Clark doesn’t think so! What do you think?
The biggest injustice here is for people who have been in the workforce since the 1980s. Due to changes made to Social Security in 1983 we have been overpaying into Social Security. This overpayment was supposed to go into a “trust fund” and be available for us Baby Boomers when we retired. All lies! The politicians spent the overpayments as soon as it was received and wrote IOUs. Now us Baby Boomers who are retired, or almost retired, and paying taxes are making principal and interest payments on our own money that they sent to the Government in Social Security over payments. The audacity of these people who call themselves public servants.
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From the linked article:
Clark says he’s confident the system can last for many years to come if responsive leadership takes the issue seriously and acts…“I believe that it will be dealt with by a future Congress. The later we wait, the more difficult it will be to fix, but it will be fixed,” he says."
When I received my first Navy paycheck, I noticed the SS deduction and asked my executive officer what it was for. He explained how SS would work and I told him that I didn’t think I’d ever see the benefits coming my way.
Happily I was wrong. Today… all we need to fix it now is a responsible congress… how hard could THAT be?
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That’s because the money was invested in our Federal Government. Would you rather it would have been invested in the stock market?
As a income-earning citizen you are paying your share of the interest on the national debt. As a SS benefit recipient your contributions are earning interest. What’s your complaint?
I thought that around the year 2000 or a little later, Congress decided to open the Social Security “Lock Box” and mad the funds part of the General Fund. The Social Security Administration my consider an amount (sadly shrinking) as theirs to use, But there is no longer any money set aside just for their use. A Social Security dollar is just another tax dollar. The absence of designated funds doesn’t change the obligation of Social Security benefits to be paid.
Am I wrong?
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This money doesn’t earn interest. The government cannot invest money in the markets. The markets would collapse instantly. SS Is just a Ponzi Scheme. It was never funded, so it was broke before it began. They paid benefits from the money coming in from the younger people, just like Bernie Madoff did with his scheme. Tell me how much money you’d have at 60 years old if you could have put 15% of your earnings into the Dow Jones. It would be millions, not $3k a month! There is a lot that easily could be done to fix it, but the best is to get rid of it unless you are a Nanny State type that feels that the Federal Government is supposed to do it all for us, as we aren’t capable on our own. It’s a bad system and it’s run even worse. There is No Trust Fund, it’s just an entry on the balance sheet. The Federal Government is not an investment!
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I’m 60 and have been paying into the system for nearly 40 years. With my and my employers contributions combined to date, the total is 9 years worth of SS checks at the calculated payout at my full retirement age of 67. The total sent to SS isn’t that far off from my total retirement investments which, of course, is much much higher now after investing.
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My point is, why am I responsible to pay SS twice? Once while working and then again after retirement to pay off the IOUs owed SS. Their promise was the money I over paid into SS for 40 years would be there when I needed it, instead they spent it and I have to pay it back. No other generation paid SS expenses twice.
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Yes, you are wrong.
In what way are you paying into SS twice? Are you drawing SS and still working? Is your income sufficient that you pay income taxes on part of you SS benefits?
I think Clark is a Dem and steering is in the wrong direction….
Of course my wife and I are paying income taxes. Now, and for the rest of our lives. In Civics Class in High School you learn SS is just a supplement and it is everyone’s responsibility to have additional income to fund their retirement. I paid SS for the last 20 years while working and now are paying the debt for our money that was taken out of SS and spent.
I had a friend tell me that I would never get a dime out of ss because it would go broke before I retired etc.
That was 1965.
I have been on ss since 2006.
I have no plans to make my final exit any time soon and hope I spend all of your social security. 
TBoy, I still do not understand. Social Security benefits are only taxed if your adjusted income is above a specific amount, and the percent of them that can be taxed varies by the total adjusted income. I was only asking about whether you pay taxes on the Social Security you receive, not on all income. That change happened in the '80s.
Nothing was taken out of social security and spent. The Social Security Trust Funds were ALWAYS designed to be invested as they are currently. There have been various changes over the years under different administrations, both democrat and republican, that changed how much income was paid in FICA taxes, eligibility dates and qualifications for benefits, limitations on filing, GPO and WEP reductions, and a whole slew of other changes.
Yes. Our income in retirement makes 85% or our SS benefits taxable as income. I agree I am fortunate that my parents sacrificed to provide me with the opportunity to be successful but I also was disciplined and saved consistently while I was working. Now, in retirement, part of the taxes the Federal Government collects from me, both on my SS income and other income, is being used to pay back the money (my money) that the Government borrowed from the SSA. While my actual personal percentage of all this is microscopic, the principal is the same. I am paying twice for my SS benefits. Cheers!
What happens to the income tax collected from the taxing of our SS benefit?
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about 60% goes to the OASIDI fund
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about 40% goes to pay Medicare A fund
You are paying the SS once. The second payment you are complaining about is simply paying your taxes.
You see, our government does not save up to pay it’s bills. They borrow money. One of the places they borrow money from is the SS. They do that by selling the SS Administration US Treasury securities. They do that because the treasury securities are safe investments.
One of the reasons our government doesn’t save up the money before it spends it is because other people in our government who buy stuff would see it and grab it to buy their stuff.
That’s how the system works. I maxed out my SS payments for 30 years and spent another 12 years self-employed paying both sides. I’ve looked at some other places to live but in the end decided the US was preferable to the alternatives.
You are mistaken on both counts:
The Social Security trust funds hold money not needed in the current year to pay benefits and administrative costs and, by law, invest it in special Treasury bonds that are guaranteed by the U.S. Government. A market rate of interest is paid to the trust funds on the bonds they hold, and when those bonds reach maturity or are needed to pay benefits, the Treasury redeems them.
I-Bonds currently pay 6.89%
This includes a fixed rate of 0.40%
https://www.treasurydirect.gov/savings-bonds/i-bonds/i-bonds-interest-rates/
It will get fixed at the last minute by the Congress in place at that time. No politician wants to address it now, because their only objective is to stay in office. When there is literally no time left, the Congress will pass a bill to raise SS taxes or push back the age of eligibility so that they can use the crisis as cover to get re-elected. The problem with Ponzi schemes is that you eventually run out of other peoples money…
All we have to do is connect the dots to figure out how we got into this game of chicken regarding our global credit standing.
Dot #1: The Judge Thomas/billionaire Crow “friendship.”
Dot #2: The SCOTUS 5 to 4 majority ruling allowing unlimited corporate campaign donations
Dot #3: The legislative conservative politicians’ motivation to reduce corporate taxation.
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