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The first Social Security retirement check was issued to Ida M. Fuller on January 31, 1940, for an amount of $22.54. She had paid SS taxes a little less than three years. She died Jan 27, 1975 at 100 years old. It’s a pretty good bet she didn’t pay for her own benefit.
But that is not the point. The point is Social Security has worked quite well paying benefits for 85 years. The is no justification to attack it. There is no reason to screw it up now.
The SSA, estimates that about half of the population aged 65 or older live in households that receive at least 50 percent of their family income from Social Security benefits and about 25 percent of aged households rely on Social Security benefits for at least 90 percent of their family income.”
All the rhetoric about its future, it being a scam, a Ponzi scheme, I could do better investing the taxes myself, the money was stolen, I paid for my benefits is noise, nonsense.
Tens of millions of retirees, surviving spouse, ex-spouses, dependent children and disabled adults and children depend on the program.
Social Security is essential to the economic and social wellbeing of the United States.
A form of SS is not unique to the US. Well over 100 countries have similar programs. Many pay higher benefits replacing more than 40% or so of pre-retirement income on average. In many cases worker taxes to fund their program are higher than in the US.
For reasons unknown to me, many Americans can’t make the connection between paying taxes and the services and programs we want and need. There are those of us who don’t use some programs so don’t see the need to pay taxes. Seniors against property taxes comes to mind.
To illustrate sharing costs, New Jersey now charges owners of electric vehicles and extra $250 when they register their vehicle each year. Why? Because they don’t pay the gasoline tax that funds road maintenance. I bet there are EV owners who see that as unfair.
This is a society of 340 million very different people, people with varied abilities and needs. There are winners and losers, doers and takers, and that will never change. But it would be nice to think we are also a functioning, caring society.
This column on Social Security from the Conversation was cited in a Wall Street Journal newsletter this morning: Social Security’s trust fund could run out of money sooner than expected due to changes in taxes and benefits
Seems very similar to what I said.
Apparently NJ is one of only 5 states that funds it’s road infrastructure needs 100% (or basically 100% for 2/5) through road taxes like gas tax, fees, and tolls. It seems they’re setting the example for responsible budgeting and taxation, at least in that department. My own state doesn’t even cover 50% 😬
Investopedia has some good explanations on what communism and socialism is and their differences. Also, the Nordic model. Things like SS, educational/university support, union activity, healthcare, infrastructure projects, etc. are always bunched together and deemed as ‚nasty socialism’. I live in Germany, the days of state-owned corporations are long over (except minority stakes in VW, railroad, communal energy, etc). We pay our normal income taxes (progressive, with SS%, unemployment %, disability, infrastructure tax), we pay property tax but only a few thousand a year for a house – not 30,000/yr like in NJ, we pay 50/50 for healthcare (you can also choose private if you make above a certain amount, we pay for university (several thousand a year, housing costs as well if your kid goes/makes the grade), if the road in front of you house needs reaphalting, the house owners co-pay.
The model where you have a democracy, rule of law, private ownership of production and some social services and regulations to mitigate the worst impulses of capitalism is a mixed economy/social democracy. Sounds a lot like the US, no?