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Posted on 07/13/2011 5:31:27 PM PDT by Crush
If you’ve ever held a job and paid into the social security fund, you’ve received statements from time to time telling you what benefits to expect once you retire. Most assume the government provides an accurate account. Do any of us actually keep up with what we’ve deposited?
Fact is you’d be wise to hang onto the last social security statement the government sent you.
The Government Accountability Office provided a report on July 8 about the social security statements the government has used to inform the more than 150 million workers who have paid into the social security system. Traditionally the government sent out statements once a year, presumably to help workers plan for retirement.
With little fanfare, the Social Security Administration chose to suspend mailings of the statement in March, 2011. The GAO said SSA made this decision because of “budget constraints.”
GAO said SSA has plans to provide online statements, but so far there’s no timeline and the plans have not been finalized. The online model is currently in initial development phases said GAO. Nor does SSA have a cost estimate for the new model.
SSA currently has an estimator available for those who are not already receiving social security or fall into other classifications involving pensions. The estimator, SSA warns, only provides estimates, not actual benefits.
The GAO report also included confirmation of signs of trouble ahead: “At present, the cost of Social Security benefits is projected to exceed sources of funding, and the program is projected to be unable to pay a portion of scheduled benefits by 2036.”
GAO made recommendations that included ensuring access to benefits information for all workers.
Testimony from...
(Excerpt) Read more at theusreport.com ...
Is this US News and World Report?
Mine ended up 30 bucks light.
Ah, never mind. It’s a blog disguised as a news source.
You need to post in Bloggers. Here is the rest of the blog. Complete with requests for donations to keep the blog alive.
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Jul122011
SSA suspends social security statements; expects shortage by 2036
Tuesday, July 12, 2011 at 8:08AM
SSA’s current notice about social security statements for workers. [Screen snip from www.ssa.gov/mystatement]
If you’ve ever held a job and paid into the social security fund, you’ve received statements from time to time telling you what benefits to expect once you retire. Most assume the government provides an accurate account. Do any of us actually keep up with what we’ve deposited?
Fact is you’d be wise to hang onto the last social security statement the government sent you.
The Government Accountability Office provided a report on July 8 about the social security statements the government has used to inform the more than 150 million workers who have paid into the social security system. Traditionally the government sent out statements once a year, presumably to help workers plan for retirement.
With little fanfare, the Social Security Administration chose to suspend mailings of the statement in March, 2011. The GAO said SSA made this decision because of “budget constraints.”
GAO said SSA has plans to provide online statements, but so far there’s no timeline and the plans have not been finalized. The online model is currently in initial development phases said GAO. Nor does SSA have a cost estimate for the new model.
SSA currently has an estimator available for those who are not already receiving social security or fall into other classifications involving pensions. The estimator, SSA warns, only provides estimates, not actual benefits.
The GAO report also included confirmation of signs of trouble ahead: “At present, the cost of Social Security benefits is projected to exceed sources of funding, and the program is projected to be unable to pay a portion of scheduled benefits by 2036.”
GAO made recommendations that included ensuring access to benefits information for all workers.
Testimony from Barbara D. Bovbjerg, managing director Education, Workforce and Income Security was included. Her testimony suggested that despite political rhetoric, the current administration has considered changes to social security.
Bovbjerg noted the need to keep the system from becoming insolvent:
“Accomplishing these goals for the long-term requires that either Social Security receive additional income (revenue increases), reduce costs (benefit reductions), or undertake some combination of the two. A wide variety of options for reform have been proposed. Some of the reform options focus on restoring long-term stability; however, a few aim to enhance benefits for specific groups, such as widows and low-earners who are especially at risk for poverty.”
The GAO report suggests plans are a bit in disarray although SSA said statements may resume in 2012.
Bottom line: hang onto your last statement. You may need it for documentation one of these days.
(Filed by Kay B. Day/July 12, 2011)
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Interesting posting history there, dude. Looks like your sole mission in life (should you have one) is to pimp the “US Reports” blog. And to never comment.
As luck would have it I happen to have mine here and this is what is says.
*Your estimated benefits are based on current law. Congress has made changes to the law in the past and can do so at any time. The law governing benefit amounts may change because, by 2037, the payroll taxes collected will be enough to pay only about 76% of scheduled benefits.
They’ve taken quite a bit of history out of mine. Generational and class thieves. Abolish Social Security. Shut it down now.
Arrgh.
You don’t “deposit” anything. You pay so that current retires can get their check. It’s a classic Ponzi scheme, always has been....
“...the payroll taxes collected will be enough to pay only about 76% of scheduled benefits.”
And regarding the WHO, WHICH AND WHEN forget about “IF WE TOLD YOU WE WOULD HAVE TO KILL YOU...OR SEND YOU TO SHICAGO FOR INDOCTRINATION.”
Ridiculous. SS is cashflow negative now. That means that all that can be done to get the rest of the money for the SS transfer payments is to borrow, tax, or inflate, or some combination.
WTH is wrong with FR? On every SS thread people are repeating the lies that have been told about SS since FDR. There is no ‘lockbox”, “trust fund”, “benefits”, “trustees”, “contributions”, etc. SS has never been anything but an intergenerational income transfer.
I haven’t been had one mailed to me in years. Finally after numerous requests I rec’d a statement but the section that estimates future earnings stated “zero” even thought I am and have been working. I called and even went down to the office where I was rudely told ‘why am I worried about it, I’m not ready to collect.’ I figured if they did that to enough people it’s a good accounting trick to show less long term liability.
I’ve got every 1099, W-2, Tax Return and SS Statement since I started paying into the system when I was 13 years old. The payments have been under protest since the first one. I have maxed out on all my “contributions” for the last 30 years and I’m damn tired of it. With only 6% interest I figure my IOU from Uncle Sugar runs into nearly 7 figures.
oblabla, bonehead and Cantor can shut this sob down for all I care.
In other words, ha ha sucker, we got your money, bought votes with it, we can change the rules anytime we want to and you can kiss this good bye because it ain’t worth the paper it is written on.
Lie down, roll over, beg, like it.
And when SS is totally flat-busted, bone-dry broke, they will be coming after the trillions of dollars we’ve saved in 401k and 403b plans. We saved that because we knew for decades that SS is a Ponzi joke. So the pols blew through that and now want our own hard-earned savings.
It’s coming. They may limit how much you can take out or require you to invest all or some in government bonds or prohibit the money from leaving the country. The filthy scum ought to be lined up against the wall.
Totally agree. Everyone paying in now is paying directly to someone receiving. I say at best, shut all withdrawals down by 20% per year for 5 years to 0. Keep the payments going to the next 5 years to help balance the budget and then stop those entirely as well.
Create a new system that only supplies benefits to the truly disabled, no means or age testing.
Yes, some might get the message if examples were drug out in the streets.
The ruling class has to go for us to have any future. oblabla today confirms that he is the epitome of a self proclaimed king. Have you seen the pace of executive orders the bastard has been cranking out the last week or so?
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