I’m always glad to get mine.

[953 nut 56,621]

Appreciate Your Social Security Check Day is held annually on January 31 to celebrate the checks that are sent out to retired and disabled recipients across America. Apart from commemorating the actual benefits themselves, this day also celebrates the workers who ensure that the recipients receive his or her benefits.

In 1940 the First Social Security Check went to Ida May Fuller on January 31, which amounts to $22.54; she started collecting benefits at age 65 and did so until her passing at age 100.

 

 

[Ed Kennell 39,641]

Guess I should have waited till today.      Yesterday I spent the morning with our new bank rep. that offered $400 to open a checking account.  This required having direct deposits and direct auto pays.     We had all ready moved all our investments to this bank after my previous firm failed to remove one of our annual RMWs from an IRA.

Switching the SS deposit involved a 73 minute call wait to get a human  to make the change.    Our bank rep said this is normal and she had scheduled her 3 hour morning to get this done.

[Ed Kennell 39,641]

Some interesting facts I learned when I approached retirement.     According to the USB of statistics, I would die at age 77.    If I stayed on schedule, regardless if I took full SS at 67 or partial at 62, In total I would receive within $100 the total amount I had paid into SS for 50 years.  I actually took SS at 65 when I enrolled in medicare.   

So, being one of the lucky retirees that lived longer than expected, I have profited from the $300,000+ I have paid into the SS system.     

Then here is my 100 yo MIL beside me...she really beat the system.

[SylvanLakeWH 26,462]

Doing the ss dance right now deciding when to start...

 

Interesting when you run the numbers... for me it would take 14 years before I start "making money" if I claim at 67 vs 62... I'd be 74 before the increased amount by waiting catches up with money in the bank if I start at age 62... that's straight with no investment assumptions on the ss $$$ each year. if invested even nominally, it's hard to make the case to wait... especially given ss's status in 10 years or so and my life expectancy. 

 

Now if @Ed Kennell would return some of that largesse maybe I'd change my mind... 

 

 

[Handy Don 12,995]

Trying hard to keep inside the Forum guidelines here.

The decision about SS timing is even more fraught than ever, given the cloudy forecast for the trust fund, the recent addition of previously ineligible recipients, and a government that rarely tackles any difficult issue it can kick down the road.

Waiting until I reached age 70 made sense in my situation at the time. 

Edited January 31 by Handy Don

[Ed Kennell 39,641]

Big Brother knows when your SS will end and bases the amount on that date.    If you're a gambler and stay healthy, you win.

[JCM 9,900]

I started donating to SSA in 1973. Nice to see some of it back. It helps.    

[Beap52 1,003]

Started drawing SS at 62.  Deposited it into savings account until we needed it.

[Wayne0 692]

I waited until 67 as I was still working part time.

Company (30 yrs service) bought a new machine which any bozo could run (all touch screen) then dropped me like a hot potato.

I made too much money.  I was the only one who knew how to work the "analog" machine.

Us old guys had to give in to the digital age! Dammit!

[953 nut 56,621]

I retired when I was 61 and started drawing reduced SS at 62. At that time you could unenroll when you reached FULL RETIREMENT AGE and pay back the amount you had  received and then reenroll at full pay. That was the plan but a couple months before I turned 65 Congress changed the rules and eliminated this little sweetheart deal. Much like Ed @Ed Kennell my wife and I have beaten the odds and are collecting enough more to pay for the gas to go to our doctors' appointments.

 

Ah,   the Golden Age!

[Ed Kennell 39,641]

16 minutes ago, 953 nut said:

to pay for the gas to go to our doctors' appointments.

                      

[adsm08 2,348]

9 hours ago, Handy Don said:

Trying hard to keep inside the Forum guidelines here.

The decision about SS timing is even more fraught than ever, given the cloudy forecast for the trust fund, the recent addition of previously ineligible recipients, and a government that rarely tackles any difficult issue it can kick down the road.

Waiting until I reached age 70 made sense in my situation at the time. 

 

There's more to the math than that Don.

 

In addition to Congress raiding the SS Trust the system was originally designed with two things as design features that are no longer true.

 

1) The SS retirement age (65) is the same today as it was when the program started. The difference being that back then the average life expectancy was 60. Most people who paid in were not supposed to live long enough to collect the first check.

 

2) The system was originally designed to have 15 working individuals paying in to every one person collecting. The current ratio is 2.5:1. This is due not just to expanded eligibility, but declining birth rates play a big part as well.

 

I personally have designed my retirement plans and investment projections with SS income set at zero, because that's about how much I expect to get.

Edited February 1 by adsm08

[Handy Don 12,995]

43 minutes ago, adsm08 said:

There's more to the math than that Don.

Exactly why the future of the fund is cloudy.

What you enumerated has been known for years.

Actions to address it by people with sufficient wealth to not care? Unlikely. 

[adsm08 2,348]

9 hours ago, Handy Don said:

Exactly why the future of the fund is cloudy.

What you enumerated has been known for years.

Actions to address it by people with sufficient wealth to not care? Unlikely. 

 

True. Personally I am a big fan of privitizing the fund, but I also  understand we are in a spot where even that is going to be difficult.

[953 nut 56,621]

11 hours ago, adsm08 said:

Congress raiding the SS Trust the system

The justification for borrowing at zero interest was that the trust fund was not invested and drawing interest so they were saving us money by not doing so. On paper the money was restored to the system. I could go on but don't want to be kicked off the site.         

[Handy Don 12,995]

13 minutes ago, 953 nut said:

I could go on but....

Fraught topic, for sure. Many, many different points of view and characterizations of actions taken (or not taken). 

With so many millions of recipients in so many different financial situations, any change or adjustment is guaranteed to yield winners and losers. And NO ONE wants to be a loser!

Edited February 1 by Handy Don

[Ed Kennell 39,641]

Being raised by my Grandfather who was an independent Appalachian Billy  that dug his own coal, raised his own food, built his own house,  took care of his family and neighbors and was not dependent on anyone, Is probably why I prefer to be independent and self insured.

When I started working for our Township for $0.67/hour in 1959 mowing brush and shoveling snow,  I was shocked to find I was required to contribute to a social security system.

No ww web in 1959, so I visited the library and learned there were a few groups exempt from joining the SS system.    

1. federal employees

2. a small group of local government employees in Texas

3. railroad employees

 

[Handy Don 12,995]

3 minutes ago, Ed Kennell said:

shocked to find I was required to contribute to a social security system

I can relate. My shock was having to pay union dues for a summer job in a factory. (I knew about Social Security as my grandfather was a recipient.) Only later did I gain a more nuanced and useful understanding of unions and management, as well as their strengths and foibles. Important knowledge. 

[6wheeler 660]

I started drawing last year at 63. Not one bit sorry either. I have been paying into that since I was 16. I remember my 1st paycheck that  had it withdrawn. I was pumping gas through the school work program. Before and during that time I was also milking cows and doing chores and fieldwork on our family farm. While doing the farm work. Pay was gas in my beater car bought at an auction. Maybe a few dollars to go to the fair and such. But never any taxes or SS. My first (Town) check had these mystery deductions. I didn't like that at all. I always say, I am all about privatizing the program, Give me a check for the amount I have paid in for 47 years and I will invest it myself. I talked with a financial group when I decided to retire and take SS at 63 instead of 68 which is when I would get the full amount. The difference would have taken 13 years to balance out. Every time we turn around, some other government entity wants to stick their grubby fingers into the cookie jar. I didn't want to wait til' the jar was empty.. Everyone needs to make their own decisions on how to handle it.

[Beap52 1,003]

My wife showed me this a couple of days ago.  Charlie Reese was a writer for a newspaper 

 

If it's too political, please delete it.

 

 

 

 

545 vs. 300,000,000 People 
-By Charlie Reese 
Politicians are the only people in the world who create problems and then campaign against them. 

Have you ever wondered, if both the Democrats and the Republicans are against deficits, WHY do we have deficits? 

Have you ever wondered, if all the politicians are against inflation and high taxes, WHY do we have inflation and high taxes? 

You and I don't propose a federal budget. The President does. 

You and I don't have the Constitutional authority to vote on appropriations. The House of Representatives does. 

You and I don't write the tax code, Congress does. 

You and I don't set fiscal policy, Congress does. 

You and I don't control monetary policy, the Federal Reserve Bank does. 

One hundred senators, 435 congressmen, one President, and nine Supreme Court justices equates to 545 human beings out of the 300 million are directly, legally, morally, and individually responsible for the domestic problems that plague this country. 

I excluded the members of the Federal Reserve Board because that problem was created by the Congress. In 1913, Congress delegated its Constitutional duty to provide a sound currency to a federally chartered, but private, central bank. 

I excluded all the special interests and lobbyists for a sound reason. They have no legal authority. They have no ability to coerce a senator, a congressman, or a President to do one cotton-picking thing. I don't care if they offer a politician $1 million dollars in cash. The politician has the power to accept or reject it. No matter what the lobbyist promises, it is the legislator's responsibility to determine how he votes.
 
Those 545 human beings spend much of their energy convincing you that what they did is not their fault. They cooperate in this common con regardless of party. 

What separates a politician from a normal human being is an excessive amount of gall. No normal human being would have the gall of a Speaker, who stood up and criticized the President for creating deficits.. ( The President can only propose a budget. He cannot force the Congress to accept it.) 

The Constitution, which is the supreme law of the land, gives sole responsibility to the House of Representatives for originating and approving appropriations and taxes. Who is the speaker of the House?( John Boehner. He is the leader of the majority party. He and fellow House members, not the President, can approve any budget they want. ) If the President vetoes it, they can pass it over his veto if they agree to. [The House has passed a budget but the Senate has not approved a budget in over three years. The President's proposed budgets have gotten almost unanimous rejections in the Senate in that time. ] 

It seems inconceivable to me that a nation of 300 million cannot replace 545 people who stand convicted -- by present facts -- of incompetence and irresponsibility. I can't think of a single domestic problem that is not traceable directly to those 545 people. When you fully grasp the plain truth that 545 people exercise the power of the federal government, then it must follow that what exists is what they want to exist. 

If the tax code is unfair, it's because they want it unfair. 

If the budget is in the red, it's because they want it in the red. 

If the Army & Marines are in Iraq and Afghanistan it's because they want them in Iraq and Afghanistan .. 

If they do not receive social security but are on an elite retirement plan not available to the people, it's because they want it that way. 

There are no insoluble government problems. 
Do not let these 545 people shift the blame to bureaucrats, whom they hire and whose jobs they can abolish; to lobbyists, whose gifts and advice they can reject; to regulators, to whom they give the power to regulate and from whom they can take this power. 

Above all, do not let them con you into the belief that there exists disembodied mystical forces like "the economy," "inflation," or "politics" that prevent them from doing what they take an oath to do. 

Those 545 people, and they alone, are responsible. They, and they alone, have the power. They, and they alone, should be held accountable by the people who are their bosses. Provided the voters have the gumption to manage their own employees... We should vote all of them out of office and clean up their mess! 

Charlie Reese is a former columnist of the Orlando Sentinel Newspaper. 
What you do with this article now that you have read it... is up to you. 
This might be funny if it weren't so true. 
Be sure to read all the way to the end: 

Tax his land, 
Tax his bed, 
Tax the table, 
At which he's fed. 
Tax his tractor, 
Tax his mule, 
Teach him taxes 
Are the rule. 
Tax his work, 
Tax his pay, 
He works for 
peanuts anyway! 
Tax his cow, 
Tax his goat, 
Tax his pants, 
Tax his coat. 
Tax his ties, 
Tax his shirt, 
Tax his work, 
Tax his dirt. 
Tax his tobacco, 
Tax his drink, 
Tax him if he 
Tries to think. 
Tax his cigars, 
Tax his beers, 
If he cries 
Tax his tears. 
Tax his car, 
Tax his gas, 
Find other ways 
To tax his ass. 
Tax all he has 
Then let him know 
That you won't be done 
Till he has no dough. 
When he screams and hollers; 
Then tax him some more, 
Tax him till 
He's good and sore. 
Then tax his coffin, 
Tax his grave, 
Tax the sod in 
Which he's laid... 
Put these words 
Upon his tomb, 
'Taxes drove me 
to my doom...' 
When he's gone, 
Do not relax, 
Its time to apply 
The inheritance tax. 
Accounts Receivable Tax 
Building Permit Tax 
CDL license Tax 
Cigarette Tax 
Corporate Income Tax 
Dog License Tax 
Excise Taxes 
Federal Income Tax 
Federal Unemployment Tax (FUTA) 
Fishing License Tax 
Food License Tax 
Fuel Permit Tax 
Gasoline Tax (currently 44.75 cents per gallon) 
Gross Receipts Tax 
Hunting License Tax 
Inheritance Tax 
Inventory Tax 
IRS Interest Charges IRS Penalties (tax on top of tax) 
Liquor Tax 
Luxury Taxes 
Marriage License Tax 
Medicare Tax 
Personal Property Tax 
Property Tax 
Real Estate Tax 
Service Charge Tax 
Social Security Tax 
Road Usage Tax 
Recreational Vehicle Tax 
Sales Tax 
School Tax 
State Income Tax 
State Unemployment Tax (SUTA) 
Telephone Federal Excise Tax 
Telephone Federal Universal Service Fee Tax 
Telephone Federal, State and Local Surcharge Taxes 
Telephone Minimum Usage Surcharge Tax 
Telephone Recurring and Nonrecurring Charges Tax 
Telephone State and Local Tax 
Telephone Usage Charge Tax 
Utility Taxes 
Vehicle License Registration Tax 
Vehicle Sales Tax 
Watercraft Registration Tax 
Well Permit Tax 
Workers Compensation Tax 

STILL THINK THIS IS FUNNY? 
Not one of these taxes existed 100 years ago, & our nation was the most prosperous in the world. We had absolutely no national debt, had the largest middle class in the world, and Mom stayed home to raise the kids. 

What in the heck happened? Can you spell 'politicians?' 

[EB-80/8inPA 1,735]

14 minutes ago, Beap52 said:

Not one of these taxes existed 100 years ago

You missed the carbon tax, maybe some others, too!

[adsm08 2,348]

22 minutes ago, EB-80/8inPA said:

You missed the carbon tax, maybe some others, too!

 

Good thing we don't really use carbon paper anymore.

[Beap52 1,003]

52 minutes ago, EB-80/8inPA said:

You missed the carbon tax, maybe some others, too!

I'm  guessing this article was written by a fellow between 2011 and 2015 because John Boehner was the speaker of the house.  I'm sure there are additional taxes that could be added to the list by now.

[lynnmor 7,459]

"Gasoline Tax (currently 44.75 cents per gallon)"

 

Currently gasoline is taxed up to 86.5 cents per gallon.

 

This copy and paste has been circulating thru email for years.

[SylvanLakeWH 26,462]

@Beap52 That was very taxing to read...

 

 - taxes = -