Big Brother rides shotgun; Coke and Pepsi experience fizzy fallout; Social Security on life support; get ready to move to Delaware and eat ramen in retirement.
Social Security is most definitely not on "life support." I was once a sub-contractor for the SSA, and I'd like to pass along some information on the program.
Social Security has its own dedicated revenue stream and therefore it doesn't contribute a penny to the federal deficit. In fact, it currently enjoys a $2.8 trillion surplus. And Social Security is forbidden by law from borrowing, so it cannot deficit spend.
Social Security’s revenue was about $1.09 trillion in 2021. The program has three sources of income. The largest source comes from workers and employers who contribute 6.2% each on wages up to $160,200 a year; this raises 90.1% of the total. The second source is investment income from Social Security’s reserves, which are held in Trust and invested in interest-bearing U.S. Treasury bonds; this raises 6.4% of total revenue. Finally, Social Security gets 3.4% of its revenue from the income taxes that higher-income beneficiaries pay on a portion of their Social Security benefits.
Social Security can never go bankrupt. Nearly all (97 percent) of its income comes from the contributions of workers and employers, including interest on these contributions. Hence as long as there are workers in America, Social Security will have income. Even if Congress were to take no action, Social Security could pay 100% of promised benefits for the next 12 years, and more than three-quarters of benefits after that. Around 2035 there will be a modest funding gap requiring modest increases in revenues to guarantee everyone 100% of promised benefits.
The vast majority of Social Security’s funding gap can be easily closed by scrapping the payroll tax cap. Currently, millionaires and billionaires make payroll tax contributions on only the first $160,200 they make in annual wages.
Furthermore, it's an extremely efficient program, with administrative costs of less than a penny on the dollar. No other program can match that.
Finally, without Social Security, the poverty rate of our seniors would be 38%; instead it is just under 9%. I am one of those seniors who relies on Social Security. I have paid into the system since I was 14 years old, when I got my first payroll job. So I earned my money and am grateful to have it so I don't have to work until the day I drop dead.
There's a lot of misinformation floating around, put out there by people who want to destroy and/or privatize the program. Which would be a disaster for beneficiaries.
Congress has borrowed extensively from the Social Security trust fund to pay for things like unfunded wars, tax cuts for billionaires, and corporate subsidies. They don't want to pay it back, so instead they want to cut our benefits. So when they tell people that they need to cut benefits to "balance the budget", they're LYING. Again: Social Security doesn't contribute anything to the national debt.
What gets me is that so many people don't seem to care that all their data is taken without consent for whatever purpose the company wants. They yell "hey google" for quick answers, drive smart cars, live in smart homes, watch smart TV. They want convenience, instant gratification, and the price is loss of privacy, and most likely they are exploited and manipulated. I can't seem to convince some friends of the danger, they think I'm a nut, but it scares me because I'm aware of the malfeasance and therefore a target.
The "Best Places to Retire" stories are always really weird to me whether they focus on the US or abroad. It seems to be that they are written by people that have absolutely no idea what they are talking about.
First of all, they don't seem to have a concept of what people do when they retire. If you read those articles, you would be lead to believe that retired people either sit on the beach drinking margaritas all day or get up, go out to eat, head to the museum, get ready to go to the symphony, followed by a evening out in a fancy restaurant for dining and dancing. Let me dispel that myth. What you do in retirement is mostly what you did pre-retirement minus going to a job. If you have not built a life outside of work, one will not magically appear when they send you home with your desk stuff packed in a box. All the daily stuff that you do outside of work will still be there. Cooking, cleaning, laundry, grocery shopping, taking out the trash, caring for pets, cutting the grass, and everything else still will need to be done. You just have a lot more time to do it as you don't have to go to work.
They talk about living somewhere for healthcare. Even given the decline in health that comes with age, if you are in need of constant medical care, you already have gotten those details figured out where you live. Otherwise, you can travel to whatever medical Mecca you need to get that specialized healthcare when you need it. Remember, you don't have a job to go to. They transport patients all the time if you can't manage to get there yourself. Besides, get busy getting yourself healthy and maintain it and you won't be dependent on having all that access to healthcare.
They like to bring up museums. Even if you lived close to a world class museum, how many times are you going to go see the same exhibits? If you are retired, you can take a trip to see as many different museums around the world as you can stand (and afford.) Remember, you don't have to go to work.
So, Social Security may run out. If you are dependent on Social Security for your retirement, you are pretty much screwed unless you want to move to somewhere without any modern conveniences where everyone lives in poverty. By modern conveniences, I am talking about things like running water, public sanitation, food safety, electricity, and such. Save your money to provide for yourself. If you are lucky and collect Social Security, just consider it a bonus.
A new skill demand pops up for every one of these "innovations" they have planned for our future. I predict that mechanics with computer skills will become popular as people seek out the disabling of these spy systems.
Social Security is most definitely not on "life support." I was once a sub-contractor for the SSA, and I'd like to pass along some information on the program.
Social Security has its own dedicated revenue stream and therefore it doesn't contribute a penny to the federal deficit. In fact, it currently enjoys a $2.8 trillion surplus. And Social Security is forbidden by law from borrowing, so it cannot deficit spend.
Social Security’s revenue was about $1.09 trillion in 2021. The program has three sources of income. The largest source comes from workers and employers who contribute 6.2% each on wages up to $160,200 a year; this raises 90.1% of the total. The second source is investment income from Social Security’s reserves, which are held in Trust and invested in interest-bearing U.S. Treasury bonds; this raises 6.4% of total revenue. Finally, Social Security gets 3.4% of its revenue from the income taxes that higher-income beneficiaries pay on a portion of their Social Security benefits.
Social Security can never go bankrupt. Nearly all (97 percent) of its income comes from the contributions of workers and employers, including interest on these contributions. Hence as long as there are workers in America, Social Security will have income. Even if Congress were to take no action, Social Security could pay 100% of promised benefits for the next 12 years, and more than three-quarters of benefits after that. Around 2035 there will be a modest funding gap requiring modest increases in revenues to guarantee everyone 100% of promised benefits.
The vast majority of Social Security’s funding gap can be easily closed by scrapping the payroll tax cap. Currently, millionaires and billionaires make payroll tax contributions on only the first $160,200 they make in annual wages.
Furthermore, it's an extremely efficient program, with administrative costs of less than a penny on the dollar. No other program can match that.
Finally, without Social Security, the poverty rate of our seniors would be 38%; instead it is just under 9%. I am one of those seniors who relies on Social Security. I have paid into the system since I was 14 years old, when I got my first payroll job. So I earned my money and am grateful to have it so I don't have to work until the day I drop dead.
There's a lot of misinformation floating around, put out there by people who want to destroy and/or privatize the program. Which would be a disaster for beneficiaries.
Congress has borrowed extensively from the Social Security trust fund to pay for things like unfunded wars, tax cuts for billionaires, and corporate subsidies. They don't want to pay it back, so instead they want to cut our benefits. So when they tell people that they need to cut benefits to "balance the budget", they're LYING. Again: Social Security doesn't contribute anything to the national debt.
What gets me is that so many people don't seem to care that all their data is taken without consent for whatever purpose the company wants. They yell "hey google" for quick answers, drive smart cars, live in smart homes, watch smart TV. They want convenience, instant gratification, and the price is loss of privacy, and most likely they are exploited and manipulated. I can't seem to convince some friends of the danger, they think I'm a nut, but it scares me because I'm aware of the malfeasance and therefore a target.
The "Best Places to Retire" stories are always really weird to me whether they focus on the US or abroad. It seems to be that they are written by people that have absolutely no idea what they are talking about.
First of all, they don't seem to have a concept of what people do when they retire. If you read those articles, you would be lead to believe that retired people either sit on the beach drinking margaritas all day or get up, go out to eat, head to the museum, get ready to go to the symphony, followed by a evening out in a fancy restaurant for dining and dancing. Let me dispel that myth. What you do in retirement is mostly what you did pre-retirement minus going to a job. If you have not built a life outside of work, one will not magically appear when they send you home with your desk stuff packed in a box. All the daily stuff that you do outside of work will still be there. Cooking, cleaning, laundry, grocery shopping, taking out the trash, caring for pets, cutting the grass, and everything else still will need to be done. You just have a lot more time to do it as you don't have to go to work.
They talk about living somewhere for healthcare. Even given the decline in health that comes with age, if you are in need of constant medical care, you already have gotten those details figured out where you live. Otherwise, you can travel to whatever medical Mecca you need to get that specialized healthcare when you need it. Remember, you don't have a job to go to. They transport patients all the time if you can't manage to get there yourself. Besides, get busy getting yourself healthy and maintain it and you won't be dependent on having all that access to healthcare.
They like to bring up museums. Even if you lived close to a world class museum, how many times are you going to go see the same exhibits? If you are retired, you can take a trip to see as many different museums around the world as you can stand (and afford.) Remember, you don't have to go to work.
So, Social Security may run out. If you are dependent on Social Security for your retirement, you are pretty much screwed unless you want to move to somewhere without any modern conveniences where everyone lives in poverty. By modern conveniences, I am talking about things like running water, public sanitation, food safety, electricity, and such. Save your money to provide for yourself. If you are lucky and collect Social Security, just consider it a bonus.
A new skill demand pops up for every one of these "innovations" they have planned for our future. I predict that mechanics with computer skills will become popular as people seek out the disabling of these spy systems.