Posted on 11/20/2008 10:38:12 AM PST by Conservababe
Retirees receiving Social Security seem to believe that they will die before collecting all their lifetime contributions to the system, leaving a balance. But is this the truth? I know there are many variables so I was hoping someone could point me to stats.
they don’t collect their ‘lifetime contributions’ because ytheir lifetime contributions are already gone. they were spend on current recipients. there IS no relation between your contributions today and your benifits tommorrow.
tommorrow’s benificiaries will be paid from tomorrow’s workers.
this is a pay as you go program, similar to a Ponzi scheme. in fact if you tried to use Social Security as a business model, you’d be jailed for fraud.
Back when, people were paying 0.5% on $2000 per year so it easy to recoup all they paid in very quickly.
Will be new condition of eligibility that you have to die have x years of collection.
Unless I live to 200, I will never break even on SS.
With every single pension or life insurance, the beneficiary is your spouse or your designated person. With Social Security your designated beneficiary is Uncle Sam!
SUCKER!
I know, but I’m wondering about now. If you have on one side of the balance sheet the amount of lifetime contribution will the amount be depleted before your death or leave a balance that you did not receive. I know it’s all theoretical but so many retirees on SS believe they are paying much more than they receive before death.
People that contribute to the SS system do not own the money they put in. In 1959 the Supreme Court ruled that the SS system is a welfare program.
SS is a TAX- I don’t know why people don’t realize this.....oh wait- yes I do. It’s because that is the lie they started with and it’s the lie they keep repeating.
It is NOT a “savings account”, it is NOT a “retirement account”...it IS a TAX on the generation behind you. If it WERE a retirement account, you would withdraw EVERYTHING you put in, plus interest, in something like 4 years. Now since people are living 20 years beyond retirement (with that number looking to grow in the next 10 years)- we can all do the math.
Let’s start calling SS what it IS- welfare for old folks. And let’s stop treating it like some sacred cow. And for crying out loud!- start MEANS TESTING!
Yes, folks, I know SS is all those things you say. But does anyone have any stats as to whether the “tax” they pay in over a lifetime is bigger than what they receive after retirement. That is my only question today.
Wait until they take the 401k money you have invested and give you a f****** allowance from your savings back to you.
If they have their way (>200 votes in MN to remove all doubt now) no more late life big ticket purchases with “your” money like a cruise or the classic sports car you always wanted and saved for all your life.
Oh, and another thing, die young with a large balance of “your” money? No inheritance to your survivors, the entire balance will go back in the “system”, not to your family.
If someone told me I would be typing that out in all seriousness 10 years ago I would have laughed my ass off at them, now I almost do it with a tear in my eye.
They are extracting far more than they put in.
Treat SS as a “retirement program” - THEN give young workers the opportunity to opt-out of it.
You don’t want to contribute - fine, but don’t expect to collect benefits.
It’s a deal I would take.
I am not sure that is the case. If you and employer paid max SS (not medicare) tax, your libaility this year is about 13K. I know for the past decade I have maxed out and probably (hopefully) will for the next 17 years until I retire. I think I and my employer have paid close to 200k thus far and you could multiply 17 years x another maybe 15-16 k a year for another 250 k or so. Total contributions then will be around 450-500k. At age 67 I would collect about 30k p/year in todays $, so it would take me about 15-20 years to recoup my $, albeit in money worth far less than I paid, and with no interest accrual benefit.
Leaving a balance? A Balance?
HAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.
Social Security is Strange Political Animal Surrounded by Myths
Myth 2: Workers get less out of the system than they paid in
While the current Social Security payroll tax is 15.3 percent on income up to $94,200 a year (2006 figure), the tax rates and the wage base were much lower when most current retirees were working and contributing to the system. As recently as 1972, the maximum payroll tax paid (by the employee) was only $419 a year. Even including interest earned since the contributions were made, most retirees receive back significantly more than they contributed.
This may not be true for current workers, since both the tax and the wage base upon which the tax is determined have increased dramatically since the 1970s. Whether current workers will recover their entire investment will depend in part on how long they live, whether they are married and whether they earned a high or low wage.
FWIW :)
Can’t give a stat, as I don’t know the current withholding and payot, but ...
if you know YOUR payin per month (average it if you need to), simply take this amount and multiply by 12 and then by the number of years you will pay in (47 if you start at 18 and work to 65).
Then take the monthly payout you expect to receive and multiply it by 12 and then the number of years you expect to collect.
Subtract B from A.
More class warfare. You want to means test people who have paid the maximum amount every year for 30 or 40 years and did the best they could to save for retirement? Screw that! You're no better than the thieves that are stealing that money from me today.
I would be happy to put the amount that is confiscated from my paycheck into my retirement savings. I've done that with my 401k for years...now the damn thieves are scheming to steal that too.
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