you would gain by waiting until 65.
Should be repeated often!
The problem is that Social Security is like an extortion payment to the local criminal gang.
They can promise to return it to you in your old age, but at the end of the day that is their decision, so whether you “earned” it or not is an excellent debating point but totally irrelevant.
List of illegals with Social Security and Medicare still missing.
Absolutely. The way out is to slowly devalue the payment through inflation. There will be other minor course corrections over the years.
Well like any Gov. program that issues money....you’re still dependent on them issuing it. Even so, those who know what it is to be self-sufficient will do whatever is necessary to survive should SS ever be cut off because we know how to survive.
So when does payments for welfare and “refugees” get cut?
I expect SS to keep paying until the Empire collapses—but I have no illusions about my “right” to collect it...the lying by the politicians on this topic has been off the charts—for decades.
Think about all of the old people who have died of Covid. That would normally cause a lot less draw on the imaginary SS fund.
How ever the democrats have found many other ways to spend it.
It doesn’t help that so many are sitting on their backsides collecting freebie covid checks instead of working and contributing to Soc Sec.
The problem is that we have gone into the event horizon of dead empires.
That is the magic moment when the folks pulling the cart figure out they would be better off riding on it.
Once you enter the event horizon there is no avoiding the eventual destruction of the black hole—it is just a matter of time...
THAT has been on the Dem agenda for many years.
Obama & Pelosi wanted to take 401’s plus savings accounts & Money Market accounts.
Democrats never seem to run out of welfare money.
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