Posted on 10/28/2015 3:35:55 PM PDT by taildragger
A budget agreement reached by congressional leaders and the White House would kill popular Social Security claiming strategies shortly after the measure becomes law, cutting off payments in midstream for beneficiaries, according to experts.
(Excerpt) Read more at investmentnews.com ...
The legislation, which sets federal spending limits and raises the debt ceiling, contains several entitlement reforms. One of them would end the ability of a Social Security claimant to file for his or her benefits and then suspend receiving them while he or she collects benefits for a spouse. Such an approach can generate a more generous payout.
The bill also would restrict claims for spousal benefits. The changes would affect people who turn 62 in 2016 or later.
he House and Senate could vote on the budget bill later this week. Lawmakers faced a Nov. 3 deadline to lift the debt ceiling. To achieve that goal and pay for an increase in federal spending caps, negotiators required spending reductions as an offset. One of the areas targeted was Social Security.
“It would enact the most significant reform to Social Security since 1983, resulting in $168 billion in long-term savings,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said in a floor speech Wednesday.
The measure “closes several loopholes in Social Security's rules about deemed filing, dual entitlement and benefit suspension in order to prevent individuals from obtaining larger benefits than Congress intended,” states a summary of the bill.
Such changes are usually glacial, occurring over a number of years. This time, they were hammered out in weeks.
“People are shocked by the speed and the backroom budget negotiations,” Ms. Franklin said.
The implementation also will be rapid. Payments related to file-and-suspend strategies will end within six months of the budget bill being signed into law.
“This may affect a lot of people who may have already planned for this provision in their retirement plan,” said Dinesh Sharma, chief executive of Omyen Corp., a financial planning technology firm. “Those who are turning 62 may not have enough time to save more to offset this loss of benefits.”
Curtailing the tactic will reverberate beyond wealthy filers who take advantage of it, according to William Meyer, chief executive of Social Security Solutions, a firm that makes benefit-claiming software. Retirees with modest assets also will get less of a boost from Social Security.
“This change is going to promote people to take their benefits earlier,” when they are less generous, Mr. Meyer said. “The middle class are the ones who are going to get hurt.”
He also predicts the Social Security Administration won't be able to put the changes in place under a six-month deadline, producing administrative hassles.
“It's going to cause the biggest quagmire,” Mr. Meyer said.
The legislation also would place a surcharge on high-income recipients of Medicare, which will be costly for wealthy beneficiaries.
“It is critical to incorporate Medicare planning into retirement planning to minimize the impact of higher-income Medicare surcharges now and in the future,” Katy Votava, president of Goodcare.com, wrote in an email.
No wonder they did this in the dead of night.... What did Trump know and when did he know it, he said don’t touch SSI. They are doing this going into an election cycle. Oye Vey....
“The middle class are the ones who are going to get hurt.”
****************************************************************************
But of course.
How does this effect SSI?
Yes all good Republicans should be against entitlement reforms!
Anyone over 50 who actually includes SS in their retirement plans is a fool.
If it is there when I get there, cool. Fun money.
But the current emotion is to punish those of us who planned for retirement.
I won’t see a freaking dime.
More “wealth redistribution” from both the dems and the GOPe.
“The middle class are the ones who are going to get hurt.”
I’m middle class. It would have no effect on me.
“The legislation also would place a surcharge on high-income recipients of Medicare, which will be costly for wealthy beneficiaries.”
Cool. Do eet.
“The bill also would restrict claims for spousal benefits.”
So my mother is collecting on her ex-husband’s account. Will this harm her?
I just hate the fact that workers work over 40 years and get pittance for it while we have this bull crap SSDI where people get for practically nothing. Cut SSDI and let the states deal with it if they want to. Why punish real people who put into the system fairly. We are so screwed in this country.
Time to kill 99% of the SSDI
Kill the disability frauds
isn’t an entitlement something you never paid into? like welfare, section 8, snap
i figured the lump sum amount my mother would have if she invested the money she put into SS.
a LOT more than what she’ll get from it unless she lives to about 93
They don't describe all of these changes, but I can summarize the one that is in the article:
There are websites that will do this for you, for a nominal fee (like $40 for a 1-year subscription, and you can use it as often as you want to evaluate any changes). Drop me a line via FreepMail if you want a link -- I'm not going to advertise for them.
This has nothing to do with SSI. That's funded by general revenues, and Social Security only administrates it.
Not unless she is doing so to avoid collecting her own Social Security benefits.
Yes and yes. It’s fraud-riddled.
Wow.
Effing stewpet....
They should have done this on a plan 10 years from now. to give those who would retire ample time to prepare or alter their plans.
I am in my mid 50s and self employed. I have been paying into Social Security for over 40 years now.
I would happily give up any claim to Social Security and Medicare I could just stop having to pay into it anymore. I could put the 15% of my income that I pay in self-employment Social Security and Medicare taxes every month to much better use.
Yes, and these strategies are getting more airtime and more people are now aware of them. A subset shingle for CPA's to add to their current one is based upon helping choose these strategies, that might nix that subset business for them.
Defund illegal Alien welfare.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.