Should the Social Security and Medicare Age be Raised

[Lesh]

So if you @62 you received a reduced benefit UNTIL you reach FRA. At that point the benefit is recalculated and you get your regular FRA amount after that.

Nope

If you take early retirement (currently younger than 67) that amount is all you ever get...other than COLA increases or general increases.

 

[WorldWatcher]

Nope

If you take early retirement (currently younger than 67) that amount is all you ever get...other than COLA increases or general increases.

Thank you for the correction. Should have double checked before I posted, my previous post was wrong.

People please disregard. I've removed the contents of the post.

WW

 

[Ray From Cleveland]

A lot of the working class doesn't have time or money to go to gyms after working at a couple of part time jobs. Healthy eating is expensive and many in the working class can't afford much more than cup o soup. Many rent rooms and don't have much more than a microwave. It's always been pretty much this way but got much worse since Mc Reagan. Things won't get better since almost half the working class cluelessly vote republican.

The working class came to the conclusion that a non-union job was better than no job at all. Unions and taxation chased much of our manufacturing to China, and what China didn't get we replace workers with automation. Reagan was not responsible for technology.

There was huge change in attitude of the American consumer back in the 80's, especially after the recession. We went from becoming obsessed with quality to being obsessed with prices, and it continues until this day.

This fallacy of Reagan is as old as Piglosi's botox. Since Reagan you had two Democrat administrations both running eight years each that could have reversed anything you want to blame Reagan for. So what policy or policies of Reagan were it that couldn't be reversed by 16 years of Democrat leadership, now going on 18 years?

No, you cannot make 50K a year turning nuts onto bolts or being a produce worker in a grocery store. Those days are gone and never coming back. However if you want to be middle-class today, you can no longer do it by being non-skilled labor. You need to learn a career to make a decent living, and there are a number to choose from.

 

[Ray From Cleveland]

it's still FAR tougher than working behind a desk

So just fuck em?

Do you have a better suggestion?

Didn't we just say F-m to the ice men who used to put huge ice cubes in your refrigerator? Didn't we say F-m to the ditch diggers in this country when we invented the backhoe? Didn't we say F-m to the coal man that used to shovel coal into your basement to make heat and stay warm? Didn't we say F-m to the horse shoe maker when we opted to drive cars?

 

[Lesh]

Do you have a better suggestion?

Didn't we just say F-m to the ice men who used to put huge ice cubes in your refrigerator? Didn't we say F-m to the ditch diggers in this country when we invented the backhoe? Didn't we say F-m to the coal man that used to shovel coal into your basement to make heat and stay warm? Didn't we say F-m to the horse shoe maker when we opted to drive cars?

WTF do you think you are talking about?

Do you actually have ADHD?

 

[Unkotare]

it's still FAR tougher than working behind a desk

...

There are different kinds of "tough."

 

[Ray From Cleveland]

Part of why we're fat is that the shit that makes us fat (like corn syrup) is CHEAP

Gym memberships and gym equipment cost money and time that a big chunk of folks can't afford. Of course those telling us how easy all this is CAN afford those things as well as better healthier food

My former employer went to Italy on vacation. He wanted to see the house his grandfather built. While there he asked one of the pizza vendors why Italians are so thin with all that pasta around? The vendor told him it was the ingredients. He said he would never dream of making a pizza with what we Americans use. Not only is it very fattening, but the quality lags as well.

 

[Lesh]

There are different kinds of "tough."

Oh...detail them all.

Please. Enlighten us

 

[Ray From Cleveland]

We are the 14th fattest country in the world.

Ranking (% obesity by country)

data.worldobesity.org

Nevertheless, we are the victims of our own prosperity and high fructose corn syrup. Gotta keep making bank for our corn growers, you know.

Our life expectancy flat-lined because of Covid. That will pass.

Even if it doesn't, if we index the retirement age to 9 percent of the population, Social Security will always be solvent.

Except we will never be able to do that by raising age requirements. Like I said we will only be taking people off of SS and putting them on disability which isn't helping our situation at all. Part of the solution is the private market; do what GW suggested and let us wean off of SS and depend on our own retirement accounts.

 

[Lesh]

Part of the solution is the private market;

Good Lord no.
You seem to understand the problems at times...and then fall right off the cliff parroting exactly the opposite of what would address those problems...provided by right wing think tanks that don't give two shits about the middle class

 

[Ray From Cleveland]

Good Lord no.
You seem to understand the problems at times...and then fall right off the cliff parroting exactly the opposite of what would address those problems...provided by right wing think tanks that don't give two shits about the middle class

Again I am middle-class. Born into a middle-class family, raised by parents that did manual labor.

When I look at my IRA and realize that the last 30 years I only put in a small portion of what I and my employers paid in SS, I also realize that's the solution to our problem. I only wish I had that option years ago when I first got into the workforce at the age of 18.

 

[Ray From Cleveland]

WTF do you think you are talking about?

Do you actually have ADHD?

No, you asked what are we supposed to do with coal miners, say F-m? I responded.

 

[Lesh]

Again I am middle-class. Born into a middle-class family, raised by parents that did manual labor.

And you're spouting the talking points of the conservative rich...against your own best interests

IRAs and 401s are great SUPPLEMENTS...to a social security based retirement...unless you are REALLY wealthy

 

[Lesh]

No, you asked what are we supposed to do with coal miners, say F-m? I responded.

Go back and look at the comment I was responding to.

 

[Unkotare]

Oh...detail them all.

Please. Enlighten us

You think being a surgeon isn’t tough? A defense attorney? Not the same kind of tough as coal mining or roofing or demo, but tough.

 

[Lesh]

You think being a surgeon isn’t tough? A defense attorney? Not the same kind of tough as coal mining or roofing or demo, but tough.

Physically?

Not nearly what it is for those who do manual labor

 

[WinterBorn]

Oh...detail them all.

Please. Enlighten us

I have worked as a telecomm construction lineman and a power lineman. Those were physically demanding jobs that had to be done in all sorts of weather.

And I have done administrative jobs, whether in an office or out in the field. While the admin jobs were far easier, physically, they did not have 1/10 the level of stress that the admin/mgmt jobs did. And the admin/mgmt jobs did nothing to keep my physically fit, as the line work did.

Do not dismiss stress as a destructive force for your body.

 

[Lesh]

I have worked as a telecomm construction lineman and a power lineman. Those were physically demanding jobs that had to be done in all sorts of weather.

And I have done administrative jobs, whether in an office or out in the field. While the admin jobs were far easier, physically, they did not have 1/10 the level of stress that the admin/mgmt jobs did. And the admin/mgmt jobs did nothing to keep my physically fit, as the line work did.

Do not dismiss stress as a destructive force for your body.

I don't dismiss it...but in general desk jobs are no more stressful than many demanding physical jobs.

Try diagnosing a faulty furnace on a roof in a snowstorm. Get it wrong and not only are customers screaming but you could literally blow shit up.

I'm not saying that people with desk jobs shouldn't be able to retire at a decent age...but generally they can stay at it longer under most conditions...and those people are the ones trying to screw over people who DO have demanding physical jobs

 

[woodwork201]

[PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT]

What Ray says is very true. Full stop.

However anyone considering retiring and still working - to some degree - needs to evaluate how working impacts SS payments if they retire before reaching Full Retirement Age (FRA) which for those born after 1960 is 67 years of age. If you take SS early, then SS benefits are reduced by $1 for each $2 over an annual limit ($19,560 for CY 2022). Once you reach FRA, there is no earning limit. There are special factors that apply during the year you reach FRA so check those out.

If you take early SS the benefit reduction is temporary and the benefit is recalculated to exclude earnings once you reach FRA, for some - I assume on the lower to mid income scale - working while drawing SS can actually increase the amount of the recalculated benefit at FRA since FICA taxes would still have been paid, causing a slight increase in the FRA SS benefit.

Its a little complicated, so check with a financial expert for assistance before making such a decision.

[/PUPBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT]

WW

EDIT: Just ran my numbers, if I stay in my current job full-time and draw early, my SS check would be $0. And yes I know Ray was talking about retiring from your full-time job and working part time. which changes things. ROFL.

I'm pretty sure that's incorrect. If you take Social Security early,. at 62, it does not go up at full retirement.

 

[gipper]

.

Thus, the difference between Conservatives and Modern Conservatives.
The latter is pretty much a product of the Cold War.

It is also one of many reasons Republicans have a hard time reaching more Conservative members of minority communities.

.​

I suppose, but I’m not a conservative. It is apparent that unquestionable support for the war machine is common amongst libs and cons.