What about people on Social Security Disability? SSA needs to tell recipients, such as myself, what, if anything, will happen when Disability converts to standard benefits at age 65.
N
1 year ago
Remember, it takes more $$ to live when a democrat gets in the White House. Medicines are going up. We have an eggplant brain for President that does not care about the costs of medicines. All he cares about is killing babies and putting down this country’s Supreme Court that has kept our country great. He shreds our Constitution and attacks our laws. I can’t wait til November. Then we can have him impeached.
Dan W.
1 year ago
Tell people that they can take their Social Security in any month that they choose beginning in the month that they turn 62 but their amount will increase by x% per month (and x% per year) for every month that they wait from the month that they turn 62 until the month that they turn 70.
ANN M MAKO
1 year ago
why don’t they pay on a specific date. This paying on the 2nd Wednesday is so aggravating when bills are due on a specific date. Difficult when it’s 5 weeks between pay.
Tom
1 year ago
By 2030, this program should be completely broke. This is one reason why the government, aligned with big pharma and the medical mafia, desires to get rid of as many oldsters as possible. Basically, this is a socialist ponzi scheme and doomed to fail simply because the base of contributors, pre-retirement aged workers, is shrinking. This is due to abortions, demographics, baby murdering big pharma thugs, murder of middle aged workers and a very lazy Congress refusing to make changes even though they are the people who created this mess to begin with.
Larry Taylor
1 year ago
SS, Waiting till Age 70, Health Dependent. My Father worked till 70 was at Top Full Benefits, Died shortly after Only 2+ Years of SS. IF I had waited till 70, I’d probably Not recovered much of my SS Benefits at all. For Many, Health declines after reaching that 65 age date. SS is NOT a living Wage and was NEVER intended to be. Politicians deplete SS funds knowing that the Over 65 age group is a Declining Voter Base. Politicians are exacerbating the DECLINE of the Wealth of the Middle Class in America.
Eric
1 year ago
In all seriousness, the government ruins everything. Social Security is by no means a dependable source of retirement income mainly because it’s continuously taken from to fund government programs and on top of that it’s taxed.
The best thing our corrupt government can do is put at tax ceiling on all taxes after age 65 so once that age is achieved, one won’t have to pay taxes any longer on anything. That should apply to US citizens only unless you are or once were a member of congress because that’s a conflict of interest
BBB
1 year ago
Maybe stop paying those that never put in
Roberta
1 year ago
The idea that social security is not going to be your sole income in old age needs to be shared with the young so they can start saving early! At 50 or 55 it may be too late!
Molly Day
1 year ago
Better yet, how about finding and prosecuting the massive fraud in this program and ALL “social” programs.
grumpy old woman
1 year ago
Stop paying to those who didn’t pay in. Go back to the basic purpose, payments for the worker. Spouse benefits are ok but I don’t like the payments to kids until they are 18, college tuition benefits and any payments to illegal entrants.
I would also like to see the earnings ceiling for contributions raised, meaning more of your annual earnings can be “taxed” and maybe a sliding scale when benefits are paid. If you are very wealthy, maybe a benefit reduction when you start to collect a little unfair, true but, if you don’t need it maybe offer a tax deduction in it’s place.
Ava
1 year ago
Simplify this ridiculous program or allow people to opt out completely to save on their own.
Benjamin DeLozier
1 year ago
I have a girlfriend who was forced to retire from her position with Henderson County because of her anxiety. I repeatedly have urged her to get on Social Security with disability. She has been on North Carolina disability for five years. SSA says she has to apply and wait another two years! I would like someone who could come out and talk to her and help her get on the right path. We broke up a few months ago, but I still help her financially. But I am starting to run short of money and may move to Alabama soon. Without the right setup from the SSA, this could be devastating for her in solo many ways.
Colleen
1 year ago
There should be ongoing interactive education programs such as webinars on specific social security topics. Tricare does this, and it really helps. The webinar could be recorded and saved into a library for future access. Webinar topics should also be offered periodically, not just “one & done”.
PHIL
1 year ago
They should explain where the money went and why we are paying more and more and getting less and less. When I started paying into this system, Medicare had zero copays and everything was covered. Now we are forced to buy plans B, C, D, E, F, G, etc…to get the same coverage we were promised when we started paying into the program.
Peta
1 year ago
Just starting the “process” as 65 is looming. About to find out what a quagmire this process (and supplements) are and HOPE I guess right.
Jerry
1 year ago
Collect SSA from ALL income. That means that the rich pay on ALL income. Eliminate the cap.
Judith
1 year ago
Stop penalizing people that didn’t sign up for drug program right away. When you’re not taking drugs & you have to pay 50.00 a month for the plan it’s a scam. Greedy government has their hand in your pocket continuously always wanting more & keeping you poor. It’s disgusting. We’re just slaves to Washington so they can live like King’s & Queen’s.
steven jacobs
1 year ago
time to tell seniors that Biden and the Democrat administration is more focused on wasting billions in Ukraine than it is keeping social security solvent
Benjamin DeLozier
1 year ago
Also tell those thieves in Congress to leave our money alone! They and all the illegal aliens collecting it is what is draining our hard earned money! If they aren’t willing to do those two things, we should have the option to quit putting money in and get what we have put in back.
Paul
1 year ago
Eliminate the cap and remove SS monies from the general fund
ron
1 year ago
I chose hire more advisors, but my option is simple : ANSWER THE PHONE.
BobA
1 year ago
Make sure that people know that the (benefit?) is taxable and also in many states.
Susan Kater
1 year ago
If someone’s in their 60s and hasn’t gotten any real savings accumulated, it’s probably way too late to try to encourage saving. People have to understand that Soc. Sec. & Medicare are the largest debts the US government faces. We are staring at cutbacks in both programs. What might help is if the Federal government was reduced in size to its Constitutional limits (that means ALL depts. except the Dept. of Defense need to be ended with budgets zeroed out).
Tony
1 year ago
The penalty for earning over the cap is ridiculous. The additional income is still taxed so how is it right to penalize the SS income – I payed into the system since I was a teenager and I earned it.
TomB
1 year ago
Everyone has different “specific” concerns. Decisions related to the life-changing move to retirement require in-depth planning and are the responsibility of the individual, SS decisions are just one category. There are no one-size-fits-all solutions. Information and counselling (if needed) have been and are available. Being spoon-fed anything from the government is not a good idea.
Mary
1 year ago
people need to know early in life – social
security isn’t the total amount they’ve earned in life, it’s a tiny tiny portion that was withheld each paycheck. & of that, our wonderful leaders have stolen a large portion to fund their numerous pet projects that only benefit those in government. more importantly – stop giving it to non citizens, stop giving non citizens social security disability. they shouldn’t walk across the border & be given the same or better treatment than a citizen who has worked hard all their lives. many senior citizens are barely able to survive on social security, & for this age group, there’s no additional assistance for food, &other necessities.
Jean
1 year ago
People should be educated about the realities of Social Security (aka a government issued “universal basic income”) starting in their freshman year in high school. That would effectively inoculate them against all efforts at communist / socialist indoctrination. Let them know that the 15% of any wages they earn are going to support people who are currently drawing, since LBJ removed the “pay in – pay out” protection of the program and turned it into just another social welfare program. Let them know that by 2029, the government will be required to cut benefits across the board, since the law that is currently in place doesn’t allow for borrowing or reallocating funds to cover the expenses. Let them know that even though a “worker” has paid into the system for 50 years or more, they are taxed on the proceeds they draw once they hit retirement age. And let them know that Medicare isn’t free – you get to pay for your government-issue health care out of your government-issue retirement pay. Liz Warren and Bernie Sanders might find it a little more difficult to sway a well-educated demographic with their promises of “medicare for all” and UBI once these skulls full of mush really understand how that all works.
ron
1 year ago
Before you decide to wait for 70, you should do a break even analysis, comparing both options, to determine at what age you will have collected an equal amount. You then need to look at family history to determine if your break even point is realistic.
Joyce Collins
1 year ago
How about paying back all the money “borrowed” and stop penalizing people for not having prescription drug coverage when they aren’t taking medications. I have to pay double for the rest of my life because I didn’t take out prescription insurance for not taking any medications. I am on a prescription which costs a lot less than the premium and is cheaper still to buy out of pocket. In other words stop punishing people for getting old. Social Security is our money the government has no right to it.
Judy Lee Smith
1 year ago
I cannot give any of your listed answers as mine because there isone more that is more important. The Social Security Administration needs to study the history of itself Do they even know why the SSA came into being, who it was to serve, and decide whether they want to go back to that worthy foundation was set up . If there are others to be served, each of those groups should be takenup individually and thoroughly voted on. It would even be good to let we who receive it now have a vote in any decision made.
ROBERT ZUPANEK
1 year ago
In many ways those are all very good topics. What I would like to see is the SS admin become more aggressive in protecting our rights. I had a bad experience when my wife passed. I saw 40% of the household income stop because her benefits were less than mine. I understand a decrease, sure, but her entire benefit walked away and mine never increased to cover non-individual expenses like property taxes etc. I feel they could do more to help reduce those kinds of across the board expenses. Even simply stop all taxing of seniors on all levels.
Vincent in CO
1 year ago
When I applied for Social Security, the process was simple and efficient – all done on-line. The person who handled my case was extremely responsive and helpful. The amount I am receiving is exactly the same that was listed on my annual benefit projection. There is plenty of information available. My only complaint is that no one ever explained the tax situation – or how to have taxes withheld from my SS payment.
DebS
1 year ago
Social Security and it’s Survivor’s benefit plan have changed a lot since 1954. In 1954 my 34 year old father died suddenly from a massive heart attack. My mother was left with 3 children, my older brother was 7, I had just turned 3 and my mother was 6 months pregnant with my younger brother! My father was a WWII Navy veteran, college educated and was self employed. It took my mother 3 YEARS to try and collect Social Security!!!
Why so long??? In those days Social Security didn’t recognize a person’s military record or earnings from being self-employed. When my mother was finally approved for Social Security, the rules stated she could only work part-time and she received only $50/mo. for each of us. And Social Security would continue till age 22 when we finished college (we all went to college and paid our own way). My mother worked and never took any government handouts, only received what she was entitled to!
Why is the system broken??? Today someone can collect Social Security if they have a hang nail, if you never worked or if they are illegal! This and the raiding of the system is why the system is going broke!
Cody
1 year ago
SSA should should run PSA’s explaining how your SSA tax dollars are being misspent by state administrators to give illegal immigrants lifetime benefits. Benefits of which none of us would ever be entitled to if we were to “immigrate” South of the Border.
forbes.com/sites/robertwood/2016/04/13/irs-admits-it-encourages-illegals-to-steal-social-security-numbers-for-taxes/?sh=19b752834c04
John Mark McNair
1 year ago
Why is the system insolvent? Giving benefits to illegals? Congress stealing the money from SS and putting the money into the general fund should indicate that they intended to make it a general fund expenditure!! The federal government is only interested in themselves! Is there ever any talk of the congressional retirement fund running out??
Jeff Savlov
1 year ago
We have been contributing to Social Security and Medicare for our whole working lives. Since we have been contributing to it, there should never be an insolvency issue if it had been treated as a retirement plan from its inception. Unfortunately our federal government chose to steal from our retirement by taking our contributions and move them into the general fund so they could waste them through their pet programs of adding disability to it, expanding medicare beyond those over retirement age and building a large population of “welfare bums” and families who have been using welfare as a sole or primary income for generations. The estimates put the ” government theft ” from the Social Security system in the Trillions, some estimates as low as $2.6 trillion.If these crooked politicians had left our contributions alone and treated our contributions, which were set in 1935 as a trust fund but changed by LBJ in 1968 to a “Budget Item”, in the same manor as insurance and money managers are required to do by these same federal criminals, insolvency would never have been an issue and we would likely be retiring on a substantially larger monthly payment. Is it time for a class action law suit by all current retirees and contributors against these criminals, their heirs and families to recover all the misused funds for OUR system of retirement with interest and accumulated lost revenue which would have been accumulated had the trust fund been dealt with as required? This is definitely food for thought. Keep this in mind when it comes to the November mid-terms. It’s time to show each and every Liberal, Socialist, RINO, and Democrat the door
George Morgan
1 year ago
Social Security for American Citizens : ONLY .
Allan Szast
1 year ago
To stave off insolvency, means testing should be used. There are many who collect SoSec that do not need it. Also, it should be left to Americans that paid into it, not every immigrant that comes here illegally.
Al Smith
1 year ago
The original purpose was a supplemental income for the elderly. Over time it has allowed changes to accept those who are not retirement age to tap into the program. They should have a separate program which would go a long way toward solving the insolvency program now facing Social Security.
David Solakian
1 year ago
The survey suggests education about Social Security’s insolvency is an important topic. I wonder how the govt can find billions of dollars for any political issue of the moment, many of which place foreign interests above the interests of hard-working taxpayers, while simultaneously warning us that SS is heading toward insolvency. Add to this that career politicians continue to get rich from “insider information” AND vote themselves improved benefits and increased pay year after year, and you have a seriously broken system that is devoid of trust.
Stephen Russell
1 year ago
CUT SS DC bureaucracy alone & send funds to retireees
CUT Govt waste: CAGW.org
Change programs
Boost age to 70-75 to collect for Gen X
Phyl
1 year ago
I don’t think there would have been a problem if the greedy politicians had kept their grabby paws off of social security money. The money should have been left alone to grow with interest. Also if a person didn’t contribute, they shouldn’t be allowed to have it. The only exception would be someone so disabled they can’t work.
Boaz
1 year ago
They mail out more crap than anybody reads or learn from. reduce all the repetitive information.
Gayla S Massey
1 year ago
Just walking into social security office ( when time to start it) was an education for me. Room was full of ppl in their 20’s and 30’s and up in age. After lunch and most of them where still in pajamas and uncombed hair, and you know they didn’t brush the teeth. I pulled my number and sat down, thinking I’d be waiting all afternoon because standing room only. Within 5 mins my #was called. All the ppl there was disability applicants. Since parking lot was full, I suppose they all had cars we were paying for. Ppl have learned to use the system.
JG B
1 year ago
Waiting until your 70 to take benefits is betting that you will live to 86 to break even.
Boaz
1 year ago
Does SS or any Government department have cost training? I doubt it. In private entities there are three steps you must do to keep your job. Reduce cost, avoid cost and cost containment. With the government having all the money they collect from us, all I see in Government is complete waste. People need to lose their jobs!! or have to answer to somebody. The Government has their nose in everything, and is way out of control due to it’s size. The Government needs change damn soon! as our money is running out.
JM
1 year ago
Social Security is one of the greatest failures of all time. They’ve taken our money, many of us against our will, encouraged people NOT to save or take care of themselves for the future which has resulted in dependency on the government. The politicians have used our Social Security contributions as their personal piggy banks, and many Americans are going to be caught in a terrible predicament when that money is no longer there. It’s a scam. Just another way for the government to control us and take our wealth.
Just like insurance – you depend on insurance to come through and pay for things you didn’t put money aside for (because you were paying the insurance) and then when you need it, there are strings attached, rules changed, and you find you can’t rely on the insurance to pay the bill after all.
We are better off being self sufficient. We need to get the government out of our lives. They just steal from us. Look at what they’ve done to others; they promise one thing and cheat us out of what we expected.
Dale
1 year ago
I think it would solve some problems if the FED gave all of the money stolen from the trust!
Kate Doe
1 year ago
People should also understand that there are situations where taking their benefits at 62 or 66 would be better in their individual situations. There is a breakeven point for 62 v 66 at around 78, and another for 66 v 70 at around 83. If you are in good health, then waiting can be to your advantage.
I didn’t need mine at 62, but took it at 62 and have invested it, and made out MUCH better when comparing the projected accumulation + adjustments for inflation over the years.
I am not a financial consultant. This is my individual experience.
What about people on Social Security Disability? SSA needs to tell recipients, such as myself, what, if anything, will happen when Disability converts to standard benefits at age 65.
Remember, it takes more $$ to live when a democrat gets in the White House. Medicines are going up. We have an eggplant brain for President that does not care about the costs of medicines. All he cares about is killing babies and putting down this country’s Supreme Court that has kept our country great. He shreds our Constitution and attacks our laws. I can’t wait til November. Then we can have him impeached.
Tell people that they can take their Social Security in any month that they choose beginning in the month that they turn 62 but their amount will increase by x% per month (and x% per year) for every month that they wait from the month that they turn 62 until the month that they turn 70.
why don’t they pay on a specific date. This paying on the 2nd Wednesday is so aggravating when bills are due on a specific date. Difficult when it’s 5 weeks between pay.
By 2030, this program should be completely broke. This is one reason why the government, aligned with big pharma and the medical mafia, desires to get rid of as many oldsters as possible. Basically, this is a socialist ponzi scheme and doomed to fail simply because the base of contributors, pre-retirement aged workers, is shrinking. This is due to abortions, demographics, baby murdering big pharma thugs, murder of middle aged workers and a very lazy Congress refusing to make changes even though they are the people who created this mess to begin with.
SS, Waiting till Age 70, Health Dependent. My Father worked till 70 was at Top Full Benefits, Died shortly after Only 2+ Years of SS. IF I had waited till 70, I’d probably Not recovered much of my SS Benefits at all. For Many, Health declines after reaching that 65 age date. SS is NOT a living Wage and was NEVER intended to be. Politicians deplete SS funds knowing that the Over 65 age group is a Declining Voter Base. Politicians are exacerbating the DECLINE of the Wealth of the Middle Class in America.
In all seriousness, the government ruins everything. Social Security is by no means a dependable source of retirement income mainly because it’s continuously taken from to fund government programs and on top of that it’s taxed.
The best thing our corrupt government can do is put at tax ceiling on all taxes after age 65 so once that age is achieved, one won’t have to pay taxes any longer on anything. That should apply to US citizens only unless you are or once were a member of congress because that’s a conflict of interest
Maybe stop paying those that never put in
The idea that social security is not going to be your sole income in old age needs to be shared with the young so they can start saving early! At 50 or 55 it may be too late!
Better yet, how about finding and prosecuting the massive fraud in this program and ALL “social” programs.
Stop paying to those who didn’t pay in. Go back to the basic purpose, payments for the worker. Spouse benefits are ok but I don’t like the payments to kids until they are 18, college tuition benefits and any payments to illegal entrants.
I would also like to see the earnings ceiling for contributions raised, meaning more of your annual earnings can be “taxed” and maybe a sliding scale when benefits are paid. If you are very wealthy, maybe a benefit reduction when you start to collect a little unfair, true but, if you don’t need it maybe offer a tax deduction in it’s place.
Simplify this ridiculous program or allow people to opt out completely to save on their own.
I have a girlfriend who was forced to retire from her position with Henderson County because of her anxiety. I repeatedly have urged her to get on Social Security with disability. She has been on North Carolina disability for five years. SSA says she has to apply and wait another two years! I would like someone who could come out and talk to her and help her get on the right path. We broke up a few months ago, but I still help her financially. But I am starting to run short of money and may move to Alabama soon. Without the right setup from the SSA, this could be devastating for her in solo many ways.
There should be ongoing interactive education programs such as webinars on specific social security topics. Tricare does this, and it really helps. The webinar could be recorded and saved into a library for future access. Webinar topics should also be offered periodically, not just “one & done”.
They should explain where the money went and why we are paying more and more and getting less and less. When I started paying into this system, Medicare had zero copays and everything was covered. Now we are forced to buy plans B, C, D, E, F, G, etc…to get the same coverage we were promised when we started paying into the program.
Just starting the “process” as 65 is looming. About to find out what a quagmire this process (and supplements) are and HOPE I guess right.
Collect SSA from ALL income. That means that the rich pay on ALL income. Eliminate the cap.
Stop penalizing people that didn’t sign up for drug program right away. When you’re not taking drugs & you have to pay 50.00 a month for the plan it’s a scam. Greedy government has their hand in your pocket continuously always wanting more & keeping you poor. It’s disgusting. We’re just slaves to Washington so they can live like King’s & Queen’s.
time to tell seniors that Biden and the Democrat administration is more focused on wasting billions in Ukraine than it is keeping social security solvent
Also tell those thieves in Congress to leave our money alone! They and all the illegal aliens collecting it is what is draining our hard earned money! If they aren’t willing to do those two things, we should have the option to quit putting money in and get what we have put in back.
Eliminate the cap and remove SS monies from the general fund
I chose hire more advisors, but my option is simple : ANSWER THE PHONE.
Make sure that people know that the (benefit?) is taxable and also in many states.
If someone’s in their 60s and hasn’t gotten any real savings accumulated, it’s probably way too late to try to encourage saving. People have to understand that Soc. Sec. & Medicare are the largest debts the US government faces. We are staring at cutbacks in both programs. What might help is if the Federal government was reduced in size to its Constitutional limits (that means ALL depts. except the Dept. of Defense need to be ended with budgets zeroed out).
The penalty for earning over the cap is ridiculous. The additional income is still taxed so how is it right to penalize the SS income – I payed into the system since I was a teenager and I earned it.
Everyone has different “specific” concerns. Decisions related to the life-changing move to retirement require in-depth planning and are the responsibility of the individual, SS decisions are just one category. There are no one-size-fits-all solutions. Information and counselling (if needed) have been and are available. Being spoon-fed anything from the government is not a good idea.
people need to know early in life – social
security isn’t the total amount they’ve earned in life, it’s a tiny tiny portion that was withheld each paycheck. & of that, our wonderful leaders have stolen a large portion to fund their numerous pet projects that only benefit those in government. more importantly – stop giving it to non citizens, stop giving non citizens social security disability. they shouldn’t walk across the border & be given the same or better treatment than a citizen who has worked hard all their lives. many senior citizens are barely able to survive on social security, & for this age group, there’s no additional assistance for food, &other necessities.
People should be educated about the realities of Social Security (aka a government issued “universal basic income”) starting in their freshman year in high school. That would effectively inoculate them against all efforts at communist / socialist indoctrination. Let them know that the 15% of any wages they earn are going to support people who are currently drawing, since LBJ removed the “pay in – pay out” protection of the program and turned it into just another social welfare program. Let them know that by 2029, the government will be required to cut benefits across the board, since the law that is currently in place doesn’t allow for borrowing or reallocating funds to cover the expenses. Let them know that even though a “worker” has paid into the system for 50 years or more, they are taxed on the proceeds they draw once they hit retirement age. And let them know that Medicare isn’t free – you get to pay for your government-issue health care out of your government-issue retirement pay. Liz Warren and Bernie Sanders might find it a little more difficult to sway a well-educated demographic with their promises of “medicare for all” and UBI once these skulls full of mush really understand how that all works.
Before you decide to wait for 70, you should do a break even analysis, comparing both options, to determine at what age you will have collected an equal amount. You then need to look at family history to determine if your break even point is realistic.
How about paying back all the money “borrowed” and stop penalizing people for not having prescription drug coverage when they aren’t taking medications. I have to pay double for the rest of my life because I didn’t take out prescription insurance for not taking any medications. I am on a prescription which costs a lot less than the premium and is cheaper still to buy out of pocket. In other words stop punishing people for getting old. Social Security is our money the government has no right to it.
I cannot give any of your listed answers as mine because there isone more that is more important. The Social Security Administration needs to study the history of itself Do they even know why the SSA came into being, who it was to serve, and decide whether they want to go back to that worthy foundation was set up . If there are others to be served, each of those groups should be takenup individually and thoroughly voted on. It would even be good to let we who receive it now have a vote in any decision made.
In many ways those are all very good topics. What I would like to see is the SS admin become more aggressive in protecting our rights. I had a bad experience when my wife passed. I saw 40% of the household income stop because her benefits were less than mine. I understand a decrease, sure, but her entire benefit walked away and mine never increased to cover non-individual expenses like property taxes etc. I feel they could do more to help reduce those kinds of across the board expenses. Even simply stop all taxing of seniors on all levels.
When I applied for Social Security, the process was simple and efficient – all done on-line. The person who handled my case was extremely responsive and helpful. The amount I am receiving is exactly the same that was listed on my annual benefit projection. There is plenty of information available. My only complaint is that no one ever explained the tax situation – or how to have taxes withheld from my SS payment.
Social Security and it’s Survivor’s benefit plan have changed a lot since 1954. In 1954 my 34 year old father died suddenly from a massive heart attack. My mother was left with 3 children, my older brother was 7, I had just turned 3 and my mother was 6 months pregnant with my younger brother! My father was a WWII Navy veteran, college educated and was self employed. It took my mother 3 YEARS to try and collect Social Security!!!
Why so long??? In those days Social Security didn’t recognize a person’s military record or earnings from being self-employed. When my mother was finally approved for Social Security, the rules stated she could only work part-time and she received only $50/mo. for each of us. And Social Security would continue till age 22 when we finished college (we all went to college and paid our own way). My mother worked and never took any government handouts, only received what she was entitled to!
Why is the system broken??? Today someone can collect Social Security if they have a hang nail, if you never worked or if they are illegal! This and the raiding of the system is why the system is going broke!
SSA should should run PSA’s explaining how your SSA tax dollars are being misspent by state administrators to give illegal immigrants lifetime benefits. Benefits of which none of us would ever be entitled to if we were to “immigrate” South of the Border.
forbes.com/sites/robertwood/2016/04/13/irs-admits-it-encourages-illegals-to-steal-social-security-numbers-for-taxes/?sh=19b752834c04
Why is the system insolvent? Giving benefits to illegals? Congress stealing the money from SS and putting the money into the general fund should indicate that they intended to make it a general fund expenditure!! The federal government is only interested in themselves! Is there ever any talk of the congressional retirement fund running out??
We have been contributing to Social Security and Medicare for our whole working lives. Since we have been contributing to it, there should never be an insolvency issue if it had been treated as a retirement plan from its inception. Unfortunately our federal government chose to steal from our retirement by taking our contributions and move them into the general fund so they could waste them through their pet programs of adding disability to it, expanding medicare beyond those over retirement age and building a large population of “welfare bums” and families who have been using welfare as a sole or primary income for generations. The estimates put the ” government theft ” from the Social Security system in the Trillions, some estimates as low as $2.6 trillion.If these crooked politicians had left our contributions alone and treated our contributions, which were set in 1935 as a trust fund but changed by LBJ in 1968 to a “Budget Item”, in the same manor as insurance and money managers are required to do by these same federal criminals, insolvency would never have been an issue and we would likely be retiring on a substantially larger monthly payment. Is it time for a class action law suit by all current retirees and contributors against these criminals, their heirs and families to recover all the misused funds for OUR system of retirement with interest and accumulated lost revenue which would have been accumulated had the trust fund been dealt with as required? This is definitely food for thought. Keep this in mind when it comes to the November mid-terms. It’s time to show each and every Liberal, Socialist, RINO, and Democrat the door
Social Security for American Citizens : ONLY .
To stave off insolvency, means testing should be used. There are many who collect SoSec that do not need it. Also, it should be left to Americans that paid into it, not every immigrant that comes here illegally.
The original purpose was a supplemental income for the elderly. Over time it has allowed changes to accept those who are not retirement age to tap into the program. They should have a separate program which would go a long way toward solving the insolvency program now facing Social Security.
The survey suggests education about Social Security’s insolvency is an important topic. I wonder how the govt can find billions of dollars for any political issue of the moment, many of which place foreign interests above the interests of hard-working taxpayers, while simultaneously warning us that SS is heading toward insolvency. Add to this that career politicians continue to get rich from “insider information” AND vote themselves improved benefits and increased pay year after year, and you have a seriously broken system that is devoid of trust.
CUT SS DC bureaucracy alone & send funds to retireees
CUT Govt waste: CAGW.org
Change programs
Boost age to 70-75 to collect for Gen X
I don’t think there would have been a problem if the greedy politicians had kept their grabby paws off of social security money. The money should have been left alone to grow with interest. Also if a person didn’t contribute, they shouldn’t be allowed to have it. The only exception would be someone so disabled they can’t work.
They mail out more crap than anybody reads or learn from. reduce all the repetitive information.
Just walking into social security office ( when time to start it) was an education for me. Room was full of ppl in their 20’s and 30’s and up in age. After lunch and most of them where still in pajamas and uncombed hair, and you know they didn’t brush the teeth. I pulled my number and sat down, thinking I’d be waiting all afternoon because standing room only. Within 5 mins my #was called. All the ppl there was disability applicants. Since parking lot was full, I suppose they all had cars we were paying for. Ppl have learned to use the system.
Waiting until your 70 to take benefits is betting that you will live to 86 to break even.
Does SS or any Government department have cost training? I doubt it. In private entities there are three steps you must do to keep your job. Reduce cost, avoid cost and cost containment. With the government having all the money they collect from us, all I see in Government is complete waste. People need to lose their jobs!! or have to answer to somebody. The Government has their nose in everything, and is way out of control due to it’s size. The Government needs change damn soon! as our money is running out.
Social Security is one of the greatest failures of all time. They’ve taken our money, many of us against our will, encouraged people NOT to save or take care of themselves for the future which has resulted in dependency on the government. The politicians have used our Social Security contributions as their personal piggy banks, and many Americans are going to be caught in a terrible predicament when that money is no longer there. It’s a scam. Just another way for the government to control us and take our wealth.
Just like insurance – you depend on insurance to come through and pay for things you didn’t put money aside for (because you were paying the insurance) and then when you need it, there are strings attached, rules changed, and you find you can’t rely on the insurance to pay the bill after all.
We are better off being self sufficient. We need to get the government out of our lives. They just steal from us. Look at what they’ve done to others; they promise one thing and cheat us out of what we expected.
I think it would solve some problems if the FED gave all of the money stolen from the trust!
People should also understand that there are situations where taking their benefits at 62 or 66 would be better in their individual situations. There is a breakeven point for 62 v 66 at around 78, and another for 66 v 70 at around 83. If you are in good health, then waiting can be to your advantage.
I didn’t need mine at 62, but took it at 62 and have invested it, and made out MUCH better when comparing the projected accumulation + adjustments for inflation over the years.
I am not a financial consultant. This is my individual experience.