Department of Government Efficiency

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Originally Posted by brutal

I have no misconceptions about what SS (FICA) is or how it's collected, funded, and distributed.

I paid into SS, it's not an "entitlement" program like Medicaid or welfare benefits paid from other sources of funding that don't have a contribution qualifier.

If you never worked or paid into SS, you generally cannot collect (with limited exceptions, i.e. disabled children). I'm aware of most of the disqualifiers including the minimum number of work credits. I also know approximately when I'm going to max out on paying every year.

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I know when I am going to max out also. Well unless the cap is gotten rid of.

2008.

So I have been funding a lot of people for a long time.

And the amount of jobs I have created.

Well let’s just say I contribute more than my fair share to the tax pool.

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Originally Posted by brutal

Can we please stop calling SS an "entitlement?"

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No.

It is a proper term.

By paying into it, you are entitled to receive benefits.

Entitlement is not a pejorative, is simply a definition meaning having the right to something.

Would you feel better if we said "earned benefit"? Same thing.

Regardless of terms, I have planned on never receiving a penny from it. If it is still somehow solvent when I choose to retire and I get a couple bucks from it, great. I will earn much more from my investments than I ever would from the Government.

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Originally Posted by DDT951

I know when I am going to max out also. Well unless the cap is gotten rid of.

2008.

So I have been funding a lot of people for a long time.

And the amount of jobs I have created.

Well let’s just say I contribute more than my fair share to the tax pool.

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>>For 2024, an employer must withhold:
>> 6.2% Social Security tax on the first $168,600 of employee wages
>> (maximum tax is $10,453.20; i.e., 6.20% ? $168,600)

That barely covers a very low payout for one social security recipient.

SSA.gov says my SS payout at full retirement age will be ~$45K/year (4x the max SS deduction),
assuming social security is not bankrupt by then.

I never expected to receive much from social security and have maxed out 401k for the last 25 years.

If all the years of my social security deductions had been deposited into my IRA or 401K and
invested and grown like the IRA and 401k, I could have retired 10 years ago.

https://reason.com/2024/11/15/the-na...to-control-it/

On Friday, the Treasury Department issued another reminder about the cost of doing nothing to change course. The national debt hit $36 trillion—less than four months after surpassing the $35 trillion mark.

The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget estimates that it would take nearly $8 trillion of budget cuts (spread across the 10-year budget window used by the Congressional Budget Office and other official estimates) to keep the debt from growing faster than the economy over the long term.

Can Elon and Vivek accomplish that?

Not without a willing Congress authoring and passing an actual budget, instead of extending previous budgets, as they have done since 1996.

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Originally Posted by asystejs

>>For 2024, an employer must withhold:
>> 6.2% Social Security tax on the first $168,600 of employee wages
>> (maximum tax is $10,453.20; i.e., 6.20% ? $168,600)

That barely covers a very low payout for one social security recipient.

SSA.gov says my SS payout at full retirement age will be ~$45K/year (4x the max SS deduction),
assuming social security is not bankrupt by then.

I never expected to receive much from social security and have maxed out 401k for the last 25 years.

If all the years of my social security deductions had been deposited into my IRA or 401K and
invested and grown like the IRA and 401k, I could have retired 10 years ago.

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Should i be sorry that i am "only" paying for one other person? How many should i pay for?

You forgot medicare portion doesnt have a cap..

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Originally Posted by eddiememphis

No.

It is a proper term.

By paying into it, you are entitled to receive benefits.

Entitlement is not a pejorative, is simply a definition meaning having the right to something.

Would you feel better if we said "earned benefit"? Same thing.

Regardless of terms, I have planned on never receiving a penny from it. If it is still somehow solvent when I choose to retire and I get a couple bucks from it, great. I will earn much more from my investments than I ever would from the Government.

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My retirement plan is also not dependent on SS benefits, though I intend to start withdrawing at 67 if it's still alive.

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Originally Posted by asystejs

>>For 2024, an employer must withhold:
>> 6.2% Social Security tax on the first $168,600 of employee wages
>> (maximum tax is $10,453.20; i.e., 6.20% ? $168,600)

That barely covers a very low payout for one social security recipient.

SSA.gov says my SS payout at full retirement age will be ~$45K/year (4x the max SS deduction),
assuming social security is not bankrupt by then.

I never expected to receive much from social security and have maxed out 401k for the last 25 years.

If all the years of my social security deductions had been deposited into my IRA or 401K and
invested and grown like the IRA and 401k, I could have retired 10 years ago.

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It goes without saying that the system is built with an expectation that retirees die relatively quickly. Working from 18-65 traditionally was 47 years of earnings. Then the average life expectancy used to be that they could count, on average, that recipients only lived for 7-10 years after that.

Thus, benefits of 4x the wage deduction means that effectively, you are paying your own SS benefits, and in fact, it would've been profitable for the GOV.

What borks this up is people living too long. If they figure out how to cure cancer and trim back the affects of aging, it WILL bankrupt the retirement system. Of course, having 1 kid to 1 retiree will eventually, despite the 47 years of ongoing deductions of the "kid", because the system is not properly funded and previously got raided, so it doesn't have the resources that it should to be sustainable.

That said, these entitlement programs are not going to go away, the country will just go into further deficiet spending until we are eventually bankrupt.

Why? Most voters have close family members on social security. The politician that keeps those retired relatives in their own homes, and not on the doorstep of their employed relatives, will always win the vote over every other issue.

I suspect the major change that will occur to SS is that it will becomes “means tested”

Basically those that have paid a lot of taxes will be told they get no entitlement.

It is the easiest cut because those people don’t have enough votes (how many single earners have over $168k income ?) and the argument will be made “they have enough money and don’t rely on SS”