Posted on 10/15/2015 7:57:23 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
WASHINGTON (AP) — There will be no benefit increase next year for millions of Social Security recipients, disabled veterans and federal retirees, the government said Thursday.
It's just the third time in 40 years that payments will remain flat. All three times have come since 2010.
And there's more bad news. The lack of a benefit increase means that many older people could face higher Medicare costs, an issue that has advocates lobbying Congress.
The main reason for no increase next year is low gas prices.
By law, the annual cost-of-living adjustment, or COLA, is based on a government measure of inflation. That gauge came out Thursday.
As of Wednesday, AAA said the average price of a gallon of regular gasoline was $2.30, about 90 cents less than it was a year ago.
"The big story has been the plunging gas prices," said Dean Baker, co-founder of the Center for Economic and Policy Research. "There's not a lot of inflation anywhere."
The announcement will affect benefits for more than 70 million people, more than one-fifth of the nation's population.
(Excerpt) Read more at usnews.com ...
I only put in 34 years, including my low paying college years. About the last 10 years were in the maximum income bracket. I was planning on waiting until 70 to collect SS. That may not be a smart move.
Federal employees will receive a 1.3 percent pay raise in January,
OASDI is Old Age and Survivor Disability Insurance taken out of your paycheck under FICA, the Federal Insurance Contributions Act. OASDI is taken out at a rate of 6.2% of your paycheck up to a maximum amount based on your income. I paid that maximum for as long as I can remember. Each month, they also take out 1.45% for Medicare which is not subject to income maximum. Added to that, your employer matches the total 7.65% of your paycheck.
IF you retire early at 62, they cap your earned income and any amount over that gets hit with a 1 for 2 over that limit. They take away $1 over that limit. The last year before 66 it’s 1 for 3. I’ve been caught with this twice for about $7K.
They also have MAGI (modified adjusted gross income) against which they figure Medicare Part B penalties AND there is a similar trick for Part D (prescription penalties)-something called IRMA (Income Related Maximum Amount?) . That’s what got me the 100% penalty of $104.90 and another $32 on the Part D crap.
Here’s what I determined when I took the retirement at 62. It will pay 75% of the full amount you’d get 4 years later. That works out to 12 years of payments after age 66 to compensate for the 48 months of 75% payment you got. In my case, I won’t live that extra 12 years, so even with the tricks they use to cut your payments (they’d do it anyway), I come out ahead.
Retired 1984...imagine the inflation since then...we just tighten the belts and wear suspenders to keep up!! LOL No interest on savings in so long $ are now extinct.
Time for more belt tightening. New York State pension went up $3!! PARTY TIME!!!
I’m pretty much belt-tightened too. But I still work part time on call for consulting with my former employer. That’s what got me in trouble in having to pay back some money they didn’t want me to make.
My thoughts (I turned 66 last year):
- Let's say I get $1000/month at age 66. Assuming that I don't invest any of that money, I will have received $48,000 by age 70.
- If I wait until age 70, the SS benefit will go up about 7% per year, so I will get about $1310/per month, such that it will take about 3 years (total of 7 years from when I turned 66) to get the $48,000.
I figured I'd rather have the money now, especially since I can invest it at 7%, such that there is absolutely no advantage in waiting.
Thank You.
I noticed that gas has increased from $1.93 last week to $2.13 this morning.
==
At least, with no COLA increase, the Medicare Part B premium should remain the same.
The average American hasn’t a CLUE how much of our tax money Obama has sent down Muslim sh*t holes while slashing the military, CUTS MEDICARE refuses a raise for our seniors and vets.
BILLIONS FOR JIHAD! Obamas 2009 Supplemental Appropriations for Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Pandemic Flu was revised and passed by the full committee. It gives billions of U.S. taxpayer dollars to countries and entities that support Sharia law and/or harbor, hide and support those who want to destroy the U.S. and our allies. http://creepingsharia.wordpress.com/2009/05/1...
Read the summary from David Obeys office that was quietly released last week with nary a word from any media.
$3.6 BILLION, matching the request, to expand and improve capabilities of the Afghan security forces
$400 MILLION, as requested, to build the counterinsurgency capabilities of the Pakistani security forces
AFGHANISTAN: $1.52 BILLION, $86 MILLION above the request WEST BANK AND GAZA: $665 MILLION in bilateral economic, humanitarian, and security assistance for the West Bank and Gaza
JORDAN: $250 million,$250 million above the request, including $100 million for economic and $150 million for security assistance
EGYPT: $360 MILLION, $310 million above the request, including $50 million for economic assistance,$50 million for border security, and $260 million for security assistance
PAKISTAN:$1.9 billion,$591 million above the request
IRAQ:$968 MILLION,$336 million above the request
Oversight: $20 million,$13 million above the request, to expand oversight capacity of the State Department, USAID, and the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan to review programs in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iraq
Lebanon:$74 million
International Food Assistance:$500 MILLION,$200 million above the request, for PL 480 international food assistance to alleviate suffering during the global economic crisis
REFUGEE ASSISTANCE:$343 MILLION,$50 million above the request, including humanitarian assistance for Gaza.
Funding for the UN Relief and Works Agency programs in the West Bank and Gaza is limited to $119 million (Note: Gaza = Hamas)
Disaster Assistance: $200 MILLION to avert famines and provide life-saving assistance during natural disasters and for internally displaced people around the world, including Somalia, Zimbabwe, Ethiopia, the Middle East and South Asia
Peacekeeping:$837 MILLION FOR UNITED NATIONS peacekeeping operations, including an expanded mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and a new mission in Chad and the Central African Republic
Department of Justice: $17 million, matching the request, for counter-terrorism activities and to provide training and assistance for the Iraqi criminal justice system
OBAMA GIVES YOUR TAX DOLLARS TO REBUILD MUSLIM MOSQUES AROUND THE WORLD! http://canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/... #
ACCORDING TO THE ASSOCIATED PRESS, THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION WILL GIVE AWAY NEARLY $6 MILLION OF AMERICAN TAX DOLLARS TO RESTORE 63 HISTORIC AND CULTURAL SITES, INCLUDING ISLAMIC MOSQUES AND MINARETS, IN 55 NATIONS. See the State Department document here. http://exchanges.state.gov/media/pdfs/office-...
And THAT’S just the tip of the iceberg.
THIS will blow your mind!! http://gbk.eads.usaidallnet.gov/ They should have 2010 up, but they don’t. That’s where you’ll find Obama’s largesse towards Muslim countries really go off the charts.
http://www.foreignassistance.gov/DataView.aspx charts: http://gbk.eads.usaidallnet.gov/data/fast-facts.html .
_____________________________________________________
Obama Increased Foreign Aid 80%; Spent 76% More on Foreign Aid Than Border Security cnsnews
CNSNews.com) - From fiscal 2008 to fiscal 2011, according to the U.S. Treasury, the federal government increased spending on foreign aid by 80 percent and, in fiscal 2011, spent 76 percent more on foreign aid than it did securing the borders of the United States.
In fiscal 2008, the government spent a total of $11.427 billion in international assistance programs, according to the Monthly Treasury Statement. In fiscal 2011, according to the statement, it spent $20.599 billion—an increase of $9.172 billion, or 80 percent, from 2008.
http://cnsnews.com/news/article/obama-increased-foreign-aid-80-spent-76-more-foreign-aid-border-security
Soylent Green is not only edible, it burns cleanly as well.
Big Fat Special interest RUiNed GUbamint says GO Fish!
Eat cardboard, Seniors!
Bernie has a baitbox just for you.
I’ll raise you one more step:
Every government employee and office holder should be on Medicaid.
They want “single payer” so badly, they should experience it for themselves.
Don’t worry. By the time you reach the current Medicare eligibly age, the DC hacks will raise the retirement age to 107 years old!
Not surprising! This is the third time in this goofball’s administration. Every other president didn’t try to steel from the elderly to fund money for Africa and other places. If you’ve been watching where this administration has been putting new money, you would be sickened to read that there is nothing for Social Security.
Oh well, only 462 days, 8 hours and 6 minutes left before he’s gone.
...if that bunch of bums actually leaves then, that is.
I grew up around Chicago and I know only too well how much those criminal creeps like to keep on playin' with other peoples' money. If I was bettin', I'd say it's only a one in ten chance The 0 and his Boyz will leave The Beltway without getting run out of the place at gunpoint.
Then, of course, we get to deal with the 462 damn YEARS it's gonna take to clean up the ****in' mess.
It's actually 8% per year.
I figured I'd rather have the money now, especially since I can invest it at 7%, such that there is absolutely no advantage in waiting.
Yes, but you can get the 8% at essentially no risk at all. You might do better during the 4 years, but there's at least an equal chance you will do worse.
The real advantage is not the payments you get up front. It's the larger payment you will get for the rest of your life.
If you expect to live past 81, waiting until 70 is the better deal. If you don't expect to live past age 81, starting earlier is the better deal.
Of course, there are other factors. For instance, do you have enough assets to maintain your desired standard of living until you are 70? And, will you seriously deplete them, leaving no room for error?
And, how much income do you get from other sources? If Social Security benefits are means-tested (even Christie has advocated this), you might do better or worse, depending on when you receive the income, and how much.
And the real wildcard: what happens with Social Security in 2033, when the Trust Fund is exhausted? If nothing is done, benefits have to be reduced about 23%, by law (as that's all the income taxes will sustain). If you start earlier BEFORE the reduction, you might do better.
There isn't an easy answer. There are two many unknowns, and any answer is not "one size fits all".
/mark
No kidding. Although I did see milk at a local Aldi for $1.99 today, but that may have been a promo.
Here’s a question: Does the average SS recipient (especially poorer ones) drive as much as, say, an average 40 year old worker with kids?
I’ve always done my financial planning assuming zero SS. I figured the thing is going broke and if there’s anything left, fine, if not, I’ll have planned correctly.
Having said that, out of curiosity, as few weeks back I registered online to get my SS calculations. It’s enough to make me sick.
I’m 55. Between myself and my employer, we’ve contributed just over $300,000 in SS (NOT including Medicare) in my career. According to the projections on the website, if I work to age 70 I will get......about $42K/year.
IF I work another 15 years - which I do NOT plan to do - that assumption is based on a total contribution over my life to that point of about $500,000. Give or take.
SO...if I work to 70, I’ll get back what I put in over a 50 year career with ZERO interest - if I make it to age 82.
Yes, I know half of that wss “contributed” by my employer. I look at that as my money...most of it anyway.
Some program they’ve got there.
Hank
Well, I certainly don’t waste $$ on some of the items Chapwood tracks, but those figures DO match my family’s expenditures’ tracking much better than the CPI.
I’m just glad I don’t live in CA - yikes!!!
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