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Millions face shrinking Social Security payments

Harry Guerrilla

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Millions face shrinking Social Security payments - Yahoo! News

WASHINGTON – Millions of older people face shrinking Social Security checks next year, the first time in a generation that payments would not rise.

The trustees who oversee Social Security are projecting there won't be a cost of living adjustment (COLA) for the next two years. That hasn't happened since automatic increases were adopted in 1975.

"I will promise you, they count on that COLA," said Barbara Kennelly, a former Democratic congresswoman from Connecticut who now heads the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare. "To some people, it might not be a big deal. But to seniors, especially with their health care costs, it is a big deal."

Cost of living adjustments are pegged to inflation, which has been negative this year, largely because energy prices are below 2008 levels.

Critics argue that Social Security recipients shouldn't get an increase when inflation is negative. They note that recipients got a big increase in January — after energy prices had started to fall. They also note that Social Security recipients received one-time $250 payments in the spring as part of the government's economic stimulus package.

"Seniors may perceive that they are being hurt because there is no COLA, but they are in fact not getting hurt," said Andrew G. Biggs, a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, a Washington think tank. "Congress has to be able to tell people they are not getting everything they want."

If you read the rest of the article, you'll find that some in Congress want to increase Social Security payments even though we are in a slight deflationary period.
This is what happens with government programs, they always find a way or reason to increase spending in them even when it isn't warranted.

Seems to be another attempt to pay off the welfare class for future votes.
 
We'll be hearing someone say we need to increase SS security deductions along with employer matching.
 
I am really split on this. It's one of those things I can really see both sides on. On the one hand, I don't like the idea of not helping out seniors, who rightly or wrongly have been told that SS was going to be there for them, but on the other hand, they are going to get SS, and if the cost of living has not gone up, thre should be no real harm. Except that next year is when we should start seeing real recovery, and cost of living could quite likely rise during the year, leaving seniors screwed.

I think if the choice was in my hands, give them a small COLA, but combine it with cost cutting elsewhere to pay for it.
 
End SS for all people 50 and under.
 
PBO's gonna wanna stick his cabbage collectors in our pockets, again. That's going to tbe the answer.
 
End SS for all people 50 and under.


And how many millions of old people would be living in cardboard boxes in 25 years if we did that? :doh
 
And how many millions of old people would be living in cardboard boxes in 25 years if we did that? :doh

Aww, the old Card board box routine.

And when SS goes belly up, or we go bankrupt what then?

People need to rely on themselves, not the government.

THAT's where most of our problems start, looking to DC to save you.
 
And how many millions of old people would be living in cardboard boxes in 25 years if we did that? :doh

Sometimes people get screwed. Its unfortunate but its gotta happen here eventually. The SS plan was flawed from creation and has only gotten worse. Then again its a program run by our government so its no real suprise.

I would rather pull the plug now rather then wait decades when even more people are invested into the system and have it collapse.
 
I got a letter from the SSA yesterday, telling me how good SS will be for me and how much I got in so far. I dont even factor this money in since I know by the time I reach 68 (or whatever the age for SS is, and also if I make it that far in life) the money wont be there.



End SS for all people 50 and under.

I could use all the money Ive put into that program.
 
I could use all the money Ive put into that program.

Unfortunately all those funds are included with the general fund, so they don't exist in an account for you.
I could use that money as well but I think it would be a better compromise to call it a loss and move on without being taxed further.
 
Millions face shrinking Social Security payments - Yahoo! News



If you read the rest of the article, you'll find that some in Congress want to increase Social Security payments even though we are in a slight deflationary period.
This is what happens with government programs, they always find a way or reason to increase spending in them even when it isn't warranted.

Seems to be another attempt to pay off the welfare class for future votes.

The thread starter refers to those who collect Social Security as the "welfare class".

I have a question for the white, middle aged or elderly GOP voter on this board who will, or is now, going to collect Social Security.

Do you ever stick up for yourself?

Are you so filled with hate for liberals and minorities that you let your own side refer to the money in Social Security that you earned by working all these years referred to as a "welfare" payment???
 
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The thread starter refers to those who collect Social Security as the "welfare class".

I have a question for the white, middle aged or elderly GOP voter on this board who will, or is now, going to collect Social Security.

Do you ever stick up for yourself?

Are you so filled with hate for liberals and minorities that you let your own side refer to the money in Social Security that you earned by working all these years as a "welfare" payment???

I am not a GOP voter, so again your characterization of me is factually incorrect.
Secondly, the government spends more on elderly people than it collected.
So those are welfare payments and they are paid for no good reason.

I don't care if some people don't like what I say, it doesn't make it less true.
 
Sometimes people get screwed. Its unfortunate but its gotta happen here eventually. The SS plan was flawed from creation and has only gotten worse. Then again its a program run by our government so its no real suprise.

I would rather pull the plug now rather then wait decades when even more people are invested into the system and have it collapse.

SS is a well run program with only a 1% overhead. It has a small long term correctable deficit.

Even if we do nothing to correct the defict it will still pay full benifits till 2040 and 75% of benefits thereafter.


It's only know-nothing right wing sheep that believe that SS is a bad program.
 
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The thread starter refers to those who collect Social Security as the "welfare class".

I have a question for the white, middle aged or elderly GOP voter on this board who will, or is now, going to collect Social Security.

Do you ever stick up for yourself?

Are you so filled with hate for liberals and minorities that you let your own side refer to the money in Social Security that you earned by working all these years referred to as a "welfare" payment???
Seeing as how anyone who even tried to think about fixing the broken SS system has been politically assassinated by leftists, it's not exactly at the top of any politicians list to do.

And yes, SS is welfare. If you don't believe me, put down the race card and go consult Merriam Webster.

Reality is calling. Please pick up the phone.
 
SS is a well run program with only a 1% overhead. It has a small long term correctable deficit.

Even if we do nothing to correct the defict it will still pay out 75% of benefits after 2040.


It's only know-nothing right wing sheep that believe that SS is a bad program.

The financial health of the Social Security system has eroded more sharply in the past year than at any time since the mid-1990s, according to a government forecast that ratchets up pressure on the Obama administration and Congress to stabilize the retirement system that keeps many older Americans out of poverty.

The report, issued yesterday by the trustees who monitor the government's two main forms of help for the elderly, shows that Medicare has become more fragile as well and is at greater risk than Social Security of imminent fiscal collapse. Starting eight years from now, the report says, the health insurance program will be unable to pay all its hospital bills.
Report Warns of Insolvency for Social Security, Medicare - washingtonpost.com

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The thread starter refers to those who collect Social Security as the "welfare class".

I have a question for the white, middle aged or elderly GOP voter on this board who will, or is now, going to collect Social Security.

Do you ever stick up for yourself?

Are you so filled with hate for liberals and minorities that you let your own side refer to the money in Social Security that you earned by working all these years referred to as a "welfare" payment???


Im a minority, who views the SS system as a disastrous program so that kinda puts a hole in your argument.
 
SS is a well run program with only a 1% overhead. It has a small long term correctable deficit.

Even if we do nothing to correct the defict it will still pay out 75% of benefits after 2040.

On the other side of that, my 401k and personal investments have a less than 1% overhead cost and it will pay out what I have earned with no shortfall in benefits because they don't go into the crazy stupid general fund.

401k and private investments > Social Security

If I could keep the taxes they take out for the program, my returns would be greater than they are now.

Ohh and over the life time of my private investments I can earn an average of 8% while Social Security pays out only 1-1.5% and it invests in nothing.

It's only know-nothing right wing sheep that believe that SS is a bad program.


:lol: It's only going to have a 25% cut in benefits it's still good.
 
I am not a GOP voter, so again your characterization of me is factually incorrect.
Secondly, the government spends more on elderly people than it collected.
So those are welfare payments and they are paid for no good reason.

I don't care if some people don't like what I say, it doesn't make it less true.

Of course they spend more now! COLAs are tied to inflation.....The people paying into SS earn more and when they retire those paying in will be paying more because of inflation as well!

You can't understand this simple concept? You want them to be paid in non-adjusted dollars????? When the average wage in 1964 was $2.61???
 
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Of course they spend more now! COLAs are tied to inflation.....The people paying into SS earn more and when they retire those paying in will be paying more because of inflation as well!

You can't understand this simple concept? You want them to be paid in non-adjusted dollars????? When the average wage in 1960 was $3.25???

Why didn't they just invest those dollars in inflation adjusted securities like everything in the private investment world?
 
The thread starter refers to those who collect Social Security as the "welfare class".

I have a question for the white, middle aged or elderly GOP voter on this board who will, or is now, going to collect Social Security.

Do you ever stick up for yourself?

Are you so filled with hate for liberals and minorities that you let your own side refer to the money in Social Security that you earned by working all these years referred to as a "welfare" payment???

Why didn't they just invest those dollars in inflation adjusted securities like everything in the private investment world?

Because then the government couldn't run in, snatch up the money, and run back out to start a orgy of sacrificing other people's money.
 
Why didn't they just invest those dollars in inflation adjusted securities like everything in the private investment world?

This is not a retirement plan.

It's a safety net to keep the elderly poor off the streets begging for food.

Stock investments belong in a retirement plan.
 
This is not a retirement plan.

It's a safety net to keep the elderly poor off the streets begging for food.

Stock investments belong in a retirement plan.

So would you object to reducing taxes, and allowing people to create tax free "Personal Accounts" too avoid living on the streets in the later years, managed by individuals, and given the choice if they WANT to do that or not?
 
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