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 ...
Oh no, debate all individual facets of SSI Reform ( and all entitlement reform ) on the well of the "Floor" of the House. Do not pass this crap in the dark of night, scum bags one and all.
This raised the SSDI share of the payroll tax by .57%, reducing the amount going to ‘regular’ Social Security.
Anything to screw the citizens ... while handing out wads of cash for illegals and so-called refugees.
Well, we all know SS is broke, Medicare is broke and the government is broke despite what the government and media have been claiming. So are we surprised really?
No, an entitlement is a benefit provided by law. It has no connection to whether you "paid into it".
And once again, I hate bursting this bubble, but here goes:
Social Security has no contractual obligation to you. Congress can change the law to reduce, increase, or even cut off your benefits completely, and the only recourse you have is to vote against them.
This is settled law: back in the 50's, Congress eliminated benefits for a small class of people. A guy that was already collecting benefits found himself cut off. He sued, it went to the Supreme Court, he lost. You can look up the case: Flemming v. Nestor.
i figured the lump sum amount my mother would have if she invested the money she put into SS.
The ratio of the value of SS benefits vs. the value of SS contributions varies based on several factors:
I've gone through the calculations myself, using real numbers (not hypothetical): presuming that I would have bought long-term US Treasury Bonds each year, at the prevailing dividend rate. Then, I would hold them to maturity, and reinvest the dividends each year.
This approximates the return in the Social Security Trust Fund, which is invested in a special type of Treasury Bond, paying the market dividend rate.
My average indexed monthly earnings is above the median, and I calculated that I'd have about $1 million now, and $1.5 million by the time I start taking Social Security benefits.
I will never understand how people accept that these wealthy people paid into it over an entire career at the point of the gun, and likely paid much much more into it than average. Now their benefits are cut. Class warfare is so easy. People who are forced to pay in should get the benefits promised no matter what their income.
My wife is not eligible to receive a spousal benefit from my SS because she receives a government pension and if I die she would get a pittance of survivor benefits because of a law passed to cut out double dippers.
thanks for clearing up entitlement. boy, that’s horrifying news for me. and many others who dont know,
i’m gonna go taste the cat’s food just in case.
i hate this government
and SS doesn’t go into default in 2033 or whatever. That would mean that there’s roughly 16 or more trillion in a fund somewhere NOW, held for only SS payments.
at least that one i know :)
“... in order to prevent individuals from obtaining larger benefits than Congress intended,”
Retirees aren’t gaming the system if they’re abiding by the rules Congress created. If Congress did not want this scenario to develop, they shouldn’t have put those rules into place.
Social Security won't default. That's scare tactics.
What WILL happen, if nothing is done: benefits will be reduced by about 23%, across the board.
That's the estimate of the level of benefits that can be funded by the payroll taxes collected at that time, once the Trust Fund is exhausted. The SSA can't borrow money, so they have to reduce benefits.
That would mean that there’s roughly 16 or more trillion in a fund somewhere NOW, held for only SS payments.
The trust fund only contains the excess taxes collected above what was needed to pay benefits for the past few decades. Almost all of it was paid to your parents and grandparents. And, most of your benefits will come from taxes levied on your kids and grandkids. That's they way it has always worked, and thanks to demographic changes -- that's why it isn't working.
Benefits started to exceed payroll taxes a couple of years ago (about 4 years earlier than planned, thanks to the recession). So, the Trust Fund is now being drawn down, and redemptions are coming out of the general fund.
They should first go after all the double-dippers in government—local, state and federal who are bankrupting treasuries across America. Don’t say it ain’t so, we’ve all read the blood pressure-raising stories. What makes them any better than the poor schlub on minimal retirement or honestly-granted disability benefits?
Am I mistaken, or was SS withheld up to a maximum total earnings limit per year? I’m pretty sure that’s the case, and would tend to favor, not discriminate against the wealthy.
Republicans are pulling out all the stops so they can go back to Minority ,the only problem is the stupid voters keep giving them more seats every election
Actually, the benefit formula has ALWAYS been skewed to benefit low income, and screw the high income taxpayers.
Look up how the Primary Insurance Amount (PIA) is calculated, and you'll see how.
its funny what trust fund means to the gov and what it means to the average person.
Correction....you haven’t been paying into it.....it’s been taken from you.
No, the problem is on the benefit calculation.
The payroll tax is flat, up to the limit each year.
But, the benefit calculation is NOT flat. Depending on where you are on the income scale, every additional dollar of additional income (actually, average indexed monthly income over your working lifetime) results in 90 cents, 32 cents, or 15 cents being added to your monthly benefit.
So, the higher your average income, the percentage replaced by your Social Security benefit is lower. SS has always been effectively "means-tested".
Search for "Primary Insurance Amount" or PIA to see the details. The Social Security administration has a webpage about it, but there are many others that explain it as well.
The trust fund is real -- it's just invested in the equivalent of long-term US treasury bonds. Until Obama screwed the pooch, US Treasury bonds were considered the safest investment in the world.
But, think about what would have happened if the SSA had invested it elsewhere. Congress would have never let them do it on their own: there would have been all kinds of earmarks and prohibitions. It would have been crony capitalism at its worst.
Yet the welfare class remains untouched.
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