I always say the govt. gives the older people something with one hand & takes it away with the other hand. You can never win.

The federal "government" does nothing in this regard other than administer laws as enacted by Congress. If you don't like what the laws do, tell your representatives in Congress, they're the ones responsible.

With the years that DH and I have worked...SS is mostly our own money anyway. And talking

to my representatives to Congress is like talking to the wall. They are filling their pockets

and don't really care about ours.

Anyway...please don't say that the Government is "giving" us SS. What they add, doesn't

come close.

"SS is mostly our own money anyway."

Are you sure? That's true for very few people. Facts are important, check them to be sure.

You can sign on to your account at My Social Security and get details of your lifetime contributions on the one side, and benefit payments on the other. .

I just did that. My earnings exceeded the taxable Social Security (aka FICA) max level for over 3 decades. The total of my contributions and the "employer's share" (which was also paid by me for most of the years as a self-employed person) is fully recovered, fully paid back, by benefit payments to be received in the first 5 years. FIVE YEARS ONLY!. I can only be fully repaid once, so everything after that is not my money but rather free money from the government.

Elmer, you don't need it? I hope you are very, very thankful for that.

I've looked at the numbers....five years is correct. The rest is given or provided to recipients. Social security has been referred to as a type of welfare. A house of cards relying on the young population who's still working.

Being self sufficient, not needing SS, is something to be proud of. I'm not sure it's polite to tell anyone....? especially if the conversation involves SS recipients. Which is the disgust people are feeling here. Life throws a lot at us and being able to dodge and dart is not always in the cards.

We have a messed up system. It would be nice if people who have a combined income of $250k or more were ineligible for SS. But you can have billions...and still receive SS.

A fairer FICO system would tax ALL of everyone's income, not just up to a cutoff amount. We could put a big dent in our homeless problem.

I've read that for half of SS beneficiaries, their benefits make up half of their income, but for 25 percent, it's virtually all they have to live on. Can you imagine where we'd be without Social Security?

The cutoff amount has been increasing quite a bit in the last several years but SSI is still predicted to be insolvent by 2033. I think it would be better to increase the maximum cutoff amount substantially for FICA withholdings to keep the system solvent for those that have contributed into it for their entire careers.

I paid into SS for the first couple decades of my working life but have been paying into Railroad Retirement for the last 19 years. RRRT tier 2 is an additional 4.9% for the employee on top of the 7.5% for tier 1 (same as FICA). The benefit amount paid after retirement is substantially more than SSI depending on how many years of service put in and at what age one starts taking benefits.

You're right, Nicole, I apologize for that and have removed the remark. Doing so orphaned some comments but the greater good was served. Thanks

"We could put a big dent in our homeless problem."

We've already tried throwing money at this problem. ie: Built them housing and they burned it down. We don't have a solution to eliminate the homeless problem. There are safe houses, EBT, free medical care and section 8 for those that will accept help. But...for ALL the rest....?

Higher taxes for the poor....don't think that's helpful either.

LoneJack....Excellent!

I put 40% of my income into a retirement fund with my employer. (any amount could be named, it might of had a cap, it does in today's system). My husband had one employer that started 401k's(probably just savings accounts w/ the idea of it being for retirement) for each employee and only he contributed to the fund. When the employee left, they took the account with them....but only if they'd worked for him for 10 years...otherwise it was forfeit. Lots of inventive solutions out there....

On a different aspect:

"I've read that for half of SS beneficiaries, their benefits make up half of their income, but for 25 percent, it's virtually all they have to live on. Can you imagine where we'd be without Social Security?"

Social Security is a very important program. While some politicians complain about it (it is a very large portion of the federal budget), it's thankfully mostly treated as a sacred cow when it comes to spending budget time. As it should be.

To chisue's interesting comment, I know that many people depend on it for a substantial portion of their support. I have such an oldster in my family, whose inadequate SS benefits are supplemented by monthly (substantial) support payments from me and other family members. I've asked a few times "what were you thinking, why didn't you plan for retirement years and put more away as savings?" The reply is " we didn't think about that, I don't know why." This is probably a common story - no advance planning = no or inadequate savings practices = no resources for retirement years.

"A house of cards relying on the young population who's still working."

My understanding is that this isn't exactly how it works. While many refer to a Social Security Trust Fund, there is no fund or set aside. FICA collections are a supplemental income tax, SS benefits are federal expenditures. Each can continue or be altered without affecting the other.

If that is true...about people not thinking about putting away money for their retirement...if they

are able to, most of today's young workers that I know are being much smarter about it. The

ones I know and/or deal with have many funds in place for their retirement years. But, on

the other hand, a lot of them have no intention of working as long as most in the past.. Be

interesting to see how that works out for them. Hopefully they won't have lots of emergencies

that will drain their savings.

5.9% ? Meh. With he cost of everything going up this isn't much.

FICA collections are a supplemental income tax, SS benefits are federal expenditures. Each can continue or be altered without affecting the other.

So true. ☺ A statement without blame.....and a future for SS that's sustainable in that context. ☺

"If that is true...about people not thinking about putting away money for their retirement..."

Why else could it be that social security benefits are someone's only source of support? Unless a person has financial resources (like from family sources) independent of income from working income, retirement savings during years of employment are as necessary a money outlay as is money spent on housing and food. Doing nothing results in the SS only scenario.

"I've asked a few times "what were you thinking, why didn't you plan for retirement years and put more away as savings?" The reply is " we didn't think about that, I don't know why." This is probably a common story - no advance planning = no or inadequate savings practices = no resources for retirement years."

It's not a matter of "doing nothing". My family, other than just out and out saving money, never planned for retirement per se. My dad worked for the post office. My mom had a small job at one time but was mostly stay at home. They certainly never spoke to me or my siblings about saving or finding a job that had retirement plans. It just wasn't on our radar. I always had "jobs". I didn't have a career or even a chance at having such a thing. I didn't know anything about saving for retirement. It wasn't a "thing" like it is now. And there are plenty of people out there that just have "jobs". And Social Security will probably be all they ever have for retirement, if indeed, they can even ever afford to retire.

It's easy to wonder why everyone doesn't plan for retirement when coming from a place of having money, a pension, some other means. But I can assure you there are many more people who do not have that luxury.

Totally agree with you, Murraysmom. Most people in my family,,, sibs, cousins, aunts/uncles,,,, as well as many acquaintainaces did not have careers, only jobs & never had retirement on their radar to "plan for". My parents never instilled any financial advise in me. They had no knowledge of such things.

I recall a fellow nurse telling me in the 80's(?) that she was contributing $5 per pay towards our employers retirement plan (which included some matching $). I suggested she might want to increase that dramatically, but I don't know whether or not she did. Many people live pay check to pay check & have nothing left to contribute towards saving & barely (or don't even) live within their means. SS literally saves them in their old age.

murraysmom, it's not my intent to be critical of anyone. Isn't the need to plan ahead for most things a requirement we all learn, sometimes the hard way, as we become functioning adults? If no planning and no action is done in advance of a need, it's too late. I don't think this is complicated nor does it depend on one's means.

No one can afford to spend all of their earnings during their working years and have no plan for savings for things along the way and separately, for retirement. I feel sorry for those who didn't plan ahead but their unfortunate situations are the result of their own choices and actions.

Something struck me while watching TV reports of people losing their homes in 2008. The 'paycheck to paycheck' people were interviewed in homes -- often kitchens -- that had every gimcrack known to man -- the biggest appliances, too. Our consumer based national economy has to sell, sell, sell *stuff*, and it seem to me the people who buy the most junk can least afford it. I respect what unions have done for workers, but sometimes they've become something like a Papa for people to rely upon. When Ford said he wanted to make automobiles cheap enough for the average man who built them to afford, a vicious circle arrived, along with the 'benefits'.

I'm in my 30's and I assume that there won't be Social Security still around in 30 years when I need it, though I'm still contributing! And pensions aren't really a thing for most people like they used to be.

Most people I know around my age take retirement pretty seriously. I saw a recommendation to have 3x your annual salary in retirement funds by age 40 so that's what I aimed for.

Some people don't make enough to put aside anything for retirement. I was one of those people until I became a nurse. I was a single mom, living on next to nothing. If I hadn't gone back to school I would've made barely enough to raise my kids and nothing else. I also lucked out in that I was hired by a government hospital, was in the military and was able to buy back my military time. I just got my 25 year pin and certificate, but have only actually worked there for 18 years. If I hadn't changed jobs after the first few months I would only have whatever I put into a 401K. The first hospital I was at didn't have a retirement program and I know of other nurses who do not have them at their hospitals. Some of them have come to work at our hospital later in life just to have some retirement because they finally realized they had nothing saved.

Congrats to you, kathsgrdn. You figured out what you needed to do and have worked hard to have the success and financial security you've attained. Many do and many don't.

Many can and many can't.

You are so right Murraysmom. So many things went my way and I had so much help. If another nursing student hadn't told me about my current job and the benefits to someone like me, I would never have applied. I actually walked past the recruiter at our job fair because of preconceived notions I had about them. If my neighbor hadn't watched my kids for next to nothing, I probably wouldn't have been able to afford child care. If my father hadn't helped here and there with my rent and food...I would have had to work, take nursing classes along with my prerequisites and I probably would have failed out. Over half my classmates each semester failed because of the stress of job and school. If the school hadn't submitted my name for several single mom grants, it would've been harder to feed my kids and pay my rent. If, if, if. I worked one summer and took classes and ended up with an extremely painful umbilical hernia. I had to quit my job because lifting/turning patients (CNA) was impossible. If I didn't have help, including student loans to help pay for things, those grants and my father, I would probably be living paycheck to paycheck and have no retirement right now. It isn't always hard work that puts you in a good situation. Luck, and help from other people/family got me where I am. What do you do when you have no one?

So well said, Kathsgrdn. I, too, have had some help along the way from family and at least one employer. It really is the luck of the draw, your life experience, of course hard work and persistence but not everyone gets the opportunity to move up. You definitely appreciated and made the most of the opportunity you had. You are to be admired. CNA is a very difficult job and the pay does not come close to a living wage.

Everyone's life experience is different. There is no one "right" way to live your life. You just make the best decisions you can and live with the consequences.

Most people do not have any idea what life was like before Social Security. It was a life saver for so many elderly people who couldn't work anymore.

I was raised by a single mother. My father died when I was 6. My father was a soldier in WW1 and got the 1918 flu. He was left with a bad heart. He got a disability from the VA but he worked after discharge as an electrician. He paid into Social Security.

My mother was born in 1908 and had no education, was put to work as a child as were her other sisters. The boys went to school, but the girls worked domestic work.

I was born when my mother was 48. My two brothers were 20 -22 yrs older. Married, working and had families. My mother raised me as an only child.

My mother had no education, could not read or write. Never went to school. But was strict about her children having a good education. My father taught me to read at age 4.

After he died, I had to work as soon as I got working papers. I worked at a library, after school for $40.00 a month. I handed her that money. After high school, the VA paid for College but I still had to work full time to help my mother. I attended Community College at night after work.

Long and short, everyone has their stories why Social Security saved their lives and their families. I can't imagine what would have happened to me and my mother without it.

My father, as a disabled Veteran left my mother a pension and along with that and Social Security, and my working from a young age, helped us to have a good life. VA even paid for me to attend College for 4 yrs.

Until you walk in other peoples shoes, don't make comments that you haven't lived or understand.

Jane