Click here--discover more <====Jan 4, 2018
There is so much misinformation and kicking around of Social Security I wrote a reply to some friends recently.
~~People for the most part have so many long held believes it doesn't do much good to discuss it with them. One thing I did not even mention was SSI, Supplemental Security Income, handled and maintained by the Social Security Administration, SSA. Simply put it is a welfare payment sent out by SSA, but funded out of the "Federal General Revenue" and has nothing to do with SS. It is another misunderstood payment because it is sent out by SSA. It is a very complicated formula and varies state by state and again has nothing to do with monies collected and put aside for retirement, Social Security Trust Funds.~~
RESPONSE to letter reprinted below:
You are absolutely correct, too much burden has been placed on the Social Security "Retirement System". When it was enacted in 1935 it was designed to be exactly that a forced retirement savings plan. Prior to that if you couldn't work or had no savings and could not support yourself you were sent to a poorhouse, in the city or a poor farm. Edgefield Manor which was located in Troutdale was originally a poor farm. Later it became a county nursing or retirement home for people who were old and had no means to pay.
After World War 2 and into the early 50's there was a clamor across the country for some kind of welfare program to take care of the disabled workers (face it companies didn't want the heavy cost of insurance to provide for their workers) and state governments wanted to close institutions caring for those born with disabling handicaps. State Legislatures called it "main streaming" and they were putting these people handed over to the state for care into homes but with no financial resources. Elected officials didn't want raise taxes to provide for sick, blind, children born with defects so Congress was called upon for a solution. Here again Congress didn't want the responsibility to raise taxes and provide for these people under a general welfare program, they said it was a state's responsibility.
As the public out cry grew louder, the successful Social Security System with all of it's resources building up to return to retirees looked good, remember minor children of a deceased "covered parents" <were the money goes when some people die without collecting a dime> were added to the benefit program. As the beneficiaries grew without increasing taxes the pot started down, rather than face raising taxes age limits were raised and finally in desperate circumstances the "cut off" for wages was raised to increase money coming into the Social Security Fund.
TO QUOTE the e-mail: And these governmental morons mismanaged the money and stole from the system, so that it's now going broke.
Not exactly; they BORROWED from the system, they added to the system beneficiaries, extended programs without the courage to immediately pay for them through higher taxes and answered public "NEEDS".
OH, by the way these were done by Republican Congresses just as the so called Republican Congress is paying for tax cuts for the few now with huge growing Federal DEBT. Who needs these huge tax "give-aways"? Who benefits? Who is pushing this latest *Ponzi scheme*, taking money from the next generations to pay for the current Republican TAX-DEBT scheme?
The crude reference to Lyndon Johnson who inherited the costly Vietnam War was really misplaced. Much of his "Great Society" program was facing racial problems. ie Ending school segregation ie THE VOTING RIGHTS ACT
I guess you might say I have a much different take on things, than covered in this e-mail.
President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1964 and 1965 focusing mainly on eliminating racial injustice and ending poverty in the United States. In which America ended poverty, promoted equality, improved education, rejuvenated cities, and protected the environment. This became the blueprint for the most far-reaching agenda of domestic legislation since the New Deal of the 1930s. ...
Here is the original letter being circulated:
A woman dies at age 65 before collecting one benefit check. She and her employer paid into the system for almost 50 years and she collected NOTHING!
Keep in mind all the working people that die every year who were paying into the system and got nothing!
And these governmental morons mismanaged the money and stole from the system, so that it's now going broke.
BEAUTIFUL! and they have the audacity to call today's seniors "vultures" in an attempt to cover their ineptitude. DISGRACEFUL!
The real reason for renaming our Social Security payments is so the government can claim that all those social security recipients are receiving entitlements thus putting them in the same case as welfare, food stamp recipients.
THIS IS WORTH THE FEW MINUTES IT TAKES TO READ AND DIGEST!
F.Y.I. By changing the name of SS contributions it gives them a means to refute this program in the future.
It's free money for the government to spend under this guise.
It's free money for the government to spend under this guise.
The Social Security check is now (or soon will be) referred to as a *Federal Benefit Payment*?
I'll be part of the one percent to forward this. I am forwarding it because it touches a nerve in me, and I hope it will in you.
Please keep passing it on until everyone in our country has read it.
Please keep passing it on until everyone in our country has read it.
The government is now referring to our Social Security checks as a "Federal Benefit Payment."
This isn't a benefit. It is our money paid out of our earned income! Not only did we all contribute to Social Security but our employers did too. It totaled 15% of our income before taxes.
(This should be enough for you to forward this message, If not read on.)
If you averaged $30K per year over your working life, that's close to $180,000 invested in Social Security.
If you calculate the future value of your monthly investment in social security ($375/month, including both you and your employers contributions) at a meager 1% interest rate compounded monthly, after 40 years of working you'd have more than $1.3+ million dollars saved!
This is your personal investment. Upon retirement, if you took out only 3% per year, you'd receive $39,318 per year, or $3,277 per month.
That's almost three times more than today's average Social Security benefit of $1,230 per month, according to the Social Security Administration. (Google it – it's a fact). And your retirement fund would last more than 33 years (until you're 98 if you retire at age 65)! I can only imagine how much better most average-income people could live in retirement if our government had just invested our money in low-risk interest-earning accounts.
Instead, the folks in Washington pulled off a bigger *Ponzi scheme* than Bernie Madoff ever did. (Lyndon Johnson)
They took our money and used it elsewhere. They forgot (oh yes, they knew) that it was OUR money they were taking. They didn't have a referendum to ask us if we wanted to lend the money to them. And they didn't pay interest on the debt they assumed. And recently they've told us that the money won't support us for very much longer.(Isn't it funny that they NEVER say this about welfare payments?)
But is it our fault they misused our investments? And now, to add insult to injury, they're calling it a *benefit*, as if we never worked to earn every penny of it.
Just because they borrowed the money, doesn't mean that our investments were a charity!
Just because they borrowed the money, doesn't mean that our investments were a charity!
Let's take a stand. We have earned our right to Social Security and Medicare.. Demand that our legislators bring some sense into our government.
Find a way to keep Social Security and Medicare going for the sake of that 92% of our population who need it.
Then call it what it is:
Our Earned Retirement Income.
