Retirement Targets
- Thread starter yowza
- Start date
That sounds like a nightmare. If you are enrolling in Medicare and Part B, I'd strongly advise against getting the Medicare dis-Advantage plans and get the medicare part b supplement instead (preferrably Wellmark Plan G if available). Just my 2 cents.
Pretty much. But the point would be that you don’t need it anyway…and the economy overall would be worse off if they don’t make that adjustment (so you’re paying for poor management by the government one way or another).
Are your talking Illinois’ pension or SS? They’re a little different but a similar problem. SS goes to people who are getting funds now…but not everyone paid in. Cyhig really said it perfectly. It’s not that I even disagree with helping the poor or disabled…but the system is not set up for success.
Yes. View SS as a tax. Right now you are paying taxes out of your salary to fund many, many government programs. You likely will never benefit from the majority of those programs. But these programs help the quality of life for those in need.
SS really isn't an investment. It's a tax to financially support the elderly/disabled
Well **** it then … time to stop maxing out retirement accounts and time to buy a new truck, boat and a timeshare.
Can You Collect Social Security If You Never Paid Into It?
Social Security benefits are earned and you must have paid into the system for at least 10 years. There are exceptions for specific nonworking family members.
www.aarp.org
That’s an option. I know you’re joking, but that doesn’t hit me any sort of way. I would rather be self-reliant (again in part because I don’t know that it would be there), but I wouldn’t think less of you for doing that…
Ok, then you explain it to me. Where did the money go?Can You Collect Social Security If You Never Paid Into It?
Social Security benefits are earned and you must have paid into the system for at least 10 years. There are exceptions for specific nonworking family members.
Ok, that’s fine. I didn’t really want to get into the weeds on how the system worked anyway…just wanted to see how people felt about it/whether it would be around. I did learn a bit from those links though, so thanks for that.
I have another 3 years before I take on the Medicare problem. We caught a break and we both can stay on my wife's insurance at the rate she was paying while working until she turns age 65 in another 14 months, then the rate goes up to around $500 a month for me to stay on the program until I am old enough to qualify for Medicare.
I copied this from the Social Security Administration website. Tbought some might find the information interesting in the context of this thread.
*****
Some of you have to pay federal income taxes on your Social Security benefits. This usually happens only if you have other substantial income in addition to your benefits (such as wages, self-employment, interest, dividends and other taxable income that must be reported on your tax return).
You will pay tax on only 85 percent of your Social Security benefits, based on Internal Revenue Service (IRS) rules. If you:
+ Nontaxable interest
+ ½ of your Social Security benefits
= Your "combined income"
Each January, you will receive a Social Security Benefit Statement (Form SSA-1099) showing the amount of benefits you received in the previous year. You can use this Benefit Statement when you complete your federal income tax return to find out if your benefits are subject to tax.
If you currently live in the United States and you misplaced or didn't receive a Form SSA-1099 or SSA-1042S for the previous tax year, you can get an instant replacement form by using your online my Social Securityaccount. If you don't already have an account, you can create one online. To get your replacement Form SSA-1099 or SSA-1042S, select the "Replacement Documents" tab to get the form.
*****
Some of you have to pay federal income taxes on your Social Security benefits. This usually happens only if you have other substantial income in addition to your benefits (such as wages, self-employment, interest, dividends and other taxable income that must be reported on your tax return).
You will pay tax on only 85 percent of your Social Security benefits, based on Internal Revenue Service (IRS) rules. If you:
- file a federal tax return as an "individual" and your combined income*is
- between $25,000 and $34,000, you may have to pay income tax on up to 50 percent of your benefits.
- more than $34,000, up to 85 percent of your benefits may be taxable.
- file a joint return, and you and your spouse have a combined income*that is
- between $32,000 and $44,000, you may have to pay income tax on up to 50 percent of your benefits.
- more than $44,000, up to 85 percent of your benefits may be taxable.
- are married and file a separate tax return, you probably will pay taxes on your benefits.
+ Nontaxable interest
+ ½ of your Social Security benefits
= Your "combined income"
Each January, you will receive a Social Security Benefit Statement (Form SSA-1099) showing the amount of benefits you received in the previous year. You can use this Benefit Statement when you complete your federal income tax return to find out if your benefits are subject to tax.
If you currently live in the United States and you misplaced or didn't receive a Form SSA-1099 or SSA-1042S for the previous tax year, you can get an instant replacement form by using your online my Social Securityaccount. If you don't already have an account, you can create one online. To get your replacement Form SSA-1099 or SSA-1042S, select the "Replacement Documents" tab to get the form.
If I remember the government in the 60's did borrow money from the program to pay for the Vietnam war instead of rising taxes to fund the war.
Social Security didn’t finance the Vietnam War
Dear Rusty: It is common knowledge that over the decades politicians have taken billions if not trillions of dollars out of the Social Security fund to finance other government programs. This information is never published or addressed and having the government repay this money back to SS is...
www.gbtribune.com
Haha - you have all the info on SS at hand. I think we’ve figured out what your day job is!Social Security didn’t finance the Vietnam War
Dear Rusty: It is common knowledge that over the decades politicians have taken billions if not trillions of dollars out of the Social Security fund to finance other government programs. This information is never published or addressed and having the government repay this money back to SS is...
That's good to hear. Best of luck to you when you guys have to sit down pick a plan.
Right around the same time we saw the upper echelon of income tax brackets start to drop off, funny how that works.
Totally agree with getting the supplement G plan and the part D drug plan. However everyone’s situation is different. I found a ton of great information from a YouTube site. Search for Medicare School. This guy does a great job of presenting the rules and options. He has a lot of videos to watch because there are a lot of rules and choices to make. Definitely worth the time to watch. This information will help you make the best decision for yourself and not get locked into a bad situation for life.