Social security

MCC7688---->Let me & my employer contribute that 12.4% of my gross to my 401k.

Exactly. It would be interesting to do a dollar-by-dollar comparison of the returns and waste fraud abuse in the Social Security System vs Money Managers. Problem is we as Americans tend to live for today and assume (face palm) The Government will take care of us in the future. In other words, we are lousy savers.

An interesting tid bit. I have it mapped down to the month when I hit the SSA contribution cap (taxable maximum). When that occurs that extra amount in my salary is automatically invested. All year my net income remains the same but the amount of saving and investable return above the taxable maximum is "working for me" and no longer feeding the SSA ponzi scheme.

What was it Albert Einstein said. "Compound interest is the 8th wonder of the world. He who understands it earns it. He who doesn't, pays it." Not to be confused of course with that other fellow who thinks the Grand Canyon is one of the nine wonders of the world.

weak argument...don't care if you think it should have never happened...it did and it can be managed....Republicans keep wanting to take these things aeay from people....don't really want to hear that 401k argument...401k plans are say underfunded...every few years we all lose our money and start over...great plan for the owners of it

Marion County,

Thank you for clarity and facts that sone of these numbskulls just don’t possess. The government should have no discretion of my saving habits and tell me I have to pay ito a failing system they cannot regulate correctly on my behalf. nor the responsibility for stupidity on my part. Perhaps if people were exposed to the wrong way they would educate themselves. People need to pick the right hard..

It's not the governments job to provide for people who make poor financial choices, and it shouldn't be my responsibility to fund it. I still say raising the cap over time (should have been designed that way) would make it more solvent. Making it incredibly difficult to cheat the system would help too. Referencing back to the sheer number of people drawing social security disability that could be working. Again, I still reiterate that I don't believe the system should ever have been put in place. I did some quick math... Based on my average contributions (rough estimate) and what the little paper says I could draw at 62. If I live to 82 I will draw 25K more than I paid in. The system is fundamentally Flawed*

There are a lot of people out there making more than the current cap on social security taxes, as GGMM points out. Removing the cap and having workers and employers pay into SSI as a flat tax (6.2% each) would seem to be a simple solution. As for "just let me have my money and put it in my 401(k)", the savings behaviors of Americans suggest that such an approach would be a bad idea for at least two reasons. First, the discipline isn't there. Second, the markets actually do have bad years. We'll agree that the markets over time make sense, and we will always side with those who pay themselves first. But so many Americans live paycheck to paycheck that we are concerned that it won't work out.

@rio: we/you/us contribute 6.2% of our gross, the employer matches that. So, the employer pays they're part. The number of people making a million dollars a year is roughly 0.05% of the population. Now, consider the number of actors and athlete's that populate that very small percentage. So, the number of "evil corporations" paying their CFO,CEO's "millions of dollars a year" wouldn't have that big of an impact. At the end of the day, the working class would still carry the vast majority of the problem. But, in my opinion, the problem needs stopped immediately. If it's going bankrupt, stop pouring money into it. Let me & my employer contribute that 12.4% of my gross to my 401k. That'd put me at 42.4% of my gross going into an investment that yields an average 40% return (Trump) of a 10% yield (Biden) year over year.

The idea of removing the cap would be a financial burden on the employer that would put them out of business...ridiculous....if you can pay employees sometimes millions of dollars...you will not be hurt...paying your fair share of tax

"Eliminating Social Security fraud would go a long way to preserving the program.
The SSA estimates they paid out $8.3 billion in improper payments in fiscal year 2020."

$8.3 billion is 0.6% of total outlays.

That's equivalent to a day and a half of work...

Same here when my dad died last year. The funeral home let them know for me.

When my mother passed away. Within ten days of her death. I informed the local office of her death. I waited 45 minutes to have a half a minute conversation.

Me: My mother recently passed away. Her name is…, her SSAN is…

Clerk: Typing , looking at screen. Yup, we have been notified. Sorry for your loss.

Me: All good. Thanks.

@GGMM: I partially agree with you. The cap doesn't need to be removed, just raised. Removing the cap would be a financial burden on the employer that would put them out of business. Remember, they contribute to that pot on your behalf as well. Raising the cap to 200K seems reasonable to me.

@Rio: the two statements were independent. The money war materiel we are sending overseas is just another example of the government giving my and your money away to people who don't deserve it, without caring what we think about the matter. As for S.S.I, S.S.D, medicare and Medicaid, those programs should never have existed to begin with. They are giant failures added to the long list of "good idea fairy" scams where we siphon off money from the taxpayers and give it to those that THE GOVERNMENT feels need my money more than me. Oh, BTW , pay no attention to the salaries of those .gov employees that are also paid out of the taxpayers contribution.

Report fraud* you can bet that number is 10x the number of cases they didn't catch. I see perfectly healthy people every day, living off the government teet. I know an attorney that has helped dozens of people get on disability for some of the craziest "mental disorders" you've ever heard of. Agoraphobia, Trichotillomania and a host of completely unprovable disorders. Now, I'm a bit of a hard ass when it comes to that kinda stuff. So my input is going to be influenced by my personal experiences, but C'mon... Just in my little corner of the world I see people living off of entitlements that we pay for, that could be working for a living.

"Get rid of the fraud, and the system will be a whole lot more solvent."

The last year for which there are reliable figures says that Social Security paid out over a trillion dollars. That makes $8.3B pretty close to a rounding error and one where even if that sum was reclaimed every year, it would still only add a few handfuls of months to the available cash. Not that there shouldn't be checks and balances in every state and Federal payment program, but you're looking in the wrong direction for the greatest impact for solving the problem.

How right you are DB.. now throw in Many States Insurance... Organized Fraud by many Illegals, cartels.. and YES worked this all over Florida and Georgia after second retirement for staged accidents and crooked doctors and attorneys who broker patients.. but it is ignored and the rich get richer!

All our costs SS , Medical , Car Insurance, would be lower but someone has to pay!

Eliminating Social Security fraud would go a long way to preserving the program.

The SSA estimates they paid out $8.3 billion in improper payments in fiscal year 2020.

The same goes for Medicare. Get rid of the fraud, and the system will be a whole lot more solvent.

“I know plenty of people living in the projects who've never worked a day in their life, and are drawing SSI income"

Lol

Well I know plenty of people living in very nice neighborhoods who are not independently wealthy who have never worked a day in their lives and are drawing SSI income.

It’s called SS Disability.

And unfortunately it is not a lot of money. So some recipients in fact do live in the “projects”. Pretty shitty hand of card they were dealt.

I know some people who are unable to work, and never have been able to. Their families have helped set them up. And a big part of that set up is using the SSI disability as part of the plan.

Social Security is a Ponzi Scheme...sending billions overseas? explain that.

Alabama gets $2.17 for every $1 paid in federal taxes, report states...a welfare state

@Rio:
I have a POS estranged family member doing it right now. So yes, I know first hand of it happening. And the FAQ reference was to my initial statement on people being able to draw it. The whole system needs scrapped. It's a Ponzi scheme to start with. Of course, the billions and billions were sending over seas probably would have went a long way towards funding a few issues at home too.

"good" is spot on to the solution

Social Security website will NOT answer your you comment that say "I know plenty of people living in the projects who've never worked a day in their life, and are drawing SSI income" so don't spin out of it you own what you say..answer the question

I never planned to ever need social security. If it's there when I need it it'll be a bonus but I really don't care one way or the other if I'm being honest.

If anyone cares to actually fact check my statement. The social security website has the answers under FAQ.

Based on the ages of the people whose posts I can see. IMHO, we will be fine. Any substantial age or income changes to SS happen over an extended period. The last time they bumped up the age? It took 39 years to fully implement.

"What, precisely, will Congress do?"

Well, my crystal ball is in the shop.

As GGMM said, the easiest fix would be to remove the cap on earnings.

It really depends on who is in power when the shit hits the fan.

The probability is that whatever they do, it will be a short term fix that makes the problem worse in the long run.

That's the way it usually works, right? Kick the can down the road...