The Social Security 6.2 % "Raise"

mathjak107 said:
Ss is only supposed to be a piece of a retirement income and actually only 20% of seniors have ss as their only income . anyone with investments is way way ahead of this recent inflation spike as investment growth far outpaced actual inflation
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At some point, most people should recognize that they are getting older, and start saving/preparing for the day when they can no longer work. The younger they realize this, the better their odds of having a nice retirement.

A person doesn't need to be a financial genius to build a retirement nest egg...there are several good mutual funds which have a long history of good returns.

IRA's/401k's are probably the Best thing the government has ever done for the average worker....IF the worker is smart enough to take advantage of them. Had such programs been available when I first started working, I'd be driving a new Cadillac every couple of years.

SS is supposed to be a "safety net"....Not the primary source of income.
 

I attended a webinar at work this week on retirement income and the instructor was very reassuring about Social Security. He said 70% of retirees depend on SS for at least half their income, and that politicians know it would not be a good move to let Social Security suffer. He also said there was a law changed that causes the upper limit of income that is subject to paying SS tax to keep increasing and apparently this has been occurring already and if the schedule of increases is followed then SS won't get into financial trouble. He also said there has never been any year that the SS trust fund has paid more than it took in. And that due to baby boomers dying over the years there are only 60 million left and there are 80 million Millennials, so with all that he said we didn't need to worry about not getting our SS. On the other hand he said people who retire without 5 or more years of extra money feel psychologically inhibited from spending money and are not as happy in retirement. I personally am going to be starting retirement with a 2 year shortfall (if going by average lifespan) (and assuming stock market performs significantly below normal), so I am very discouraged and hope I feel comfy enough spending in retirement. I've spent the past hour looking at Amazon's microwave popcorn popper bowls + bags of kernels + popcorn flavoring - trying to figure out if that is more cost effective than the little individual bags of popcorn that I normally buy (and that must be in a shortage because the price jumped 50%, or else sellers are taking advantage of people's fears of shortages to price gouge).
 
it actually is a lot less then 70% ….

the original data from NIRS showed 40% of Americans count on ss for their sole income and the census data from THE SIPP shows it really is about half that

SIPP is actual irs tax data and census data which showed under 20% of seniors actually live on ss only ….the 70% figure for half is also way skewed . and it too is likely about half that figure


https://www.aei.org/articles/factch...y-on-social-security-for-their-entire-income/
 

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mathjak107 said:
it actually is a lot less then 70% ….

the original data from NIRS showed 40% of Americans count on ss for their sole income and the census data from THE SIPP shows it really is about half that

SIPP is actual irs tax data and census data which showed under 20% of seniors actually live on ss only ….the 70% figure for half is also way skewed . and it too is likely about half that figure

https://www.aei.org/articles/factch...y-on-social-security-for-their-entire-income/
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I agree. It's hard to know exactly how this all shakes out because complicating factors that aren't taken into consideration.

For instance, imagine two seniors living together, each drawing average or above SS benefits (over $1500 per month per person). Regardless what they have in savings, 401Ks, IRAs or other investments, it's quite likely their combined minimum of $3000 per month in SS would indeed be more than half of the income needed to stay afloat.

Very few retirees have regular expenses higher than $6000 per month, so technically yes, their $3000 in SS would provide more than 50% of their income.

From the above, one can't deduce that this couple can't fund more than 50% of their income without the SS checks, only that they aren't.

The other problem is the word "income." Most people don't consider money they draw from their own investment pool to be "income." That term is usually thought of as money from an outside source, a job, SS or a pension.

That said, there are a lot of American seniors scraping by on SS. Unfortunately, many were not high earners, or worked intermittently or "under the table," resulting in low SS payments (and now benefits).

I've often advised my kids' friends friends (and anyone who'll listen) that aside from casual teen jobs like lawn-mowing and baby-sitting, to never, ever work for cash even if it means an extra dollar an hour. Those bosses aren't doing you any favors; they're saving plenty by cheating you out of SS, disability, and worker's comp benefits. Part of living in a society is paying taxes, even when you're 16.

We never let our kids work under the table.
 
I was lucky. Our plant from the first day I was hired in they had a T.I.P. Thrift investment plan. They would match your $1.00 with from 35¢ to $1.00 up to $3,000.00 a year. For many years it was dollar for dollar so I made out like a bandit those years.
Then they raised the limit to $6,000.00 a year. So when they shut down my plant I was able to take all that out & put in an IRA No 401ks back then.

I had a good financial planner He put $15,000.00 in an Annuity for 15 years. When it matured & was rolled over into my D.J. account it was worth over $30,000.00 He said I have to start spending out of my IRA or they will penalize me for not using enough. I've lost some at times but as he said, Don't worry it will come back better than before. Very true.
 
fmdog44 said:
Retirees will see much higher Medicare Part B premiums in 2022, with the Congressional Research Service estimating a 6.2% premium increase and monthly costs jumping from $148.50 to $157.70. Most retirees pay premiums out of their Social Security checks, so they'll find that some of their raise disappears even before it hits their bank accounts.🙁
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But if you didn't get that raise where would you be?
 
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GeorgiaXplant said:
For crying out loud. Some of y'all would complain if you were hung with a gold rope! The increase in the Medicare premium doesn't come anywhere close to the 6.2% increase in the SS benefit. Last year the SS increase was 1.3%, and the increase in the Medicare premium was $9.10. This year, if the Medicare premium is actually $157.70, it will be an increase of $9.50.

Calm down. A 6.2% increase is nothing to sneeze at. If you don't want it and don't think it's worth your trouble, write a check for the difference every month and donate it back to the Social Security Administration.

I, for one, am tickled to death with a whopping increase in the size of my SS check (far in excess of $100 after the Medicare premium), and the Medicare premium is a heckuva lot less than the hundreds of dollars that younger single workers pay every month for their health insurance.

ETA: Hey...a bright idea! Instead of donating your SS increase to the SSA, send it to me. I'll put it to good use, I promise ;)
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Agreed
 
Tom 86 said:
I was lucky. Our plant from the first day I was hired in they had a T.I.P. Thrift investment plan. They would match your $1.00 with from 35¢ to $1.00 up to $3,000.00 a year. For many years it was dollar for dollar so I made out like a bandit those years.
Then they raised the limit to $6,000.00 a year. So when they shut down my plant I was able to take all that out & put in an IRA No 401ks back then.

I had a good financial planner He put $15,000.00 in an Annuity for 15 years. When it matured & was rolled over into my D.J. account it was worth over $30,000.00 He said I have to start spending out of my IRA or they will penalize me for not using enough. I've lost some at times but as he said, Don't worry it will come back better than before. Very true.
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Your "financial planner" put a load of commission in his pocket. You made 4.8% interest on your money Annuities are not good investments.
 
bowmore said:
Your "financial planner" put a load of commission in his pocket. You made 4.8% interest on your money Annuities are not good investments.
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Annuities give a better rate than any bank interest....especially at todays artificially low Fed Funds rates. A few years ago, one could get as much as 5% interest on some bank accounts....which now are usually less than 1%, at best.

About the Only "investments" that show a decent rate of growth are in the Stock Market...everything from individual stocks to a vast array of mutual funds.

If a person is lucky enough to pick the right stocks, they can become a millionaire. Perhaps the best performing stock in recent years is Tesla. A share of Tesla was only 5 or 6 dollars, 10 years ago.....today it closed over $1100.
 
StarSong said:
I agree. It's hard to know exactly how this all shakes out because complicating factors that aren't taken into consideration.

For instance, imagine two seniors living together, each drawing average or above SS benefits (over $1500 per month per person). Regardless what they have in savings, 401Ks, IRAs or other investments, it's quite likely their combined minimum of $3000 per month in SS would indeed be more than half of the income needed to stay afloat.

Very few retirees have regular expenses higher than $6000 per month, so technically yes, their $3000 in SS would provide more than 50% of their income.

From the above, one can't deduce that this couple can't fund more than 50% of their income without the SS checks, only that they aren't.

The other problem is the word "income." Most people don't consider money they draw from their own investment pool to be "income." That term is usually thought of as money from an outside source, a job, SS or a pension.

That said, there are a lot of American seniors scraping by on SS. Unfortunately, many were not high earners, or worked intermittently or "under the table," resulting in low SS payments (and now benefits).

I've often advised my kids' friends friends (and anyone who'll listen) that aside from casual teen jobs like lawn-mowing and baby-sitting, to never, ever work for cash even if it means an extra dollar an hour. Those bosses aren't doing you any favors; they're saving plenty by cheating you out of SS, disability, and worker's comp benefits. Part of living in a society is paying taxes, even when you're 16.

We never let our kids work under the table.
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I've told people the same thing. I know a guy who worked "under the table" most of his life and who thought he was "getting over" because he didn't pay taxes, but now can't get SS and probably can't afford Medicare because he didn't work enough quarters and would have to pay full premiums.
 
Becky1951 said:
He can get S.S.I. and if over 65 he qualifies for Medicare.
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I didn't know that about SSI. Thanks for mentioning it.
According to the web, 2021 average SSI payment comes to $661 per month. https://www.disabilitysecrets.com/page4-44.html

He'll still have to pay Medicare premiums.
https://www.medicare.org/articles/how-does-medicare-calculate-my-premium/

I'm glad that there are some safety nets for people who paid little to no taxes over the years, but it's hardly a windfall.

Survival on $660 a month in most of the US would be a Sisyphean task. Most of one's energy would be consumed by the daily challenge of arranging and maintaining every possible govt service, community handout, cheap food supply and kindness of family and friends.
 
StarSong said:
I didn't know that about SSI. Thanks for mentioning it.
According to the web, 2021 average SSI payment comes to $661 per month. https://www.disabilitysecrets.com/page4-44.html

He'll still have to pay Medicare premiums.
https://www.medicare.org/articles/how-does-medicare-calculate-my-premium/

I'm glad that there are some safety nets for people who paid little to no taxes over the years, but it's hardly a windfall.

Survival on $660 a month in most of the US would be a Sisyphean task. Most of one's energy would be consumed by the daily challenge of arranging and maintaining every possible govt service, community handout, cheap food supply and kindness of family and friends.
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I get S.S.I. 784.00 per month. Due to such a low amount I pay zero Medicare premium. My highest meds cost 3.20 per prescription.
 
Just received a letter from SS stating that " your prior amount was incorrect " (not the first time this has happened ) and listed
the new monthly amount. A huge jump ( including next years COLA adjustment ).
It is a 21 % increase over what I was getting. A nice surprise.
I'll admit that somehow I messed up my figures when I stated in my earlier post 'it's a wash'.
Need to double check things before I post. Guess I was sick the day they taught 'ciphering' at my school... :oops:
 
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Don M. said:
If a person is lucky enough to pick the right stocks, they can become a millionaire. Perhaps the best performing stock in recent years is Tesla. A share of Tesla was only 5 or 6 dollars, 10 years ago.....today it closed over $1100.
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I have a coworker who bought Tesla when it was cheap, he's told me that it no longer matters to his balance whether the market is up or down, that Tesla is such a large portion now (because of the growth of the stock price) that it only matters to his balance how Tesla is doing. On one hand I feel like I should recommend him to sell and diversify, but on the other hand, he's doing so well with it seems like he should keep it in Tesla.
 
Don M. said:
At some point, most people should recognize that they are getting older, and start saving/preparing for the day when they can no longer work. The younger they realize this, the better their odds of having a nice retirement...
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Unfortunately few younger people understand how the SS system works until they are too old to do much about their situation. Most explanations one will read on a myriad web sites or decades ago in magazine articles are far too long and complicated for most to readily absorb or bother with. In this era most web sites on retirement are financial companies with retirement products they are selling so do not have an incentive to simplify. And the US government website is a hopeless massive hierarchy of confusion.

The key information that is missing up front is that one's social security benefits are calculated by a complex formula based on the highest 35 years of recorded IRS income that is CPI weighted. Thus it is important to have a decent income for that amount of years if one hopes to be able to live off that SS benefit. If a person begins their adult life at age 18, that could cover up to age 53 so there are 12 years in which one can slack.
 
Luckily, our parents were quite frugal, and although never "rich", they expressed the importance of planning for the future...savings, etc. Those early lessons have served us well, and we stress the importance of financial "management" to our kids and grandkids. Not planning for retirement, until a person reaches their 40's or 50's, substantially reduces the chances of enjoying retirement.

Another major problem for so many is Divorce. Over 40% of todays marriages end in divorce, which often puts both "partners" in a bad financial position. I firmly believe that 2 can live as cheaply as 1, in many cases.
 
Don M. said:
Annuities give a better rate than any bank interest....especially at todays artificially low Fed Funds rates. A few years ago, one could get as much as 5% interest on some bank accounts....which now are usually less than 1%, at best.

About the Only "investments" that show a decent rate of growth are in the Stock Market...everything from individual stocks to a vast array of mutual funds.

If a person is lucky enough to pick the right stocks, they can become a millionaire. Perhaps the best performing stock in recent years is Tesla. A share of Tesla was only 5 or 6 dollars, 10 years ago.....today it closed over $1100.
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Life Annuities have very poor rates unless you are talking period certain annuity products which really are not annuitys but are cd products issued by an insurer and are for just a certain number of years ..they carry no mortality credits so rates are pretty poor ….

deferred annuities are a poor deal too …since that money prior to being annuitized would have gained quite a lot over decades of time in a diversified portfolio.

immediate annuities actually have zero return the first18 years …you give an insurer 100k and at today’s rate you get about 493 a month or 5916 a year at age 65 ….it takes 17 years to get back the money you gave them ..you don’t see your first penny of their money until 18 years later.

the 5.916% draw rate is not a roi ..it is simply the draw rate you get your own money you gave them back. A return on your investment does not start until after you get back what you gave them .

so annuIties are insurance not investments .

they become extra poor investments when they try to combine investing with the insurance and most people are not smart enough to understand these complex products and all their twists and turns
 
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bowmore said:
Your "financial planner" put a load of commission in his pocket. You made 4.8% interest on your money Annuities are not good investments.
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Annuities are buying a pension ..they are income insurance and not investments …in fact many with guaranteed growth don’t let you access that growth .

the amount you see that it grew to can only be used to annuitize ….every payment plus all fees and commissions come out of your actual account so the guaranteed account can not be taken or given to heirs .

it strictly is used to annuitize with but at a rate the insurer controls .

if anyone wants a lesson on just what I mean and how these guaranteed growth amounts work I will be glad to explain
 
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Alligatorob said:
Maybe for some folks, for us I think it's 2 can live a cheaply as 2, or maybe 3...
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My experience - 2 live as cheaply as 1.5 X 1.

Life isn't financially easy for most of my divorced and widowed friends, with the notable exception of those who received nice inheritances after becoming single. I'm speaking about Americans - have no clue how inheritances, pensions and government benefits work in other countries.
 
Feelslikefar said:
Just received a letter from SS stating that " your prior amount was incorrect " (not the first time this has happened ) and listed
the new monthly amount. A huge jump ( including next years COLA adjustment ).
It is a 21 % increase over what I was getting. A nice surprise.
I'll admit that somehow I messed up my figures when I stated in my earlier post 'it's a wash'.
Need to double check things before I post. Guess I was sick the day they taught 'ciphering' at my school... :oops:
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I just phoned the SS office about this yesterday. I periodically would rec've those letters also. Something about forgetting to add credits from my job for the prior year?

I'm hoping they forgot again :) , I had to leave a message. The lady on the recording said not to call again, she'll get back to us.
 
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