As legislators refuse to act, benefits will be cut without any possibility of sheltering those seniors who are poor.
Biden tweeted last week that he will be a “nightmare” for Republicans who dream of cutting Social Security and Medicare. With this statement, Biden showed that he’s either shockingly ignorant about these two programs and any Republican reform efforts—or lack thereof—or just another politician who washes his hands of what happens when he’s out of office and the programs hit upcoming obstacles.
It’s important for people to grasp reality because no single issue will affect our fiscal future more than Social Security and Medicare. Spending on these two programs alone consumes 45 percent of the federal budget. Along with Medicaid, these programs are the drivers of our current and future debt. And to drive home the seriousness of our predicament, note that Medicare and Social Security together face a shortfall of $116 trillion over the next 30 years.
How Congress decides to address this shortfall will have serious consequences on the government’s ability to pay for everything else or on Americans’ tax burdens, whether they be rich or poor.
This is why it’s worth trying to get through to those who, for instance, believe that Congress shouldn’t reform entitlements because they have paid for every dollar and are entitled to them. This assertion is incorrect. Americans have indeed been paying for some benefits, but not for their own and not for all of what they will receive.
Consider Social Security. The program is funded by a payroll tax of 12.4 percent. The revenues collected don’t belong to the workers except in the sense that paying taxes makes us eligible to receive Social Security when we retire. But these revenues don’t go into accounts with our names on them. Instead, they are used to fund payments made to current retirees. It’s a pay-as-you-go system, not an investment account. In the former, adjustments are sometimes necessary.
Second, beneficiaries receive more than they paid in taxes. The average Social Security retiree will get $698,000 and will only have paid $625,000. That explains the program’s insolvency. It’s even worse for Medicare since the average beneficiary receives three times more than he or she pays in taxes for that program.
PAY AS YOU GO SYSTEM. Always has been, always will be.
Those of you in favor of getting rid of SS, remember… you will be old/er and unable to work yourselves, at some point.
I am on SS right now. I retired earlier than I wanted to because the scamdemic took my job and killed my industry. But… I would have retired at some point anyway. So will you. I still work full time, but I get payed cash under the table. SS is not nearly enough to live on. SS isn’t the problem. Politicians are the problem. They misused the funds and basically stole from the SS pot. It’s easy to extol the virtues of saving, investing and being frugal and smart with your money while you’re young (laughing my ass off!), but very few can do it. What would you have all of us older folks do when our working days are done? Maybe Logan’s run… Carousel?
I was discussing politics with a boomer neighbor that flies a Gadsden flag in front of his house and he says he’ll never give up his Social Security money.
There is no trust fund, just a pay as you go system.
As a person who maxed out SS contributions for most of my life I will likely see little or nothing from SS when I retire. It will become a true entitlement. Those that saved invested and have adequate resources will get little or nothing. And yes, I remain frugal and invest. I chose a career wisely and it has paid well. I remain lucky in the market anticipating moves. The last 2 year and I’m still up 4% with the market downturn.
And yes this entire mess was caused by both parties/politicians past and present.
True, but the question is still the same; what to do with the hundreds of thousands of retired people who are no longer able to work? Carousel??? I know the younger people will answer with the too bad/tough shit attitude, but they will all be in the same boat one day… and even the ones that saved and lived wisely (that just makes me laugh) won’t have amassed enough money to live out their lives. Carousel???
Sorry, but you will have to enlighten me what the reference “Carousel” means.
As far what to do with the hundreds of thousands retired people: If the federal government is purposely driving up our debt and bankrupting our country by spending it on Ukraine, purposely murdering our own citizens with toxic vaccines, flooding our country with illegals with open borders, poisoning our food, our water with chemicals and destroying our power grids, what makes you think they give a sh*t about rescuing SS?
Despite their children being in poverty, despite America’s debt being in the trillions, and despite a lifetime of material consumption, the baby boomers continue to collect paychecks from the government to keep themselves alive in a vegetated state.
They remain in massive houses as their children are forced to share housing after marriage, they remain with free healthcare while their children go uninsured, and they collect social security paychecks despite experiencing years of wealth and abundance that their children successfully are not likely to ever see…"
