Eye opening retirement savings stat
- Thread starter gamecockcat
- Start date
That is debatable, but to be fair, I think the proposal was to add a SS tax on income > $500K, it currently ends at $160K. So proposal was to leave the $160K cap alone at 6.2%, but then apply 3% over $500K, so there would be no new SS tax on income between 160-500K.
Surely we can all agree that $500K per year is wealthy. But one salient question I would raise is just how many taxpayers make that kind of money, and how much of the SS gap (and medicare, which is also hurting badly) would that tax increase cover? Everyone says "tax the rich", until you do the math and find there really aren't all that many rich to tax to make a difference in budgetary matters.
Yes, that’s the solution to everything - taxes! Tax the rich, the middle, tax them all, that will solve everything. Take my money government, take it and make the world a better place!
I’ll tell you what it is, it’s give the US government more money by taking it from its citizens! How can the US afford to do anything with how little money it has, let’s just give it more money. Increase all taxes I say! I bet if you did a deep analysis of the US Government spending you’d find it’s extremely efficient and almost nothing is wasted, and we’re all so thankful for citizens like you with battered wife syndrome that advocate for taking money from other citizens. What a great American you are!
Thank you Mr. Gaetz, or is that you MTG? Seriously, do you actually have a suggestion, or are you just trying to increase your social media presence? Some of us on this thread are trying to have an adult discussion, so if you have a solid proposal, would like to see it, especially since you have done a deep analysis of US govt spending.
The government spent 1.52 TRILLION on defense last year, and your “adult” solution is to give it more 😂 Here’s the hilarious irony of your suggestion. You want the government to take more money from people that make this number you pulled out of your ass to just give to other people (instead of putting the pressure on congress to actually put a minimal amount of effort into actually balancing the budget). In your example you’re proposing to tax the orthopedic surgeon that spent decades in school and is helping other citizens in order to pay for the hip he’s replacing ! How funny is that, you’re wanting to tax the health care provider more to do his job. You know what is a really easy solution to make everything better? Tax everyone that lives in Kentucky 2% more. Ya, just think about it, the revenue the government can generate taxing everyone that lives in Kentucky 2% more would help pay for so many great things that the government is just too poor to pay for now. And it’s only 1 state! The other 49 states don’t have to pay a cent. Cmon, what do you think?
Ron: So you don't have to go back through this thread, let me summarize:
In the first few posts, VHCat70 and I both said there are no "easy and painless fixes to SS" - and it is safe to say he and I don't agree on much.
Second, I repeated a proposal I have read where you cap the current top payment at $3500, i.e., no more COL increases for the top recipients until Congress acts, addresses approx 20% of the shortfall, but I never said tax increase
Another poster (not me, and you can reread the thread to confirm) suggested a 3% tax on earned income above $500K, to which I agreed is something to look at, but then in a subsequent post stated that it is always politically popular to say "Tax the rich", but then I stated you have to do the math and there are not enough "Rich" to tax to spend the money that government always seems to want to spend (which I bet even YOU agree with). So that gets us back to the question of what do do about SS/medicare funding?
So, back to you Ron, I will ask politely for the third time: Do you have a proposal to discuss to shore up SS or medicare, or not? It is a simple yes or no?
In the first few posts, VHCat70 and I both said there are no "easy and painless fixes to SS" - and it is safe to say he and I don't agree on much.
Second, I repeated a proposal I have read where you cap the current top payment at $3500, i.e., no more COL increases for the top recipients until Congress acts, addresses approx 20% of the shortfall, but I never said tax increase
Another poster (not me, and you can reread the thread to confirm) suggested a 3% tax on earned income above $500K, to which I agreed is something to look at, but then in a subsequent post stated that it is always politically popular to say "Tax the rich", but then I stated you have to do the math and there are not enough "Rich" to tax to spend the money that government always seems to want to spend (which I bet even YOU agree with). So that gets us back to the question of what do do about SS/medicare funding?
So, back to you Ron, I will ask politely for the third time: Do you have a proposal to discuss to shore up SS or medicare, or not? It is a simple yes or no?
Isn't that all due to COVID?
Either way, the poor and minorities are always going to drive down the age expectancy, through lack of health care, low IQ, and drug epidemics like Fentanyl. But on the other end of the spectrum, people are living longer. Cancer isn't the death sentence it used to be. More and more diseases and conditions which used to cut life short, are now "livable" through modern medicine.
It's not uncommon, going forward, for many middle and upper class to retire at 65 and then live another 30 years or more. And I think that's also one of many problems we face: we really can't afford as a society for someone to be retired and not contributing to society (but taking in various benefits) for 30+ years.
sure: place a cap on defense spending at 1.2 TRILLION a year. The other 300 Billion ANNUALLY can go to Medicare and SS. Voila! And you didnt just randomly screw over a part of the population that did nothing wrong. That will never happen though - so what really needs to happen is the government actually has to be held accountable for its budget and allocate it properly. There is more than enough money to get us all everything we need. Warren Buffet had a quote I read recently. He said we can fix the budget and have everything figured out “easy”.
His solution? “I could end the deficit in 5 minutes. You just pass a law that says that anytime there is a deficit of more than 3% of GDP all sitting members of congress are ineligible for reelection.” It’s not “easy” to figure it out, but it can be done. The MONEY IS THERE. Just taking more money from other citizens that aren’t you is the easy, cruel, and unfair way out imo.
His solution? “I could end the deficit in 5 minutes. You just pass a law that says that anytime there is a deficit of more than 3% of GDP all sitting members of congress are ineligible for reelection.” It’s not “easy” to figure it out, but it can be done. The MONEY IS THERE. Just taking more money from other citizens that aren’t you is the easy, cruel, and unfair way out imo.
Why? Not hard. Their benefits are capped & they already receive a lower return than those that made less money; i.e., it's already skewed (heavily) in favor of the lower income folks. See:
They get a somewhat higher benefit from already putting more in. They deserve it because they paid in & Congress decided what the benefits for those pay-ins should be. I don't get that you don't get this. Why do you always go for more taxes to supposedly fix things?
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Very little response to this. I don't know why this isn't the easiest & most painless of all the suggestions made here. It's clear most people are going to spend every dime they get their hands on. Don't let them get their hands on it. Have employers match it to some degree. Allow withdrawals starting at age 65-70. Whatever is left at death goes to heirs, not government.
In my day paycheck to paycheck meant waiting for Johnny Paycheck’s new album
Depends on where and how you live.
As an aside; I have to start drawing SS at 62, and once I do that, any amount I make over 21,000 dollars, reduces my ALREADY reduced benefit (for having to take it early), at a 50 percent rate.
That makes no sense to me, at all. If I'm already getting a reduced benefit (which I'm perfectly fine with), why would there be an earnings limit on top of that?
I'm not surprised though. There is very little that has ever made sense, with respect to Social Security.
FVCK FDR...
That makes no sense to me, at all. If I'm already getting a reduced benefit (which I'm perfectly fine with), why would there be an earnings limit on top of that?
I'm not surprised though. There is very little that has ever made sense, with respect to Social Security.
FVCK FDR...
To me, being rich means not having to live in an economically depressed area, to stretch your spending power.
IOW - Being "rich" is the inverse of having to consider things like that.
Forgive me ignorance but is it a use it or lose it or bank it for later? So basically what’s the benefit of someone at that age to make slightly more than 21k?
How bout we raises taxes 10% on every congressman and the president (democrats and republicans) until they figure out how to fund social security 100%. Most of them are already rich and they always say we should tax the rich more anyways so it shouldn’t hurt them. I bet they would come up with a social security solution quicker than they are now.
So, I would be discriminated against because I worked hard and was successful? I put that money in there per my duty......I should draw what I earned! It shouldn't matter if I have a big 401K or what kind of retirement I have set aside......I done without to set that money aside. We are not drawing the amount we draw because we were lucky......kind of the a liberal take on your SS repairs........how about everyone lobby for the government to pay back what they have stolen from SS?
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Some lessons are hard to learn..........If you haven't learned to live on less than you make..........you are probably one of the people that have doubled their credit card balance in the last couple of years......this is all going to crash and I don't think a lot of people are hardened enough to handle it...........
Let the government pay SS back what they have skimmed over the years.......
I bought my wife a Ford Explorer in Jan. It is the first new care we have bought.......we have always bought program cars and paid cash.......I walked for six months to and from work....then we bought a heap and kept it together until we had cash for a new car......you don't get ahead by paying interest to the man.......spend that interest money on yourself or save it....
My wife got laid off from a sewing factory......she went to college on NAFTA.......she qualified to put make up money into her 401K.......she save the limit for more than 20 yrs.......this inflation isn't her friend......she doesn't have to start taking money out for a couple of years.......we have set ourselves up too live on SS......
Quit sending Trillions to 3rd world countries and start putting it into SS, Taking care of our vets, homeless, mental health & reducing the cost of Healthcare. Our politicians spit in our face over and over.
With Dems in control they could slash the military budget drastically but they wouldn’t spend the savings on the right things. Would still go for more woke bullshit such as climate change
Part of the Covid plan. Why did they force Covid patients back into nursing homes. Get those folks in the grave and off the SS rolls.
Couldn't agree more. Won't get into specifics regarding income/savings...but I am a sole provider for family: wife and our 4 kiddos. Used to have no problem paying bills and saving cash. Economic conditions have hit hard. We have no CC debt to speak of but having a really hard time saving cash. We paid cash finishing basement during Covid and had I known the direction this was going to go, probably wouldn't have done it.
We are probably down $10K YoY in on hand cash savings.
This isn't that surprising. Something like 60% of the population makes less than $50k per year.
Some brief perspective here …
Yes, there are financial problems that have accumulated over time, no debating that, but no doubt some of that due to a lack of basic financial discipline. However, it’s not like financial problems are a new revelation.
Some of us had parents who grew up in the shadow of the Great Depression and they changed the world. Just going back to the late 70’s and early 80’s, some of us had to deal with 10 to 18% interest rates. If we were able to survive in that lending climate, seems we should be able to survive the current situation.
While there are no doubt a lot of people who simply lack capacity to provide for themselves, as has always been the case, there are also too many people who lack self-control. Too many people can’t resist their wants and sometimes even put those ahead of their actual needs …
More people need to quit coveting after things they think they see their friends post about on social media, when the truth is some of them are in a fiscal mess. You can be both driven to do better and content at the same time. Contentment should be a good attribute - learn it, live it - the world around you will be the better for it.
We all need to work the best we can, to save the best we can, to joyfully constrain our spending on what our true needs are, to give if we can, to be humble, to be grateful, to be helpful …
… pardon the interruption, just a little simplified perspective to live well in this overly complicated world.
Yes, there are financial problems that have accumulated over time, no debating that, but no doubt some of that due to a lack of basic financial discipline. However, it’s not like financial problems are a new revelation.
Some of us had parents who grew up in the shadow of the Great Depression and they changed the world. Just going back to the late 70’s and early 80’s, some of us had to deal with 10 to 18% interest rates. If we were able to survive in that lending climate, seems we should be able to survive the current situation.
While there are no doubt a lot of people who simply lack capacity to provide for themselves, as has always been the case, there are also too many people who lack self-control. Too many people can’t resist their wants and sometimes even put those ahead of their actual needs …
More people need to quit coveting after things they think they see their friends post about on social media, when the truth is some of them are in a fiscal mess. You can be both driven to do better and content at the same time. Contentment should be a good attribute - learn it, live it - the world around you will be the better for it.
We all need to work the best we can, to save the best we can, to joyfully constrain our spending on what our true needs are, to give if we can, to be humble, to be grateful, to be helpful …
… pardon the interruption, just a little simplified perspective to live well in this overly complicated world.
Totally agree. At my last job you only had to put in 2% for the company to match 7%. All of the younger people I hired, I talked about it to them and I was shocked at people not taking advantage of it. Then seeing them walk in with their Starbucks almost every morning and having lunch DoorDashed to work regularly.
I guess I’m old fashioned but that 7 dollar DoorDash meal doesn’t it become 14 after fees/tips and people somehow justify it in their brain?
Perfect example of lack of understanding of US budget. Your premise is totally false.
I had a buddy about 10 years ago that was trying to borrow 50K from me. He has a wife, 2 kids and at time time he had one on the way and lived paycheck to paycheck. I felt so sorry for him..........until I asked what he was going to do with the money. I figuered he'd say debt or something. He looked at me with a straight face and said they could no longer afford the dues at the country club they belonged to and was going to use it for that. I told him to get lost.
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