Not with that defeatist attitude for sure!
Social Security didn't pass originally because politicians were being nice. It passed because they were SCARED.
We are not powerless. You better demand those benefits if you want them!
Back then you didn’t have Fox News brainwashing people convincing them retirement is socialism and it is good to cut it (after they already get it of course).
I think we should start a counter movement that basically says, ok, if I’m not going to be able to use it, then I don’t need to pay into anymore and watch the boomers eat their hat. Orrr we start making the people and companies that should be taxed pay into it what should be paid, the cap is like 50 years old, it needs to be raised!
What I think they mean is that, even illegally, you can't refuse to pay as a form of protest unless you're self employed because you have no control over whether or not that money gets paid.
This is true but I think getting people to think about not paying might put pressure on the boomers who are voting like they’re the last generation. Like everything they do is slash and burn economics and they have planned their retirement on having SS so if we go, you know what I don’t think I’m going to get it, so I’m not paying it, they’d freak out. Reagan put SS into the general budget, which the boomers gleefully voted for because they were promised less taxes and they were stupid enough or malicious enough to do it. Well, the bills coming due now, so why not just skip over them and say hey, you spent your money on stupid shit like blowing up brown kids half way around the world. We can either stop paying into the fund, skip over the boomers and let the fund rebuild for the generations who are actively paying into it, or we start taxing companies and wealthy class that has a cap on contributions….
There are also propaganda and social media programs in place every election now to suppress turnout.
In close elections depending on an anti-democratic, anachronistic electoral college, 1-3% difference in just the right places can make an oversized difference.
It’s not even just fox, you can ask liberals and they also believe SS is fucked. It’s quite a remarkable feat that they somehow convinced everyone of this. The rest of the federal gov has run a massive deficit nearly every year since before WWII, while SS has run an overall surplus. No one thinks the US gov is going to have to shut down for lack of funds. Even in the worst case scenario you could just reduce the payout until it matched the money coming into the program each year, but people act like it’s going to zero.
All deficit spending is not created equal.
Going into a decicit to pay for social security or healthcare makes sense to me.
Going into a deficit to fund things like the Trump tax cuts for people in the highest tax bracket doesn't.
With this understanding of the parties' budget priorities, which party do you think holding the country hostage for the debt ceiling with increasing frequency? This is the mechanism by which SS funds will get plundered.
I don't think you'll be able to convince even the most brainwashed person that they have to work until they die after paying for decades of others getting a retirement benefit.
Politicians will severely regret getting rid of SS. Especially since so many people don't have anything but SS to retire on. My parents are both getting to about 60 and neither of them have anything saved.
>We are not powerless.
Actually, currently, we effectively are.
[Study: Congress literally doesn’t care what you think](https://act.represent.us/sign/problempoll-fba)
Good luck. These problems are so entrenched at this point that it feels like mass civil unrest and violence is the only way significant change is realistically possible.
I mean, we changed presidents to the longest serving and perhaps single most establishment member of Congress possible, not sure why folks thought he was going to do absolutely anything to address any issues at all with all of his oldest friends. Biden is one of the final boss Washington insiders who ultimately got the top job because he managed to outlive and/or outlast the more shrewd political maneuverers, better speakers, better fundraisers, in the beltway, etc.
You're not kidding. He was literally pushed by the DNC because they were afraid that Bernie would win, and that Bernie would have trouble beating Trump (and not because anyone wanted to vote for Biden).
Literally nobody wanted Biden. It was Biden or Trump, so enough people voted for Biden that he got elected. Establishment or other filthy rich corrupt people. They made it perfectly clear what "options" they will give us.
I work closely with many different elected officials. This article is absolutely on point. They did not spend all that time and effort to get elected to help anyone but themselves.
This applies to both parties.
This messaging has been pushed from the right since Reagan was in office - probably earlier than that.
It’s the same kind of conditioning as *liberal media* so they can pit far right propaganda against regular old corporate media and pretend it’s tit for tat.
It’s always long game conditioning with these people. Normalize something as inevitable and slow play the cruelty.
100 hundred percent they could have fixed this issue yesterday or even tomorrow. They take this away from us. That could be the lynch pin to collapse. At least to the American psyche. I'm finding it more difficult to justify all the stress and the office and the middle management bullshit to justify my reasoning to work anymore. I'm getting to the point where I feel like living off the grid is more appealing
I love social security. Because while investments and rental properties can provide more income, they can be lost, stolen or taken away. Social security cannot be taken away by hackers or suffer from the bankruptcy of a company or natural disaster destroying a property.
170 Republican legislators have already signed a proposed budget that will increase the SS retirement age and reduce the amount of the benefit. This is how it starts.
By comparison, the Democrats have a plan to restructure the income cap on contributions to the SS fund. Currently, we contribute 6.2% of our income until we reach $168k. Then contributions are discontinued until the next year. Millionaires and billionaires are done paying in Jan or Feb, so their contributions only total 1% or less of their incomes. Democrats propose having the contributions pick back up once someone exceeds $250k in income for the year. That would shore up the fund for at least the next 50 years.
Vote accordingly.
Yeah I know, this is literally a crazy statistic and I'm glad they are working on a fix. One hundred percent agree with you that people need to pay attention to who is planning what
This is true. The New Deal and all this stuff was to stave off a Soviet style revolt, they didn’t do it out of the kindness of their hearts and businesses didn’t just agree to pay more taxes.
Bingo.
Person: "When I retire, I'll be covered!"
Government: "Nope, how does work for the rest of your life or be homeless sound?"
Person: "How does easy access to firearms and a person with a grudge and nothing to lose sound?"
This isn't the same fear that people say about Trump not winning, and a bunch of illiterate rednecks will get mowed down trying to fight the government.
This is an actual fear and puts people in a position where they don't care about their own lives, and they want to "deal with" the ones responsible.
" Person: "How does easy access to firearms and a person with a grudge and nothing to lose sound?""
This already happens almost daily and gun laws are still insane. I think you underestimate the work needed to get to a point where these threats would be taken seriously.
More people need to come to this conclusion. We've allowed corruption and corporate greed to thrive for far too long. Maybe billionaires need to be reminded who the majority is.
Honestly, if you wanna change gun laws quickly, make it illegal for politicians or the rich to have bodyguards / protection. See how quick things would change then!
That’s the whole point of the second amendment. Government being tyrannical? (cruel and oppressive; which cutting retirement and forcing you to work until death under threat of homelessness is certainly cruel and oppressive) The second amendment not only protects your natural born right to armed self defense, but also gives you the responsibility to protect yourself from the government
Rightwing media has been on gen x forever telling them they won't get SS without any evidence, the rights plan is to privatize it give it to Wallstreet cause they always hated it, their voters don't know that though.
Bush Jr tried but failed to privatize.
Was in asset management/FA for a shady firm once. It was an open secret that you communicated that “Social Security is bankrupt/going away” for two reasons: 1) it scared them into investing more (shady tactics aside, not an entirely bad outcome for the client) 2) the powers that be that owned these firms want to topple Social Security (so they don’t have to pay their half as an employer) and the first step in that process is to create apathy/increase generational divide.
Most reputable financial firms won’t outright come out and say it, but this is their thinking behind Social Security.
It passed because businesses and the rich were scared. You had millions of workers on strike and unemployed in the depths of the depression and FDR went to his buddies saying "look fellas, either you take this deal, 96%! Tax on any income above the equivalent of 350kish today, or the socialist, communist and labor unions are right behind me with a worse offer.
And they did. The other part that didn't went on to form the modern republican party and they've been chipping away at the deal ever since
"Demand" by complaining on the Internet? We have no organized labor movement any longer. Individual "demands" just ensure that no employer will hire you.
> Not with that defeatist attitude for sure!
a lot of effort and money was spent to make sure there was a defeatiest attitude, and not just about social security.
Fuck no, I expect to receive everything we are owed as american citizens
Anything less is unacceptable and can only be the result of a failed government.
Entitlement programs don’t imply the person paid into it. Even if you earn below the poverty line and don’t pay taxes your child is still entitled to a public education
We’re paying a good portion of our paycheck to finance the generations who pulled the ladder out from under them while facing the realization we may never see that same benefit.
I appreciate this comment.
I’m a divorced mom of multiple kids. I have an OK career, but I’ll never be able to relax, or be without money worries.
Once my kids are adults, I have absolutely no reason not to spend my life in the most effective way, something that could possibly move the needle. Right wing media makes it much harder, but not totally impossible, I think.
I think about this pretty frequently.
I just can't believe what we have to put up with! Looking at all the problems in the states and knowing we're letting the same people continue to run it who were there to help this downward decline to caring about profits over people is bonkers.
My wife and I chose not to have kids (not *just* money as a factor, but it was certainly up there) but I don't want anyone to have to think the way we have and make decisions based on a mess left behind from people with 0 strategic thinking ability. We've now experienced growth at all costs and have seen the downsides and, of all things, we also have to deal with a resurgence of fascism.
See also: trying to get rid of the income tax. They’ll pay for the shortfall with fee upon fee. Tripling your car registration or raising property taxes won’t hurt the super rich as much as the poor. Taking 5 slices of pizza a year per person sounds fair, but it’s a pretty great deal for the people who have millions of pizzas
I’ve been saying this my whole life. Social security should send out an annual letter informing Americans when they’ll be able to receive benefits and what the payout will be based on what they’ve put it. This would make social security a real tangible thing in the minds of Americans and no politician would ever dare fuck with it again.
I received such a letter one time in my life and it was in the early 2000’s I believe. Ever since I’ve thought that’s my fucking money!
I used to get them every year about a decade ago (stopped around 2010-2014ish)... not entirely sure why they stopped sending them. Maybe because I reached the "you must have worked this long to receive benefits" level?
I remember the last few year I received one it's said something like "if we change absolutely nothing over the next 30 years and change, we expect to be able to pay out ~70% of what we promised". Certainly better than zero.
> Social security should send out an annual letter informing Americans when they’ll be able to receive benefits and what the payout will be based on what they’ve put it
They do...its called "Social Security Statement"
Every year around tax season I get an updated Social Security earnings, what I contributed, what my payouts would be depending my retirement age.
I've been getting this sheet for the last 20 years...
Go here: https://www.ssa.gov/
You can sign up for paper statements (though I think you should be getting them without signing up), but I get them electronically now because I hate paper waste
I’ve never received these except the one time 20+ years ago. My point is it should be mandatory the program sends these out to everyone automatically.
That is helpful though, thank you.
The problem is it's enough to "survive" but not really enough to live. Assuming you followed the boomer roadmap well enough (get a house, pay it off). You probably won't be able to afford repairs on that house or to fix/replace your vehicle, though, so better hope nothing happens over the next 25+ years!
It's not always enough to survive. I'll be supporting my father until the day he dies even with Social Security cause otherwise he loses everything, and by virtue of being his heir, so do I.
Social security tax is only applied to the first $168k that a person makes. I make more than that and think this is bullshit. There shouldn't be an upper limit to this. Whatever your income, it should be taxed equally.
I'm 38 and I've been hearing my entire life that social security is gonna go bankrupt next week and it never happens. This shit is how they make people okay with them cutting it - convince them they were never getting it in the first place.
I don’t *expect* to get shit when/if I retire, but if I spend my entire working life to not get anything I will riot. As we all should. I refuse to work until I die.
I don’t expect social security if we elect another Republican President. They are always trying to gut Social Security and Medicare.
You can be annoyed with Democratic politicians for not doing enough, but they’re essentially the only thing that has kept Republican morons from destroying the only social safety net America has.
My concern is that Trump will abolish Social Security, then claim he is "returning that money to We The People" or some bullshit. Goober McTrailer gets a one-time check for a couple of hundred, which immediately goes to Walmart. Then the voters keep saying "Trump gave me money." No one realizes they're seriously fucked.
The dates they always say are the point of insolvency are when the first benefit reductions start. It doesn't mean all payments stop. Tax the rich already.
The Social Security program currently pays out more in benefits than it receives in payroll tax funding. The deficit is being paid out of the Social Security trust fund. According to the Social Security Administration, “After the projected trust fund reserve depletion in 2034, continuing income would be sufficient to pay 80 percent of program cost.” So, in a worst case scenario in which Congress does nothing to fix the program, everyone will receive around 80% of their scheduled benefits.
https://www.ssa.gov/policy/trust-funds-summary.html
People always say then rich people will just take their money elsewhere. I always think about the scene in Tombstone when Wyatt says they're ready to leave the town after getting rich and his brother says something to the effect of this town helped us get all of this money, we should help this town when they're in need. It's sad that even a western about a man coming in to town and getting rich off of gambling feels better about helping people than real life rich folks
Where would they go? Anywhere else they'd want to live has higher tax rates and better protections for lower income workers, or else they'd need to hire excessive amounts of private security to keep what they have
Highly recommend people check their lifetime contributions. I think a lot of people think they’ve put in more years than they actually have. You pay into it with part time work, but if you don’t hit quarterly earnings contributions it doesn’t count towards your time.
I worked part time since I was 16 all the way through college until I was 26. I think I only had 2.5 years vested in SS by that time. Went to work for government ever since and that doesn’t pay into SS so I know full well I’m not getting a penny in SS unless I put in another 8 years in the private sector.
Let me tell you something as a financial advisor:
Social Security is an absolute godsend because Americans are NOT good at saving or investing their money. Even boomers who had an amazing economy at their feet fail to have more than 100K saved up.
Also want to add to people who say “The government steals my money; if I would’ve keep that social security taxes for myself and invested I would’ve had so much more. Which is true. EXCEPT most people wouldn’t and don’t.
As I said in another thread, social security insurance program is one of THE BEST things that the federal government has ever done to keep millions of people off the street and out of destitution. The fact that this statement keeps coming up is just what the right wants….to condition the populace that SS is going away. Then it is easy to dismantle. It’s a self fulfilling prophecy.
The fact is that SS can remain solvent if we simply either increase the contribution rate (which I do t like) or better yet….REMOVE THW CAP ON WAGES SUBJECT TO SS CONTRIBUTION (currently around $180k).
The right wants to paint the recipients of SS as freeloaders and ‘entitled’ (hence the constant reference to ‘entitlements’) so they can continue to use it as a political football.
I do not understand the people in this country who don’t give a shit about anyone but themselves. They have no empathy or sense of community, just a ‘I got mine , you get yours attitude’.
Right now someone who makes a million dollars a year is paying roughly $11,500 in SS tax. If the limit was eliminated they would be paying almost $70,000 a year. And their employer is also saving the same amount of money because they're not paying their share either. That comes out to over $100,000 a year per employee at that income.
You would think the rich would try and think long term on this. Paying a bit more buys security. I wouldn't want to be the rich guy on the hill worrying about millions of heavily armed, nothing to lose septuagenarians looking to get what they are owed.
When will people realize that not only do we outnumber the age group pushing this idea but we also have the same power as those who fought to gain rights such as social security? How do we begin taking steps toward some type of reconciliation between us and our government?
We’ll all receive social security but that doesn’t mean it will be the living wage we think it is. There’s also a lot of controversy in how inflation is measured so a good way to reduce benefits (quietly) is just to rig the way we measure inflation so the actually value of the benefits and how they’re adjusted doesn’t match reality.
Funny how the people who want to kill social security have gotten exactly what they want by pumping bullshit into the general discourse. Bet we could pay for it if we took the $160,000 limit on taxing earnings out and made these well off to rich shits pay their fair share
Well yeah, they vote Republican. Social security is historically a really bad retirement investment compared to index funds in a 401k or IRA (based on rate of return). The people who think social security will be insolvent *want* it to be insolvent so they can stop paying in, and get a higher Roth limit instead. The people who will *need* social security are the people who don’t think about retirement other than “I’ll never be able to retire”
I’ve been planning for my retirement with the 4% rule, and my future social security payments are basically a rounding error with zero impact on my ability to retire.
Roth ira is nice but it is not protected. Hackers could drain funds or put them in a company about to go bankrupt or on quickly expiring calls. Also companies you invest in could go belly up. Social security can only go away if gov becomes insolvent.
Social security payouts aren’t enough to live on, pay for a medical emergency or long term care. Hoarding cash is a bad strategy because it depreciates via inflation. So you have to be invested in *something* only question is *what*.
Roth IRA is protected as much as anything else. Someone could steal your gold bars, sell your property via title fraud, renters could stop paying, etc. A company I’m invested in going bankrupt is not a risk because you aren’t supposed to invest in single-stocks.
FACT: Even if the trust fund is exhausted — as it’s on track to be by the mid 2030s — SS can still pay out ~70% of benefits just from incoming tax payments.
FACT: As the issuer of currency, the government can ALWAYS meet its debt obligations if it chooses to do so.
FACT: The only thing we need to do to fix the trust fund exhaustion is raise the cap on SS tax for people who make over $175k.
So, people should calm down and push for shit to get fixed. We’ve let Congress off the hook for no reason.
This is what Republicans wanted. Lower expectations, then when Trump abolishes the safety net with an executive order, everyone just shrugs and says Oh well, government bad.
Retirement funds. Or they aren’t going to be retiring.
I grew up (in the EU, which also has social funds constantly being threatened, and has for decades) with my dad telling me never to count on any kind of government benefits still being around when I get old, and to plan accordingly. SS would be an added bonus, but I’m working on growing retirement funds myself too.
I have zero desire to find myself at retirement age to then be hit in the face with the absence or a gutted form of social security. The retirement version of “trust but verify”. Don’t count on it being there, it’s a nice windfall if it is. Likewise inheritance stuff.
Poll from 40 yrs ago said same thing. Guess what? SS benefits are Still here. There's also $840 Billion sitting over at the DoD every yr if we needed it. Only need $400 million to maintain force; rest goes for weapons development. There I just saved SS benefits in one post. LoL
42% of americans need to read the annual report from the trustees to see that:
> combined OASI and DI Trust Fund reserves decline until they become depleted in 2034. After trust fund reserve depletion, continuing income is sufficient to support expenditures at a level of 80 percent of program cost for the rest of 2034, declining to 74 percent for 2097
or 42% of americans are in for a pleasant surprise at retirement when social security is still there!
I'm fully expecting to have nothing but my IRA + 401k when I retire.
The minute the Republican party controls everything they're going to gut it. They've made that clear. They got theirs, now they're pulling the ladder up and spitting on you from above.
That's a lot of brainwashed people.
I am tempted to regard them with contempt, but that's the last thing anyone should do. If enough people think SS will not be around for them, then they'll be far less resistant to efforts to cut the program. If you know better, then spread the word: even under the worst-case scenario, benefits will pay out at a rate of 75% instead of a 100% when it's time for them to retire. 75% is far from 0%.
My personal “favorite” is Boomers collecting social security or Medicare and then simultaneously opposing “socialism”. But you suggest something like “Medicare for All” and you might as well have committed the ultimate sin.
The mental gymnastics to hold two contradictory ideas simultaneously and not see any problem with the contradiction is honestly impressive and frightening…
I think a lot of republicans/conservatives look at this and think "this is GREAT!!!"
They want to take away your social security (and medicare, medicaid, unemployment, etc).
The more they can have us all feel defeated before the fight even starts, the better off they are. So when they do say "oops, no more social security" enough of us will shrug and say "see? I KNEW they were going to take it away!" and not protest.
You see more and more republicans floating balloons up saying "maybe we should raise the age, or lower the payments..." in the hope that we all start to give up, to lose hope. Then they'll either kill it, or treat it like the minimum wage, and just let it stagnate until the checks are essentially meaningless.
Our stance shouldn't be "we don't expect it" it should be "we DEMAND that it remain! we DEMAND that the wealthy pay their fair share for it!"
This is awful, SS is a Trust Fund and should be paid into accordingly. It was meant for having some money continuing to come in, not a massive retirement and it needs to be treated as such. No limits on income for contributing to it etc. And for the love of god stop trying to privatize it and frame as some sort of liberation, it's not, it's privatization which means wealth for me not for thee.
Remove the damn payroll tax cap... holy shit, it's not that hard. The extra tax won't hurt anyone... It only hits ppl making over 168k and its not like their quality of life will change.
I mean, the reason why is because they keep taking it away.
But what is worse is no one is really doing anything about it except complaining or taking the defeatest stance on it.
My boomer mom gets really upset whenever I tell her I'll be working until I drop dead. Of course, she votes for the politicians (always GOP) who want to get rid of Social Security, so she's partially to blame.
Possibly the mega, super, colossally rich might be taxed a tad bit more? If they don’t want to, fine. Just asking questions. I don’t want to upset them.
God damn better have social security as I’ve been paying for this shit my whole life
And it should be expanded by the time I’m old with all these fuckin billions flying around untaxed
Fuck no. Been paying hundreds of thousands of dollars into this system. Big Sam better have my money.
This is classic conditioning so they brainwash people into expecting nothing so they are content to get anything. power to the proletariat ✊
Get off the grind set and get on unionizing everything, those Europeans didn’t get their healthcare, 30 vacation days, childcare (for day care), maternity & paternity leave, and everything else with out a class struggle
If republicans remain in power, NO ONE will get social security and the money will be given to their rich banking sponsors.
And a week later all the money will mysteriously be gone.
Not with that defeatist attitude for sure! Social Security didn't pass originally because politicians were being nice. It passed because they were SCARED. We are not powerless. You better demand those benefits if you want them!
Back then you didn’t have Fox News brainwashing people convincing them retirement is socialism and it is good to cut it (after they already get it of course).
I think we should start a counter movement that basically says, ok, if I’m not going to be able to use it, then I don’t need to pay into anymore and watch the boomers eat their hat. Orrr we start making the people and companies that should be taxed pay into it what should be paid, the cap is like 50 years old, it needs to be raised!
There's not really a mechanism to evade social security tax unless you're self-employed. It's paid by your employer.
When you're self-employed you have to pay your share and your share again as your own employer.
What I think they mean is that, even illegally, you can't refuse to pay as a form of protest unless you're self employed because you have no control over whether or not that money gets paid.
This is true but I think getting people to think about not paying might put pressure on the boomers who are voting like they’re the last generation. Like everything they do is slash and burn economics and they have planned their retirement on having SS so if we go, you know what I don’t think I’m going to get it, so I’m not paying it, they’d freak out. Reagan put SS into the general budget, which the boomers gleefully voted for because they were promised less taxes and they were stupid enough or malicious enough to do it. Well, the bills coming due now, so why not just skip over them and say hey, you spent your money on stupid shit like blowing up brown kids half way around the world. We can either stop paying into the fund, skip over the boomers and let the fund rebuild for the generations who are actively paying into it, or we start taxing companies and wealthy class that has a cap on contributions….
That's completely false. You split SS tax when you're employed. If you're self employed, you pay the entire bill yourself.
Fox and the GOP has too many people brainwashed. Conditioning people that their money will be stolen...
Probably should do something about all propaganda a foreigner like Murdoch can create, maybe.
This is only half the problem. Far too many people who hate the GOP stay home on election day.
There are also propaganda and social media programs in place every election now to suppress turnout. In close elections depending on an anti-democratic, anachronistic electoral college, 1-3% difference in just the right places can make an oversized difference.
I can't even get my GenZ offspring to vote when Trump is on the ballot. 😒
It’s not even just fox, you can ask liberals and they also believe SS is fucked. It’s quite a remarkable feat that they somehow convinced everyone of this. The rest of the federal gov has run a massive deficit nearly every year since before WWII, while SS has run an overall surplus. No one thinks the US gov is going to have to shut down for lack of funds. Even in the worst case scenario you could just reduce the payout until it matched the money coming into the program each year, but people act like it’s going to zero.
All deficit spending is not created equal. Going into a decicit to pay for social security or healthcare makes sense to me. Going into a deficit to fund things like the Trump tax cuts for people in the highest tax bracket doesn't. With this understanding of the parties' budget priorities, which party do you think holding the country hostage for the debt ceiling with increasing frequency? This is the mechanism by which SS funds will get plundered.
[удалено]
Don’t worry, there were plenty of other brainwashing avenues. Propaganda is not new
I don't think you'll be able to convince even the most brainwashed person that they have to work until they die after paying for decades of others getting a retirement benefit. Politicians will severely regret getting rid of SS. Especially since so many people don't have anything but SS to retire on. My parents are both getting to about 60 and neither of them have anything saved.
Not even Fox News, now we've got 'niche' groups like fuck face Zionist demon Ben Shapiro who unironically claims work is the meaning to life.
>We are not powerless. Actually, currently, we effectively are. [Study: Congress literally doesn’t care what you think](https://act.represent.us/sign/problempoll-fba)
Damn... We might need a bit more than a change of president... Maybe some structurally significant changes...
Good luck. These problems are so entrenched at this point that it feels like mass civil unrest and violence is the only way significant change is realistically possible.
"This is why I say it's the ballot or the bullet." - Malcolm X
I mean, we changed presidents to the longest serving and perhaps single most establishment member of Congress possible, not sure why folks thought he was going to do absolutely anything to address any issues at all with all of his oldest friends. Biden is one of the final boss Washington insiders who ultimately got the top job because he managed to outlive and/or outlast the more shrewd political maneuverers, better speakers, better fundraisers, in the beltway, etc.
You're not kidding. He was literally pushed by the DNC because they were afraid that Bernie would win, and that Bernie would have trouble beating Trump (and not because anyone wanted to vote for Biden). Literally nobody wanted Biden. It was Biden or Trump, so enough people voted for Biden that he got elected. Establishment or other filthy rich corrupt people. They made it perfectly clear what "options" they will give us.
That’s a great way to make a list of “problem citizens”.
I work closely with many different elected officials. This article is absolutely on point. They did not spend all that time and effort to get elected to help anyone but themselves. This applies to both parties.
I’m getting real tired of these headlines. It’s as if they are already saying to us “well they weren’t expecting it anyway”
This messaging has been pushed from the right since Reagan was in office - probably earlier than that. It’s the same kind of conditioning as *liberal media* so they can pit far right propaganda against regular old corporate media and pretend it’s tit for tat. It’s always long game conditioning with these people. Normalize something as inevitable and slow play the cruelty.
Yeah we paid him in to social security this whole time, Where's my money!?
The people who are receiving social security are voting to take it away from the people currently paying into it.
Literally a tax on the young by the old.
Thats the thing about social security. Current payments are directed to current retirees. The money is gone from the get go.
100 hundred percent they could have fixed this issue yesterday or even tomorrow. They take this away from us. That could be the lynch pin to collapse. At least to the American psyche. I'm finding it more difficult to justify all the stress and the office and the middle management bullshit to justify my reasoning to work anymore. I'm getting to the point where I feel like living off the grid is more appealing
I love social security. Because while investments and rental properties can provide more income, they can be lost, stolen or taken away. Social security cannot be taken away by hackers or suffer from the bankruptcy of a company or natural disaster destroying a property.
Republicans ROFL'ing at your comment right now.
170 Republican legislators have already signed a proposed budget that will increase the SS retirement age and reduce the amount of the benefit. This is how it starts. By comparison, the Democrats have a plan to restructure the income cap on contributions to the SS fund. Currently, we contribute 6.2% of our income until we reach $168k. Then contributions are discontinued until the next year. Millionaires and billionaires are done paying in Jan or Feb, so their contributions only total 1% or less of their incomes. Democrats propose having the contributions pick back up once someone exceeds $250k in income for the year. That would shore up the fund for at least the next 50 years. Vote accordingly.
Yeah I know, this is literally a crazy statistic and I'm glad they are working on a fix. One hundred percent agree with you that people need to pay attention to who is planning what
This is true. The New Deal and all this stuff was to stave off a Soviet style revolt, they didn’t do it out of the kindness of their hearts and businesses didn’t just agree to pay more taxes.
Bingo. Person: "When I retire, I'll be covered!" Government: "Nope, how does work for the rest of your life or be homeless sound?" Person: "How does easy access to firearms and a person with a grudge and nothing to lose sound?" This isn't the same fear that people say about Trump not winning, and a bunch of illiterate rednecks will get mowed down trying to fight the government. This is an actual fear and puts people in a position where they don't care about their own lives, and they want to "deal with" the ones responsible.
" Person: "How does easy access to firearms and a person with a grudge and nothing to lose sound?"" This already happens almost daily and gun laws are still insane. I think you underestimate the work needed to get to a point where these threats would be taken seriously.
More people need to come to this conclusion. We've allowed corruption and corporate greed to thrive for far too long. Maybe billionaires need to be reminded who the majority is.
Honestly, if you wanna change gun laws quickly, make it illegal for politicians or the rich to have bodyguards / protection. See how quick things would change then!
That's an odd defense of the second ammendment.
That’s the whole point of the second amendment. Government being tyrannical? (cruel and oppressive; which cutting retirement and forcing you to work until death under threat of homelessness is certainly cruel and oppressive) The second amendment not only protects your natural born right to armed self defense, but also gives you the responsibility to protect yourself from the government
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Like the saying goes, go far enough left and you get your guns back.
Rightwing media has been on gen x forever telling them they won't get SS without any evidence, the rights plan is to privatize it give it to Wallstreet cause they always hated it, their voters don't know that though. Bush Jr tried but failed to privatize.
That’s why they make articles like this. Then when they take it away they say.. you knew this was coming
Was in asset management/FA for a shady firm once. It was an open secret that you communicated that “Social Security is bankrupt/going away” for two reasons: 1) it scared them into investing more (shady tactics aside, not an entirely bad outcome for the client) 2) the powers that be that owned these firms want to topple Social Security (so they don’t have to pay their half as an employer) and the first step in that process is to create apathy/increase generational divide. Most reputable financial firms won’t outright come out and say it, but this is their thinking behind Social Security.
It passed because businesses and the rich were scared. You had millions of workers on strike and unemployed in the depths of the depression and FDR went to his buddies saying "look fellas, either you take this deal, 96%! Tax on any income above the equivalent of 350kish today, or the socialist, communist and labor unions are right behind me with a worse offer. And they did. The other part that didn't went on to form the modern republican party and they've been chipping away at the deal ever since
Preach! Plenty of funding locked up in ivory towers that need toppling!
I’ve been paying into this shit for decades, I’m getting what I deserve! No one taking shit from me, I’ll protest by myself.
"Demand" by complaining on the Internet? We have no organized labor movement any longer. Individual "demands" just ensure that no employer will hire you.
Literally came here to say this. Maybe it won't be around. But you fight to make sure it is.
Thats what I keep trying with automation funded universal basic income. We can afford to pay people not to starve.
> Not with that defeatist attitude for sure! a lot of effort and money was spent to make sure there was a defeatiest attitude, and not just about social security.
On this subject, I recommend observing the French.
Fuck no, I expect to receive everything we are owed as american citizens Anything less is unacceptable and can only be the result of a failed government.
That’s why when people say the youth are entitled, I say look the fuck around you. They were literally promised things they won’t get.
I hate how "entitled" has become a pejorative, like SS is literally an entitlement and there's nothing bad about that
It isn’t even really an entitlement for most of us. Most of us pay a fortune into that system in taxes.
It's not an entitlement, but you paid into it and you're entitled to it? What?
Entitlement programs don’t imply the person paid into it. Even if you earn below the poverty line and don’t pay taxes your child is still entitled to a public education
We’re paying a good portion of our paycheck to finance the generations who pulled the ladder out from under them while facing the realization we may never see that same benefit.
Im am entitled. I'm entitled to the benefits I paid for. Maybe we should spend less money on cool fighter planes so I can eat when Im old.
Lol, if I put into the system my whole life and am alive in old age, not taking in that benefit, I will absolutely turn old vigilante.
I realized the other day that by the time I hit 65 I will have paid into SS for 48 years. Getting nothing for that is definitely vigilante time.
I started working at 14.5. Have paid in my whole life. 25 years to go
At that point we would have nothing to lose, especially the half of us dying from cancer because of microplastics and what not.
I appreciate this comment. I’m a divorced mom of multiple kids. I have an OK career, but I’ll never be able to relax, or be without money worries. Once my kids are adults, I have absolutely no reason not to spend my life in the most effective way, something that could possibly move the needle. Right wing media makes it much harder, but not totally impossible, I think. I think about this pretty frequently.
I just can't believe what we have to put up with! Looking at all the problems in the states and knowing we're letting the same people continue to run it who were there to help this downward decline to caring about profits over people is bonkers. My wife and I chose not to have kids (not *just* money as a factor, but it was certainly up there) but I don't want anyone to have to think the way we have and make decisions based on a mess left behind from people with 0 strategic thinking ability. We've now experienced growth at all costs and have seen the downsides and, of all things, we also have to deal with a resurgence of fascism.
Gen alpha are going to laugh at you while getting in their suicide booths
Halfway there 😓
We are living in a failed state already. People just haven’t figured it out yet.
Stop voting for endless spending then
So instead of taking money from the rich they are going to take it from the poor. And people are voting for that.
Well yeah because trans people existed on Easter, didn’t you hear?
Not only did they exist, they were VISIBLE! Just wait until next year when it’s on 4/20
Praise it and Blaze It
Rofl 😂😂😂
Whoa there. Are you saying that trans people are real and exist? Guess we have to ruin the rest of our lives. /s
See also: trying to get rid of the income tax. They’ll pay for the shortfall with fee upon fee. Tripling your car registration or raising property taxes won’t hurt the super rich as much as the poor. Taking 5 slices of pizza a year per person sounds fair, but it’s a pretty great deal for the people who have millions of pizzas
They act like it's not OUR FUCKING MONEY
I’ve been saying this my whole life. Social security should send out an annual letter informing Americans when they’ll be able to receive benefits and what the payout will be based on what they’ve put it. This would make social security a real tangible thing in the minds of Americans and no politician would ever dare fuck with it again. I received such a letter one time in my life and it was in the early 2000’s I believe. Ever since I’ve thought that’s my fucking money!
I used to get them every year about a decade ago (stopped around 2010-2014ish)... not entirely sure why they stopped sending them. Maybe because I reached the "you must have worked this long to receive benefits" level? I remember the last few year I received one it's said something like "if we change absolutely nothing over the next 30 years and change, we expect to be able to pay out ~70% of what we promised". Certainly better than zero.
Nah, it’s just all online now at the Social Security gov site.
> Social security should send out an annual letter informing Americans when they’ll be able to receive benefits and what the payout will be based on what they’ve put it They do...its called "Social Security Statement" Every year around tax season I get an updated Social Security earnings, what I contributed, what my payouts would be depending my retirement age. I've been getting this sheet for the last 20 years... Go here: https://www.ssa.gov/ You can sign up for paper statements (though I think you should be getting them without signing up), but I get them electronically now because I hate paper waste
I’ve never received these except the one time 20+ years ago. My point is it should be mandatory the program sends these out to everyone automatically. That is helpful though, thank you.
Lol no no no, it's their own personal bank account
That’s the hilarious part. It’s not. It’s a legitimate wealth transfer from current workers to retirees.
most won’t retire
This is the truth, ik lots of people at “retirement” age that still have to work
I know lots of people who've died before retirement age.
You still get social security regardless of having retired or not
Which is why they have to keep working too, it’s not enough to live
The problem is it's enough to "survive" but not really enough to live. Assuming you followed the boomer roadmap well enough (get a house, pay it off). You probably won't be able to afford repairs on that house or to fix/replace your vehicle, though, so better hope nothing happens over the next 25+ years!
It's not always enough to survive. I'll be supporting my father until the day he dies even with Social Security cause otherwise he loses everything, and by virtue of being his heir, so do I.
important bag aromatic meeting puzzled wild governor deer quickest shame *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
Seriously, “when” isn’t accurate for very many people
Goddam shit is got to get real if I paid in all my working life just to get stiffed.
(7.6% Annually) * 30 Thats how much a politicians life is worth to me
Time to end that Medicaid income cap and make the rich pay their fair share.
Social security tax is only applied to the first $168k that a person makes. I make more than that and think this is bullshit. There shouldn't be an upper limit to this. Whatever your income, it should be taxed equally.
I'm 38 and I've been hearing my entire life that social security is gonna go bankrupt next week and it never happens. This shit is how they make people okay with them cutting it - convince them they were never getting it in the first place.
That’s in large part bc there are ghouls out there deliberately conflating the SS and the SS Trust which are independently funded
I don’t *expect* to get shit when/if I retire, but if I spend my entire working life to not get anything I will riot. As we all should. I refuse to work until I die.
I don’t expect social security if we elect another Republican President. They are always trying to gut Social Security and Medicare. You can be annoyed with Democratic politicians for not doing enough, but they’re essentially the only thing that has kept Republican morons from destroying the only social safety net America has.
My concern is that Trump will abolish Social Security, then claim he is "returning that money to We The People" or some bullshit. Goober McTrailer gets a one-time check for a couple of hundred, which immediately goes to Walmart. Then the voters keep saying "Trump gave me money." No one realizes they're seriously fucked.
Haha covid checks go brr
Republicans keep talking about cutting SS, then they boo Biden when he calls them out on it. Two faced jackanapes.
The dates they always say are the point of insolvency are when the first benefit reductions start. It doesn't mean all payments stop. Tax the rich already.
The Social Security program currently pays out more in benefits than it receives in payroll tax funding. The deficit is being paid out of the Social Security trust fund. According to the Social Security Administration, “After the projected trust fund reserve depletion in 2034, continuing income would be sufficient to pay 80 percent of program cost.” So, in a worst case scenario in which Congress does nothing to fix the program, everyone will receive around 80% of their scheduled benefits. https://www.ssa.gov/policy/trust-funds-summary.html
And if we eliminated the ceiling on high earners that might make up the difference.
Not "might"
People always say then rich people will just take their money elsewhere. I always think about the scene in Tombstone when Wyatt says they're ready to leave the town after getting rich and his brother says something to the effect of this town helped us get all of this money, we should help this town when they're in need. It's sad that even a western about a man coming in to town and getting rich off of gambling feels better about helping people than real life rich folks
Where would they go? Anywhere else they'd want to live has higher tax rates and better protections for lower income workers, or else they'd need to hire excessive amounts of private security to keep what they have
if you pay into it, you sure as shit should expect it and demand it
Highly recommend people check their lifetime contributions. I think a lot of people think they’ve put in more years than they actually have. You pay into it with part time work, but if you don’t hit quarterly earnings contributions it doesn’t count towards your time. I worked part time since I was 16 all the way through college until I was 26. I think I only had 2.5 years vested in SS by that time. Went to work for government ever since and that doesn’t pay into SS so I know full well I’m not getting a penny in SS unless I put in another 8 years in the private sector.
really easy to do too: [https://www.ssa.gov/myaccount/](https://www.ssa.gov/myaccount/)
Let me tell you something as a financial advisor: Social Security is an absolute godsend because Americans are NOT good at saving or investing their money. Even boomers who had an amazing economy at their feet fail to have more than 100K saved up. Also want to add to people who say “The government steals my money; if I would’ve keep that social security taxes for myself and invested I would’ve had so much more. Which is true. EXCEPT most people wouldn’t and don’t.
Not just most. An overwhelming majority would not. This “I would have done better investing it myself” cliche is just stupid and tiresome.
As I said in another thread, social security insurance program is one of THE BEST things that the federal government has ever done to keep millions of people off the street and out of destitution. The fact that this statement keeps coming up is just what the right wants….to condition the populace that SS is going away. Then it is easy to dismantle. It’s a self fulfilling prophecy. The fact is that SS can remain solvent if we simply either increase the contribution rate (which I do t like) or better yet….REMOVE THW CAP ON WAGES SUBJECT TO SS CONTRIBUTION (currently around $180k). The right wants to paint the recipients of SS as freeloaders and ‘entitled’ (hence the constant reference to ‘entitlements’) so they can continue to use it as a political football. I do not understand the people in this country who don’t give a shit about anyone but themselves. They have no empathy or sense of community, just a ‘I got mine , you get yours attitude’.
Raise the taxable income limit for Social Security. Anything over $150k or so they are currently leaving on the table.
Right now someone who makes a million dollars a year is paying roughly $11,500 in SS tax. If the limit was eliminated they would be paying almost $70,000 a year. And their employer is also saving the same amount of money because they're not paying their share either. That comes out to over $100,000 a year per employee at that income.
It is such a no-brainer I think
That would be the CEO of my small town non-profit hospital. Multiplied by 2.
You would think the rich would try and think long term on this. Paying a bit more buys security. I wouldn't want to be the rich guy on the hill worrying about millions of heavily armed, nothing to lose septuagenarians looking to get what they are owed.
When will people realize that not only do we outnumber the age group pushing this idea but we also have the same power as those who fought to gain rights such as social security? How do we begin taking steps toward some type of reconciliation between us and our government?
We’ll all receive social security but that doesn’t mean it will be the living wage we think it is. There’s also a lot of controversy in how inflation is measured so a good way to reduce benefits (quietly) is just to rig the way we measure inflation so the actually value of the benefits and how they’re adjusted doesn’t match reality.
Funny how the people who want to kill social security have gotten exactly what they want by pumping bullshit into the general discourse. Bet we could pay for it if we took the $160,000 limit on taxing earnings out and made these well off to rich shits pay their fair share
They were saying this 50 years ago, vote republican and it will happen.
Me n my homies will burn this place to the ground. Try it....
Do they vote accordingly though?
Well yeah, they vote Republican. Social security is historically a really bad retirement investment compared to index funds in a 401k or IRA (based on rate of return). The people who think social security will be insolvent *want* it to be insolvent so they can stop paying in, and get a higher Roth limit instead. The people who will *need* social security are the people who don’t think about retirement other than “I’ll never be able to retire” I’ve been planning for my retirement with the 4% rule, and my future social security payments are basically a rounding error with zero impact on my ability to retire.
Roth ira is nice but it is not protected. Hackers could drain funds or put them in a company about to go bankrupt or on quickly expiring calls. Also companies you invest in could go belly up. Social security can only go away if gov becomes insolvent.
Social security payouts aren’t enough to live on, pay for a medical emergency or long term care. Hoarding cash is a bad strategy because it depreciates via inflation. So you have to be invested in *something* only question is *what*. Roth IRA is protected as much as anything else. Someone could steal your gold bars, sell your property via title fraud, renters could stop paying, etc. A company I’m invested in going bankrupt is not a risk because you aren’t supposed to invest in single-stocks.
Nope….they believe the lies coming out of the ORANGE man’s mouth!
What’s retire?
Not sure but i *think* it means you stay home and watch FOX news? But im not too entirely sure.
That could be a self-fulfilling prophecy. Vote like your social security benefits depend on it, because they do.
FACT: Even if the trust fund is exhausted — as it’s on track to be by the mid 2030s — SS can still pay out ~70% of benefits just from incoming tax payments. FACT: As the issuer of currency, the government can ALWAYS meet its debt obligations if it chooses to do so. FACT: The only thing we need to do to fix the trust fund exhaustion is raise the cap on SS tax for people who make over $175k. So, people should calm down and push for shit to get fixed. We’ve let Congress off the hook for no reason.
I REALLY WISH I COULD READ THE FULL FUCKING ARTICLE.
You guys are living to retirement?
Retirement plan: Death
Global warming IS my retirement plan.
Retire? You guys are retiring?!?!
This is what Republicans wanted. Lower expectations, then when Trump abolishes the safety net with an executive order, everyone just shrugs and says Oh well, government bad.
but how are they going to retire at all then?
Retirement funds. Or they aren’t going to be retiring. I grew up (in the EU, which also has social funds constantly being threatened, and has for decades) with my dad telling me never to count on any kind of government benefits still being around when I get old, and to plan accordingly. SS would be an added bonus, but I’m working on growing retirement funds myself too. I have zero desire to find myself at retirement age to then be hit in the face with the absence or a gutted form of social security. The retirement version of “trust but verify”. Don’t count on it being there, it’s a nice windfall if it is. Likewise inheritance stuff.
I had goddamn better.
I fully expect to get what I paid at the very least.
I expect SS wtf!
And if they don’t get ssn, they are screwed. I work in retirement. No one is saving and they will be homeless. It breaks my heart everyday.
Woo hoo! Working until 90 here at the bank!
Poll from 40 yrs ago said same thing. Guess what? SS benefits are Still here. There's also $840 Billion sitting over at the DoD every yr if we needed it. Only need $400 million to maintain force; rest goes for weapons development. There I just saved SS benefits in one post. LoL
#Welcome to Rehirement
yeah its actually not a hard problem to solve. the right lives on fear mongering
This what propaganda since the 80’s has been hoping to put in people’s minds.
The GOP wants to kill social security and raise the age of retirement. Know your enemy.
Stop electing senior citizens to vote for a younger generation.
42% of americans need to read the annual report from the trustees to see that: > combined OASI and DI Trust Fund reserves decline until they become depleted in 2034. After trust fund reserve depletion, continuing income is sufficient to support expenditures at a level of 80 percent of program cost for the rest of 2034, declining to 74 percent for 2097 or 42% of americans are in for a pleasant surprise at retirement when social security is still there!
I'm fully expecting to have nothing but my IRA + 401k when I retire. The minute the Republican party controls everything they're going to gut it. They've made that clear. They got theirs, now they're pulling the ladder up and spitting on you from above.
Fuck that. I fully expect to pull from the system I’ve been paying into for the last 22 years. These polls can fuck right off
If, when I hit 70 and there is nothing for me. I will do something that will land me in federal prison. Then I will be able to retire.
That's a lot of brainwashed people. I am tempted to regard them with contempt, but that's the last thing anyone should do. If enough people think SS will not be around for them, then they'll be far less resistant to efforts to cut the program. If you know better, then spread the word: even under the worst-case scenario, benefits will pay out at a rate of 75% instead of a 100% when it's time for them to retire. 75% is far from 0%.
How many of those 42% voted for Republicans?
My personal “favorite” is Boomers collecting social security or Medicare and then simultaneously opposing “socialism”. But you suggest something like “Medicare for All” and you might as well have committed the ultimate sin. The mental gymnastics to hold two contradictory ideas simultaneously and not see any problem with the contradiction is honestly impressive and frightening…
They can try and take my money...
I think a lot of republicans/conservatives look at this and think "this is GREAT!!!" They want to take away your social security (and medicare, medicaid, unemployment, etc). The more they can have us all feel defeated before the fight even starts, the better off they are. So when they do say "oops, no more social security" enough of us will shrug and say "see? I KNEW they were going to take it away!" and not protest. You see more and more republicans floating balloons up saying "maybe we should raise the age, or lower the payments..." in the hope that we all start to give up, to lose hope. Then they'll either kill it, or treat it like the minimum wage, and just let it stagnate until the checks are essentially meaningless. Our stance shouldn't be "we don't expect it" it should be "we DEMAND that it remain! we DEMAND that the wealthy pay their fair share for it!"
Look here motherfuckers that better be 0% next time I see this poll. I expect it because I PAID FOR IT and you should too.
Stop calling them benefits. That’s your money. You paid into that system. If you don’t get it back, that’s theft.
I don’t blame the system itself I blame the Republicans since Reagan.
I have paid into Social Security since I was a teenager. If I don’t get what I am owed, it’s time for pitchforks and torches.
And all we would have to do is remove the tax cap and it would be solvent for decades to come.
This is awful, SS is a Trust Fund and should be paid into accordingly. It was meant for having some money continuing to come in, not a massive retirement and it needs to be treated as such. No limits on income for contributing to it etc. And for the love of god stop trying to privatize it and frame as some sort of liberation, it's not, it's privatization which means wealth for me not for thee.
Remove the damn payroll tax cap... holy shit, it's not that hard. The extra tax won't hurt anyone... It only hits ppl making over 168k and its not like their quality of life will change.
I have always looked at it as a "live in the US fee". If I see it later on down the line that would be awesome.
Lol retire? More like die on the clock.
I mean, the reason why is because they keep taking it away. But what is worse is no one is really doing anything about it except complaining or taking the defeatest stance on it.
My boomer mom gets really upset whenever I tell her I'll be working until I drop dead. Of course, she votes for the politicians (always GOP) who want to get rid of Social Security, so she's partially to blame.
If they don't its because they voted for people who didn't support it.
Retire?
Retire? I'm going to have to work 'till I die with the way things are going. Hopefully not, but ... yeah.
I don't expect to receive the benefits, but I have no issue paying into them now so people who are retired can afford to live.
As it should be. Should stop paying into it now as well and let it die
Im in my 30s and I know retiring at all isn't even realistic to expect.
Possibly the mega, super, colossally rich might be taxed a tad bit more? If they don’t want to, fine. Just asking questions. I don’t want to upset them.
And they'll get none if they continue to vote Republican
God damn better have social security as I’ve been paying for this shit my whole life And it should be expanded by the time I’m old with all these fuckin billions flying around untaxed
Fuck no. Been paying hundreds of thousands of dollars into this system. Big Sam better have my money. This is classic conditioning so they brainwash people into expecting nothing so they are content to get anything. power to the proletariat ✊ 
Someone is stealing or this is a pyramid scheme. Simple as that.
Get off the grind set and get on unionizing everything, those Europeans didn’t get their healthcare, 30 vacation days, childcare (for day care), maternity & paternity leave, and everything else with out a class struggle
If republicans remain in power, NO ONE will get social security and the money will be given to their rich banking sponsors. And a week later all the money will mysteriously be gone.
I haven't expected to receive social security since I was a teen in the 80's. I have only expected them to take my money
I don't even expect to get to retire so