Social Security won't be able to pay full benefits by 2034, a year earlier than expected due to the pandemic

[Ray From Cleveland]

You piece of shit.

Your spous's SSI benefits don't get added to yours. You pick one or the other.

My wife and i get along OK between her SSI , my SSI and with our 401s in reserve. If I pass since i made a lot more money and make more than double the SSI benefit, if she has to make due on hers alone she's screwed.

She'll get by...on mine

So why am I a piece of shit for suggesting it? My father basically supported my mother; both are alive today. However my mother only worked part-time, and many times not at all. I have no problem with my fathers SS going to her. But what I have a problem with is a couple each making let's say 50K a year, both have their own account, and then when one dies, able to transfer their benefits to their spouse.

Yes, we need to make sacrifices to keep SS going.........well, everybody but me.

 

[Lesh]

So why am I a piece of shit for suggesting it? My father basically supported my mother; both are alive today. However my mother only worked part-time, and many times not at all. I have no problem with my fathers SS going to her. But what I have a problem with is a couple each making let's say 50K a year, both have their own account, and then when one dies, able to transfer their benefits to their spouse.

Yes, we need to make sacrifices to keep SS going.........well, everybody but me.

You dumb fuck. You get one or the other. NOT both.

 

[justinacolmena]

the systemic corruption is never really tackled and dirty cops skate away virtually unscathed

SS, Railroad Retirement, V.A., the Thrift Savings Plan, city employees defined benefit pension plans, etc.

SS will be fine as long as we keep republicans far away from congress and the White House.

Sorry, but the Dems aren't that honest with other people's money.

We PAID into SS all our working lives. DUH.

You're punching in that time clock too hard a d your overtime needs auditing.

1. Lift the cap (GOP hates this fix)

The Dems won't admit it's a "regressive" tax with the cap in place. When people are accustomed to a high standard of living, they'd better pay their fair share of their higher earnings into the system because they're going to need at least the private security detail if not chauffeurs and chartered transportation everywhere they go. I'm sorry, but Presidents, Generals, Secretaries, and Colonels do not eat in the military mess hall with the private recruits.

1. Lift the cap - Tax people for SS and then do not return the funds to the retiree.

They end up just charging it all out for medical.

2. Raise the retirement age - What the f- do you think they did already? I can't retire until I am 67 and probably will not live that long due to health issues.

Too many dudes are getting divorced and picking up young chicks in their golden years.

I worked for the federal government and contributed SS just like I do now. When I was working for my last state, I became disqualified for SS disability and would pay a penalty for having a state retirement and SS.

You work for government and it's your job to force citizens against their will to do certain things and restrain citizens from enjoying their rights, liberties, and freedoms.

I'm sorry, but there are many things you apparently do not know about SS.

Well, there's people who know a lot of stuff they don't need to know and they're totally full of shit on our accounts.

 

[Doc7505]

Canada has a similar problem but a longer horizon. This is why people like me despise crony capitalism. It's often just theft. Help out small to medium sized innovative companies not massive multi-billion dollar companies.

What happens if this prediction comes to fruition?

Social Security won't be able to pay full benefits by 2034, a year earlier than expected due to the pandemic | CNN Politics

Social Security will have to cut benefits by 2034 if Congress does nothing to address the program's long-term funding shortfall, according to an annual report released Tuesday by the Social Security and Medicare trustees.

www.cnn.com

Washington (CNN)Social Security will have to cut benefits by 2034 if Congress does nothing to address the program's long-term funding shortfall, according to an annual report released Tuesday by the Social Security and Medicare trustees.

That's one year earlier than reported last year. By that time, the combined trust funds for Social Security will be depleted and will be able to pay only 78% in promised benefits to retirees and disabled beneficiaries.

The Covid-19 pandemic and economic recession are to blame for moving up the depletion rate by a year, driven by the big drop in employment and resulting decline in revenue from payroll taxes. The trustees also project a higher mortality rate through 2023 and a delay in births in the short term.

But it remains unclear what the long-term effects of the pandemic will be on the funds and the trustees will continue to monitor developments. Last year's report did not take into account the effects of the pandemic.

The projections for Medicare are roughly on par with last year's report.

The trust fund for Medicare Part A, which covers hospital and nursing home costs for seniors, will be depleted by 2026, the same year as reported last year. At that point the program would only be able to pay out 91% of promised benefits.

If Democrats have all the power those collecting S.S. will be added to the homeless of America. Those fotrced to retire will also find themselves homeless. Federal workers will of course be collecting their Federal pensions.
Meanwhile Democrats will do nothing to fix or bolster Social Security. We can than LBJ for that.

 

[kyzr]

1. Lift the cap - Tax people for SS and then do not return the funds to the retiree.
2. Raise the retirement age - What the f- do you think they did already? I can't retire until I am 67 and probably will not live that long due to health issues.
3. Increase the tax slightly - Yes, raising taxes has always been good for the economy.
4.) Add in all new federal, state and local government workers - Most of them already contribute to SS. If you don't contribute to SS, you don't get any benefits. I worked for the federal government and contributed SS just like I do now. When I was working for my last state, I became disqualified for SS disability and would pay a penalty for having a state retirement and SS.

I'm sorry, but there are many things you apparently do not know about SS.

1. Tell me Trump, Bezos, Buffett, Gates, and the rest of the 1% need that SS check. We paid in and deserve our promised benefits.
2. Raise the retirement ages 1-year, that's 63 for benefits, and 68 for full benefits. You can retire now at 62 like I did with slightly reduced benefits.
3. Stop whining about taxes, you should be whining about the DEBT and all the interest being paid and wasted.

What I know about SS is that if it isn't "fixed" we only get 70% of promised benefits after 2034, that punishes the middle and lower income folks who depend on SS to survive.

 

[Slade3200]

Social Security is a SOCIALIST PROGRAM that was always meant to buy votes and rob taxpayers.

And enable millions of seniors to be able to afford to retire and receive adequate health care…. Oh the horror and the evil

 

[22lcidw]

What......no mention of a 'ponzi scheme' yet?

If SS didn't exist, the elderly would be screwed EVEN more than how (R) have already screwed them.

I do not disagree with you. However, the Social Security/Medicare taxes are 15% of pay. Working for an employer is about 6.5% that they pay with your 6.5%. What they pay is actually part of your salary. Social Security was originally started to not be the way to survive. it was supposed to supplement and be a cushion. When the time comes and the economy is struggling mightily, Progs will exterminate many in their own ways. The Obama pain pill will be part of it.

 

[Lesh]

And enable millions of seniors to be able to afford to retire and receive adequate health care…. Oh the horror and the evil

Raise the cap and the problem is GONE

 

[Slade3200]

Raise the cap and the problem is GONE

 

[kyzr]

Raise the cap and the problem is GONE

Nope, raising the cap only fixes 74% of the shortfall:

How Warren Buffett Thinks We Should Fix Social Security | The Motley Fool

The Oracle of Omaha thinks we should save Social Security -- here's how he thinks it can be done.

www.fool.com

• Eliminating the taxable earnings cap over a 10-year period would fix 74% of the long-term financing gap all by itself.
• Raising the Social Security payroll tax rate from 6.2% to 7.2% over a 20-year period would generate 52% of the shortfall.
• Finally, gradually raising the full retirement age to 68 would take care of 16% of the funding gap.

So adding in a small payroll 0.50% tax increase would fix SS for the long term and cover the 26% gap.

 

[Ray From Cleveland]

What I know about SS is that if it isn't "fixed" we only get 70% of promised benefits after 2034, that punishes the middle and lower income folks who depend on SS to survive.

As you already know, SS payout is based on what you contributed to the system your entire life. 70% some can do with assuming they had an IRA. For people who worked lower income jobs their entire life with nothing else, that puts them in poverty and of course, a strain on other programs.

Raising the retirement age is trying to put a band-aid on a severed arm. We did it before and it didn't work and it won't work today. If we want these programs, the solution is simple: we have to properly fund these programs. There is no other way around it.

 

[kyzr]

As you already know, SS payout is based on what you contributed to the system your entire life. 70% some can do with assuming they had an IRA. For people who worked lower income jobs their entire life with nothing else, that puts them in poverty and of course, a strain on other programs.

Raising the retirement age is trying to put a band-aid on a severed arm. We did it before and it didn't work and it won't work today. If we want these programs, the solution is simple: we have to properly fund these programs. There is no other way around it.

Totally agree. Eliminate the cap, and raise the tax 0.50% and SS is fixed forever w/o raising the retirement ages.

 

[Ray From Cleveland]

Totally agree. Eliminate the cap, and raise the tax 0.50% and SS is fixed forever w/o raising the retirement ages.

Okay, but then what we're doing is placing the burden on wealthy people since non of us working stiffs ever made enough money to max out. Is that fair?

 

[debbiedowner]

Don't Americans pay taxes? Those taxes should be paying for their social security.

Yes, we pay into to social security and if employed employer matches and if self employed we pay the full amount of ss and medicare taxes.

 

[debbiedowner]

The concerns for Social Security will end, shortly after the 2022 Mid-term Elections.

The only hope remaining is ending the filibuster and passing the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act of 2021. But that hope is rapidly fading.



.

Is that when magically more people start paying in?

 

[debbiedowner]

Totally agree. Eliminate the cap, and raise the tax 0.50% and SS is fixed forever w/o raising the retirement ages.

I hardly ever agree with you but I've been saying this for years.

 

[debbiedowner]

Okay, but then what we're doing is placing the burden on wealthy people since non of us working stiffs ever made enough money to max out. Is that fair?

Then you can ask, is it fair for the ones under the cap to pay for those wealthy people?

 

[debbiedowner]

So why am I a piece of shit for suggesting it? My father basically supported my mother; both are alive today. However my mother only worked part-time, and many times not at all. I have no problem with my fathers SS going to her. But what I have a problem with is a couple each making let's say 50K a year, both have their own account, and then when one dies, able to transfer their benefits to their spouse.

Yes, we need to make sacrifices to keep SS going.........well, everybody but me.

If you're saying one keeps theirs and then inherits the dead spouse on top of it you are dead wrong. It is one or the other.

 

[Dragonlady]

Canada has a similar problem but a longer horizon. This is why people like me despise crony capitalism. It's often just theft. Help out small to medium sized innovative companies not massive multi-billion dollar companies.

What happens if this prediction comes to fruition?

Social Security won't be able to pay full benefits by 2034, a year earlier than expected due to the pandemic | CNN Politics

Social Security will have to cut benefits by 2034 if Congress does nothing to address the program's long-term funding shortfall, according to an annual report released Tuesday by the Social Security and Medicare trustees.

www.cnn.com

Washington (CNN)Social Security will have to cut benefits by 2034 if Congress does nothing to address the program's long-term funding shortfall, according to an annual report released Tuesday by the Social Security and Medicare trustees.

That's one year earlier than reported last year. By that time, the combined trust funds for Social Security will be depleted and will be able to pay only 78% in promised benefits to retirees and disabled beneficiaries.

The Covid-19 pandemic and economic recession are to blame for moving up the depletion rate by a year, driven by the big drop in employment and resulting decline in revenue from payroll taxes. The trustees also project a higher mortality rate through 2023 and a delay in births in the short term.

But it remains unclear what the long-term effects of the pandemic will be on the funds and the trustees will continue to monitor developments. Last year's report did not take into account the effects of the pandemic.

The projections for Medicare are roughly on par with last year's report.

The trust fund for Medicare Part A, which covers hospital and nursing home costs for seniors, will be depleted by 2026, the same year as reported last year. At that point the program would only be able to pay out 91% of promised benefits.

Once again, "Thank you President Obama", whose fiscal management through the Great Recession shored up the SS fund and ensured it's viability for another 20 years after he left office.

And since there are 13 years in which to fix the problem, let's worry about the things that need immediate attention, like Medicare/Medicaid and prescription drugs, and getting people back to work and contributing to the SS funds.

Unlike his predecessor, Joe Biden has the ability to delegate and multitask, and to handle multiple crises and multiple fronts, so I trust he'll get to this once the hurricanes, end of the Afghanistan War, 4th covid surge, and the crisis with Roe v. Wade is dealt with.

 

[Dragonlady]

Okay, but then what we're doing is placing the burden on wealthy people since non of us working stiffs ever made enough money to max out. Is that fair?

Bullshit. The reason people are wealthy in the first place is that the tax code rewards investment, not work. The USA has become socially stratified by wealth, with income and opportunities for those born into wealth up to 200 times greater than those born into poverty.

When Reagan was elected, you had a 20% chance of being born poor and through education and hard work, rise into the middle class. Today, you have a 2% chance of this happening. The Middle Class in the USA is shrinking, with more people falling back into poverty than are rising into wealth.

First World economies require a robust and thriving middle class in order for capitalism to succeed. Republicans are literally killing the goose which laid their economic golden eggs. 80% of the income and wealth of the nation now flows to the top 10%.

Today, I'm watching the clean up from yet another "storm of the century" with "unprecedented flooding" and destruction, while wild fire are threatening Lake Tahoe out west, and Louisiana officials saying the power grid for the state has been destroyed. There is no power, water or gasoline in the state. Because climate change is another thing that Republicans don't believe in and refuse to deal with.

That on top of a pandemic you COULD vaccinate your way out of if only you hadn't convinced half of the population not to get vaccinated.

Tell us again how Republican governance has been good for the USA.