Medicare and Social Security are going broke

Quick&Dead

This story is on the new again tonight. Both Medicare and Social Security are going broke in the next few years.

Benefits will have to be cut dramatically in order for them to survive.

I REALLY get a chuckle out of the story.

Really odd how Medicare and Social Security can be going broke while welfare, energy assistance, housing assistance, food stamps and a whole hose of other social programs NEVER are in danger of going broke.

On top of that, the Dems want to add a whole bunch of super expensive give away programs like free healthcare, free college tuition, free this and free that.

Congress is filled with a bunch of LOSERS!!!

:twisted:

DirtyDawg

A nation of sheep begets the government of wolves that it deserves. Rest assured, not one single dime from the government is counted on for my retirement.

mag00

Don't be using logic, fear sells.

Send that post to your representative, TV stations, Friends and enemies.

droptop

Social Security will run out of money in 2035: Report. FBN's Edward Lawrence on a new report on when Social Security and Medicare will run out of money. Social Security's. reserve funds are expected to be depleted in 2035, at which time the program will no longer be able to pay out benefits

Something like this has been said about SS as long as I can remember. S.S. can NEVER totally run out of money as long as people are paying into the system. ie: One Hundred Seventy Million +??

That's the way S.S. it works,, money paid by me 30 years ago went to pay the benefits of people drawing S.S. 30 years ago, Same as NOW, I'm not working and paying but YOU ARE. There is NOT a big pile of money laying around, S.S. is and always has been a zero sum program and it happened the day Social Security was put into effect.

Since its inception, Social Security has featured a taxable maximum (or "tax max"). In 1937, payroll taxes applied to the first $3,000 in earnings. In 2011, payroll taxes apply to the first $106,800 in earnings. This policy brief summarizes the changes that have occurred to the tax max and to earnings patterns over this period. From 1937 to 1975, Congress increased the tax max on an ad-hoc basis. Increases were justified by the desire to improve system financing and maintain meaningful benefits for middle and higher earners. Since 1975, the tax max has generally increased at the same rate as average wages each year. Some policymakers propose increasing the tax max beyond wage-indexed levels to help restore financial balance and to reflect growing earnings inequality, as workers earning more than the tax max have experienced higher earnings growth rates than other workers in recent decades.
https://www.ssa.gov/policy/docs/policybriefs/pb2011-02.html

select-fire

Same story since it started. It will be broke any day

11b6r

Funny.

Story I read was that there was a tiny bit of GOOD news- due to changes in the rates of disabilities (less) and the death rates (more) that Social Security would run out a year LATER than had been predicted.

However, I guess any story that does not have the sky falling is not news.

Okie743

I wonder who is in charge and responsible for the SS system?

babun

Does that mean I won't be getting MY check on May 3rd???

mogley98

Medicare even without the burden of medicaid can't exist with the tax rate as it is. Raising the rate by 1% today and maybe another 1% five years from now would be prudent. If the medicare funds have been used to support medicaid than it is nothing more than a Government funded giveaway and needs to be funded by the general fund and never run out as you say with welfare and the other give away programs.

Social Security shouldn't go away entirely, but perhaps each person should "own" their account and the funds deposited by the employee and employer should belong to the employee with interest. A forced retirement savings plan so to speak.

Social Security can be fixed relatively easy too, the problem is the * in congress refuse to do so.

spasmcreek

social security is going broke because of CONGRESS robbing it blind ...many years ago a 60 minutes segment how they looked and looked and finally found one closet size room with a big filing cabinet full of IOU's where congress had drug out million and billions of dollars instead of leaving the money for what it was intended.....i believe EVERY congresscritter whose name is on those IOU's should have his assests and the assets of his family SEIZED and applied back to the SS fund.....damn thieves

fatcat458

Congress is very smart. They DON'T even pay into Social Security. They have their VERY OWN retirement system. lts called the CSRS. 0r CIVIL SERVICE RETIREMENT SYSTEM.ln no way connected to Social Security. Grandfathered and EXEMPT from SS in 1937 like Rail Road Retirement and a couple other retirement plans. Congress was exempted back in 1984 when the Reagen Admin raided and gutted the CIVIL SERVICE PENSION FUND. He put all US Civil Service employees under a new system called FERS or Federal Employees Retirement System.. All EXCEPT Congress: Now Civil Service
employees have to pay in to both SS and FERS. Congress also has its own version of a '401 K' called TSP or Thrift Savings Plan. Most successful,
highest earning retirement investment/saving plans ANYWHERE..

serf

spasmcreek wrote:

social security is going broke because of CONGRESS robbing it blind ...many years ago a 60 minutes segment how they looked and looked and finally found one closet size room with a big filing cabinet full of IOU's where congress had drug out million and billions of dollars instead of leaving the money for what it was intended.....i believe EVERY congresscritter whose name is on those IOU's should have his assests and the assets of his family SEIZED and applied back to the SS fund.....damn thieves

You will get every dollar you have earned in Social Security however it's purchasing power will be reduced drastically to protect the corrupt politicians from defaulting and losing the Republic of The NWO that steps in with a reset for all The world's central banks.

serf

wpageabc

Think of congress as the show guy calling you in for the shell game. You put your money down and congress plays the shells around they go, You guess where the money you paid in went....

Then congress lifts the shell...

Maybe you win Maybe you lose.

Its all in the game.


Like the casino the politicians always win. They have thier own SPECIAL game.

buddyb

There seems to a large segment of the population on SS disability that can do everything except work enough to support themselves.

droptop

S.S. tax is paid on the first $132,000 of income for 2019. If the government is worried about being a little "short" just raise the maximum from $132,000 to $165,000 resulting in a 25% increase which will assure I'll get mine well into the future. PLUS it's OK to soak the rich.

The illegal immigrants aren't paying S.S. so how will those MILLIONS of folks get food and housing? Don't worry the government will step up when the time comes but they won't have any money for this surprise expense so they'll take it from YOU.

Kind of a cruel joke but there is no limit on how much tax the government can collect from their citizens.

Don McManus

spasmcreek wrote:

social security is going broke because of CONGRESS robbing it blind ...many years ago a 60 minutes segment how they looked and looked and finally found one closet size room with a big filing cabinet full of IOU's where congress had drug out million and billions of dollars instead of leaving the money for what it was intended.....i believe EVERY congresscritter whose name is on those IOU's should have his assests and the assets of his family SEIZED and applied back to the SS fund.....damn thieves

Congress had SS funds invested in US Government Bonds that pay interest into the 'Trust Fund'.

Absent that interest, the fund would be much smaller than it is today and would run out well before 2035.

What did you want Congress to do with the excess SS funds?

Would you have preferred that when the closet was opened, there was a mountain of cash that returned no interest?

A silly concept at best.

WearyTraveler

I did a few calculations when I first started receiving my SS checks. I took the amount SSA said I have paid over my lifetime and divided it by the monthly check I'm receiving.
In a little over 5 years from now, I should have received everything I've put in.

WearyTraveler

DirtyDawg wrote:

A nation of sheep begets the government of wolves that it deserves. Rest assured, not one single dime from the government is counted on for my retirement.

I'm receiving a military retirement and SS. This combination allows me to live a quiet / plain lifestyle here in a rural county. As a "backup" I could easily maintain my current lifestyle by drawing down my investments. At 63 I don't think I'll be around more than another 10 years, so...

What concerns me is that if / when SS and Medicare go tango uniform, the economy will also tank, causing my investments to tank too...

Thankfully I don't think I'll be around for that CF.

babun

WearyTraveler wrote:

I did a few calculations when I first started receiving my SS checks. I took the amount SSA said I have paid over my lifetime and divided it by the monthly check I'm receiving.
In a little over 5 years from now, I should have received everything I've put in.

That sounds about right.
BUT what if you took every weekly dollar from your paychecks they took, and had put it into a safe, conservative mutual fund??
I worked and paid for 39 years.
I probably would have had about 2 million at age 59.

:shock:

Grasshopper

buddyb wrote:

There seems to a large segment of the population on SS disability that can do everything except work enough to support themselves.

Yes, I see them a lot around here. They still breed though and have children they can't take care of/

WearyTraveler

babun wrote:

That sounds about right.
BUT what if you took every weekly dollar from your paychecks they took, and had put it into a safe, conservative mutual fund??
I worked and paid for 39 years.
I probably would have had about 2 million at age 59.
:shock:

Yes - thats true. But that's you. And I've been buying stocks and funds since '94. But that's not everyone.
I know plenty of guys that would piss that 7% away. Then they'd have nadda at 62-65...

You can say "screw them, their problem" but we know that wouldn't fly. Our tax money would be used to take care of the poor souls that either made bad financial decision or drank their 7% away...

Don McManus

WearyTraveler wrote:

DirtyDawg wrote:

A nation of sheep begets the government of wolves that it deserves. Rest assured, not one single dime from the government is counted on for my retirement.

I'm receiving a military retirement and SS. This combination allows me to live a quiet / plain lifestyle here in a rural county. As a "backup" I could easily maintain my current lifestyle by drawing down my investments. At 63 I don't think I'll be around more than another 10 years, so...

What concerns me is that if / when SS and Medicare go tango uniform, the economy will also tank, causing my investments to tank too...

Thankfully I don't think I'll be around for that CF.

The scare tactic of Tango Uniform is just that.

Both will always be funded by payroll deductions. Currently both SS and Medicare are taking in less than they are paying out. When the banked funds (invested in US Treasury Bonds as previously pointed out) are exhausted, payouts, if there is balance in the multiverse, will be reduced to match income. Absent a change in the self-centered American voter, however, this will not occur, and we will simply double down on the indebtedness of our grandchildren and subsequent future generations.

So, we need to ask ourselves: Should we accept a cut today or have our grandchildren pay for our choices with interest compounded over a generation?

Responsible people know the answer, but in the privacy of the voting both they throw their progeny under the bus.

droptop

Please someone LINK where they are getting the idea of the GENERAL FUND is paying ANY money into Social Security Retirement Fund. Please explain how any of your children will be burdened with today's S.S. expenses? What, none of your children will be working?? well, maybe,, when you think about the current crop of Socialist Democrat "children" who to be given everything by the government, maybe there is some truth to the thought.

BTW: Millions more folks paying into Social Security because they are NOW working and many at higher wages, that's another "POT" of money. YEP: Working and NOT sucking off the Federal/State.

Remember, no matter what their income, S.S. payments to the Feds is a NON Negotiable expense you must pay. I've worked outside the country and PAID no (Zero) Taxes on my income,,, BUT,, S.S. must be paid and I did.

Here's another source.

Social Security is, and always has been, an inter-generational transfer of wealth. The taxes paid by today?s workers and their employers don?t go into dedicated individual accounts (although 32% of Americans think they do, according to the 2014 Pew Research survey). Nor do Social Security checks represent a return on invested capital, though you might be forgiven for thinking so since the ?personalized Social Security statements? that used to be mailed out once a year and now are available online detail your payment history and projected monthly benefits. Rather, the benefits received by today?s retirees are funded by the taxes paid by today?s workers; when those workers retire, their benefits will be paid for by the next generation of workers? taxes (caveat: see Point 3). Your benefit amount is based on your earnings history and age at retirement, not on how much you and your employer paid in Social Security taxes (although for most people, taxes paid are closely tied to their earnings).
======================
more: https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2015/08/18/5-facts-about-social-security/

bpost

My father, RIP paid in for 31 years. When he died mom got $250.00

Yea, SSI is great. :roll:

Rack Ops

bpost wrote:

My father, RIP paid in for 31 years. When he died mom got $250.00

Yea, SSI is great. :roll:

And most of the millions of people on Social Security Disability, fakes and legitimate alike, will draw FAR more than they ever paid in.

droptop

Rack Ops wrote:

bpost wrote:

My father, RIP paid in for 31 years. When he died mom got $250.00

Yea, SSI is great. :roll:

And most of the millions of people on Social Security Disability, fakes and legitimate alike, will draw FAR more than they ever paid in.

That is a certainty so far. I paid for those retired between 1969 and 2000 (while I worked) and paid more each year until I retired. This is called "inflation" and that's why the individual payments go up most years OR your maximum earnings that are subject to the tax on your check.

S.S. was never designed as RETIREMENT INCOME. It's only to keep people out of POVERTY. I know one person who gets the MAX because he paid in the maximum amount for over 35 years. He commented it paid for he and his wife's entertainment and dining out expenses in 2005 and that was close to the truth.

Maximum S.S. benefits 2019


Benefits: Pay in more you get more, less or NONE you get less or maybe something.
http:https://www.retirementliving.com/how-much-social-security-will-i-get

WearyTraveler

Don McManus wrote:

So, we need to ask ourselves: Should we accept a cut today or have our grandchildren pay for our choices with interest compounded over a generation?

Responsible people know the answer, but in the privacy of the voting both they throw their progeny under the bus.

I don't disagree with you. But I will say that it's not a dem or GOP issue. It's an "all rhem bastiages" thing. No matter _who_ you vote for, were likely going to get screwed and to follow, so will our grandkids.

Until something drastic happens, I'm not confident that it'll get fixed in the voting booth.

bpost

Government controlled, tax payer funded by force, Socialist programs are not the cure for societal ills, concerns or issues.

That includes retirement, if any.

Junkballer

You never hear anyone speak of welfare benefits going broke or running out of funds do you , ever wonder why ?

mogley98

Anyone read the SS 2001 bill?

Rack Ops

Junkballer wrote:

You never hear anyone speak of welfare benefits going broke or running out of funds do you , ever wonder why ?

Because they are funded from the General Fund, which has been running a deficit for so long it isn't news anymore.


Have no fear though, there will be no bankruptcy thanks to the miracle of gub'mint math. A couple of years ago the "Disability Trust Fund" was set to be depleted.

The government "borrowed" some money from the "Retirement Trust Fund", then announced later that BOTH programs would now be solvent longer than originally forecast.

Not only was Peter robbed to pay Paul, according to the Government both are now in a stronger financial position than they were originally.

KenK/84Bravo

droptop wrote:

Rack Ops wrote:

bpost wrote:

My father, RIP paid in for 31 years. When he died mom got $250.00

Yea, SSI is great. :roll:

And most of the millions of people on Social Security Disability, fakes and legitimate alike, will draw FAR more than they ever paid in.

That is a certainty so far. I paid for those retired between 1969 and 2000 (while I worked) and paid more each year until I retired. This is called "inflation" and that's why the individual payments go up most years OR your maximum earnings that are subject to the tax on your check.

S.S. was never designed as RETIREMENT INCOME. It's only to keep people out of POVERTY. I know one person who gets the MAX because he paid in the maximum amount for over 35 years. He commented it paid for he and his wife's entertainment and dining out expenses in 2005 and that was close to the truth.

Maximum S.S. benefits 2019


Benefits: Pay in more you get more, less or NONE you get less or maybe something.
http:https://www.retirementliving.com/how-much-social-security-will-i-get

I paid into this "Fund," my whole working life. (Mandatory, not voluntarily.)

Yes, I expect to draw from it in a couple years when I retire.

The Government Retirement Fund, in danger of going Tits up?


I thought not.