Today's Social Security benefits are too small to give retirees financial stability

[bluewater]

Link to tweet

Elizabeth Warren, once again, gets right to the heart of the matter.

[CountAllVotes]

1. Elizabeth Warren is so right

My friend that recently turned 80 years old lost her place.

She had no way to pay the upkeep on her manufactured home and could not afford the space rent any longer.

She had no IRA, 401K, etc.

She is now living with her daughter last I heard.

[Demobrat]

19. Thank goodness she has someone

What happens to those who don’t?

[CountAllVotes]

34. So many do not have anyone

It can be any which one of us.

Blame a lot of it on dump.

So many ill-feelings and horrible hatred has emerged since the reign of this parasite on humanity! It has pitted one against the next.

[warmfeet]

40. Exactly!

How about we help everyone? Especially the least among us.

I have no problem with that.

In fact, I will not settle for anything less.

If we do not help those with fewer resources, I am not on board.

[DownriverDem]

53. A little history

might help when it comes to Social Security. First of all it's based on your earnings. So if someone's monthly benefit is too small, it's because he or she didn't earn much during their work life. Having said that, Social Security was never meant to live on. Originally, it was part of a 3 part plan: Pension, Savings and Social Security Now we all know that pensions almost don't exist and many folks did not save much (mainly because they didn't make much to be able to save). There you go. What do we do for folks like your friend?

[Grasswire2]

61. Women have been penalized by this system if they stayed home to care for family..

...and didn't earn enough credits to garner a living retirement.

Other factors include the inequality in pay women have suffered and the fact that a mom would have to dip in and out of the workforce at poorly paid service jobs in order to get by.

This, of course, refers to women now in their elderly years many of whom were also affected by the booming divorce rate of the 1970s forward. Divorce became no-fault, and women who in the past might have been awarded settlement that supported them while they built a new life suddenly were faced with the choice of keeping custody of their children vs. a share of hubby's retirement, etc.

It has been a cruel system for too many women.

Incidentally, MEN and WOMEN both should earn work credits for their care of family members. Stay at home dads also suffer from this system failure.

[bluewater]

62. +1000

So true!

[RKP5637]

2. K&R!!! Millions suffer in the US! n/t

[HeartlandProgressive]

3. Half the country is doing very well

The rest of us, not so much.

Warren seems to understand that.

[FiveGoodMen]

9. Half?

I think that's optimistic

[ReformedGOPer]

37. +1

[gelsdorf]

4. It's very difficult

utilities are killing us, taxes go up every year add in upkeep and you barely stay afloat
Always one incident away from the streets

[Wounded Bear]

11. Two of the last 3 COLAs were gone to rent increases before I got them...

[SergeStorms]

21. The increase in Medicare supplemental insurance premiums....

each year more than wipes out any gain (if any) from a cost of living allowance. Add to that inflation (it may not be much, but it's there), the yearly rise in pharmaceutical prices, and a host of other yearly cost additions and people are losing purchase power in double digit percentages each year. I happen to be fortunate enough so I don't have to worry about that, but many of my friends and millions of other Americans must worry about it at all times. I have friends who skimp on medications so they'll have enough for Doctor visits and food. I drive a good many of them to appointments because they've given up the luxury of driving. Automobiles are expensive to run, insure and maintain, and many people can't afford to drive.

"The Golden Years" turn into a nightmare for many Senior Citizens, and we're not all fortunate enough to inherit countless millions from our daddies.

[dhol82]

28. Yup, totally burns my ass that the supplemental, which only covers 20%, costs so incredibly more

than what I pay to the government.
Along with the outrageous cost of the pharma benefits.

[ChazInAz]

48. Retirement's rough.

SS gives me some $800 after the assorted medicare and supplementals are yanked out. I get about $500 from my IRA.
Up until a year ago, I could take out $200 for walking around money with no trouble. I can't do that, now. All unnecessary expenses have been eliminated within the past month. Let's see if I can make it.

[Desert Dem]

5. Ain't it the truth.

[zentrum]

6. Go Warren!

[The Mouth]

7. Has there ever been a time someone could love on Social Security alone?

At least where I live, I doubt it. Maybe 50 or 60 years ago at a poverty level.

[Wounded Bear]

12. Depends on how much you made when working...

for low wage jobs, no way. I did OK, so my SS check keeps me afloat so far. It's all I have, so there are no real luxuries, for sure.

[The Mouth]

13. Damn

Having worked crap jobs most of my life- I'd be dead of starvation on the street here if all I had were SSI

[Kurt V.]

29. That's from decades of very bad policy that intentionally redistributed wealth upward.

[The Mouth]

54. Hey, those jets and private islands ain't gonna pay for themselves

Won't someone think of the billionaires?!

[elocs]

8. Tell us something we don't know considering there's been an SS impending crisis

for years and congress has done nothing to address it.
So how do you make congress pass a significant increase in SS and then how do you get them to agree how to pay for it?
As the old saying goes, if wishes were horses, beggars would ride.

[rurallib]

15. Vote for Democratic candidates at all levels for a start

and get your friends to do the same.
A Democratic president and a Democratic congress would go a long ways towards making things happen.

[elocs]

16. I've voted for Democrats in every election & at every level for 47 years now.

I'd be happy if they just addressed the impending SS shortfall that would result in a cut in benefits before anything else.

[Farmer-Rick]

32. I always heard that if wishes were horses

we'd all be trampled to death.

[Oppaloopa]

10. There are many You Tube video's showing people how they live in their car on 850 per month

and most of them are women.

[Farmer-Rick]

33. I know, I watch them and though some do it just for the mobility

Others have clearly done it to make ends meet.

What a sad comment on our society.

A society is not judged on how they treat their kings, but on how they treat the weakest among them.

[LudwigPastorius]

14. The GOPigs will never stop trying to cut benefits.

A President Warren would never allow that to happen.

[snowybirdie]

17. We'd all love an increase

But SS was never intended to be a sole source of income in retirement. Just a back up for other sources of funds. But with the economy as it is, so many are unable to save enough. I've seen so much distress amongst fellow seniors. One of the reasons I'm beginning to resent the daily internet begging for money from candidates. They send 10 or 15 messages a day to us. Have to think of my family's future.

[stopbush]

22. "Never intended" is never a reason to stop evolving as a society.

The Founders never intended for women to have the vote. Never intended to get rid of slavery.

It really doesn’t matter what the original intent was for SS. What matters is how people live today and what can be done to improve their lives through SS.

[ChiTownDenny]

27. The three legged stool.

Social security was one of three legs of the three legged stool. The other two legs of the stool were pensions and personal savings/investments. But pensions are no longer offered by most employers. That has created a significant burden that society must address.

[Farmer-Rick]

35. And with negative interest rates on the horizon

Savings are clearly a poor choice for retirement.

[TheRealNorth]

39. The problem is people lived longer

We should have been proactive to deal with this, either by increasing collections or cutting back via the annual cost adjustments (like Obama tried to do with the chaining the increases to the CPI, since no one wanted to raise the income cap or the the SSI rates that we pay) But since Baby Boomers wanted to have their cake and eat mine too, I have to financially plan to receive only 65% of what I am owed by SS.

So while I feel bad for people retiring that don't get enough from SS, it was an issue that was decided 30 years ago through a lack of action when the average age of death started increasing.

I have greater pity for the people that screwed out of their pensions by Corporate Anerica and the bankrupt system

[turbinetree]

18. She is Spot on......................

[ProudMNDemocrat]

20. ELIMINATE the Gross Earned Income Cap......

Why should there be a cap on Gross Earned Income?


Eliminate that cap and have ALL Gross Income be subjected to Social Security taxes. That applies to the worker who grosses $60,000 and the one who grosses $6,000,000. Then Social Security is solvent for the next 150 years or more and benefits can be raised with no problem so that Seniors do not have to worry.

But Republicans will not go for that because it penalizes the rich. Too fucking bad!

[stopbush]

23. Yep. 95% of Americans pay into SS on 100% of their income.

But if you make $1.3-million a year, you pay on only 10% of your income.

How is that fair?

[AJT]

24. The intent of social security needs to be redefined.

Social security was never meant to be the only source of retirement income. If it is then it is meant to be at poverty level, just enough to survive.

We should make sure social security is meant to keep older people at a level of decent living. We need to change the expectations of what social security should provide.

Of course that means a hire cap, which seems reasonable.

[cstanleytech]

25. Not to mention the disability benefits especially for those disabled

as children.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

26. Social Security was always intended to be one leg of a three-legged stool.

The other two legs being a pension (today a 401k or the like) and savings.

There was never a time when it was expected to cover everything in retirement. Never.

There was no COLA before 1972, so up to then SS was truly a "fixed income". Plus, I believe in the early years widowers could not collect against their deceased wife's account, even if it would have given them more than their own account.

But yeah, try to get a job with a pension. Failing that, put as much into your 401k (or its equivalent) as you possibly can. And save more money besides. The best thing about all that is that you will be living on less than your full paycheck, which ought to make retirement somewhat easier, because you didn't spend every penny in the first place.

[dhol82]

30. And good luck with your 401k if the market crashes around the time of your retirement.

[warmfeet]

41. Yep. NT.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

49. And if you retire into a rising market, you need to understand

that at some point the market will pull back.

As someone whose pension is less than 1/3 of what it should be (the company I worked for was able to get out from under its (underfunded) pension obligation in a bankruptcy or two) I have far less faith in pensions than I do in things like a 401k. Putting aside money and investing it sensibly is the way to go. I know, some companies require you invest in their stock, which is a truly hideous choice. Enron, anyone? Especially if you're a couple and your significant other works for the same company. Not enough diversification.

I am fortunate. I have a tiny pension (remember it's less than a third of what it should be, but fortunately I never expected it to be even as much as it currently is), Social Security, two annuities (and annuities get an undeserved bad rap), and I also take out money every month from my investments. I actually have a larger income now than I've ever had. I'm not only paying my bills (which include a mortgage), living reasonably well on a day to day basis, but I'm saving money. Lucky me.

People sometimes post as if 401k plans are not much better than Russian Roulette. You need to do the appropriate research on the choices available. You might need to move money around. But trust me, a 401k can be enormously better than a pension. Notice that I've mentioned my pension is less than 1/3 of what it should be. The people in my former company who were truly screwed were the ones who worked 30 years and honestly thought that pension would be there for them. It should have been double their SS amount, maybe even a bit more. Instead, it's less than half of their SS amount. Do the math. The average Social Security check is something like $1400/month. Not enough to live on in most places. If that were my total income I'd be living with my sister or on the street. If I thought I was going to have $3,000/month from my pension, and it's now $870/month, well you can do the math here as well.

Here's the thing about the stock market. It periodically posts new highs. It never posts new lows. So if you're buying and selling trying to time the market, well, not to put too fine a point on it, you're an idiot. Find good funds or good stocks and stick with them. Don't sell because the market goes down. That's a time, if you have extra cash, to buy.

Being invested for the long run is a good thing.

I first started buying stocks in the late 1970s. I've been through a lot of ups and downs and they've mostly been ups, Yeah, I got hurt in the tech bubble in 2000, but simply by staying put I did okay.

People here worry about a stock market crash as if it will be 1929 all over again. That is so unlikely to happen that I can't fully express the unlikelihood. To repeat myself. The stock market posts new highs on a more or less regular basis. It never posts new lows. Last week when I was talking to my financial guy and said that to him, he was thunderstruck. He'd never thought about it that way. But you should.

[Farmer-Rick]

43. And the intent of Workmen's Compensation was to pay

Workers for loss of limbs, hands and fingers. But since loss of limbs is an unusual injury today, it covers other injuries obtained on the job.

Things evolve. Past intent can not always forsee future events and changes.

Today saving money in a traditional savings account is counter productive because of the miniscule amounts of interest. There are very few pensions that are paying as expected and 401 accounts are tied to the ups and downs of capitalist markets gone wild.

Social Security was suppose to be one leg of a 3 legged stool. But today the other 2 legs are almost wiped out. Something has to give.

[Amimnoch]

31. One thing to fix is Medicare taking every penny of every raise

Like they’ve been doing for a couple of decades now.

Medicare give a raise of a few dollars a month, and Medicare ups their take of it by almost the exact same amount every damn time effectively nullifying just about ever raise people get.

[LiberalFighter]

36. I'm figuring Social Security should be twice what it is.

That is figuring instead of the employer providing a pension it is rolled into Social Security. That should also eliminate the 5 year vesting before anyone is able to collect a pension.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

50. Social Security has essentially a ten year vesting.

For Social Security to be twice what it is, we'd all have to pay double into it.

Suggesting that employer pensions be rolled into SS doesn't really make sense.

One problem with pensions is that many of them are underfunded. I know. My pension is one third of what it should be, thanks to my former company underfunding, going bankrupt, and passing the pension obligation to the PBGC, the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation. In many ways I'm lucky, in that I worked for that company from 1969 to 1979, and even though when I left I was vested in the pension, I always figured it would be maybe $100/month. It is somewhat more than that, but looking at mailings from some years ago, it ought to be a whole lot more.

I'm lucky. I always assumed that my pension would be quite small, maybe enough to by catfood for my several cats, and so I never counted on it as a significant source of income. But a lot of people who worked for that company for thirty years or more, assumed the pension would be a major part of their retirement. Instead, it was cut significantly. Which is why I think 401k plans are vastly better. The money is there.

Various government entities are similarly in a crisis. They have likewise underfunded their pension plans for a decade or more. Often they've simply assumed (foolishly) that increased tax revenue would bail out the pensions. At some point, the house of cards will collapse. Again, this is an argument in favor of things like 401k plans, or 403b plan (which I had recently when I worked for a hospital) as well as additional savings on the part of the individual.

I'm old enough to remember when my grandparents were among the earliest of Social Security recipients, and how truly modest that sum was. Back then the assumption was that old people would probably live with adult children, meaning their financial needs were quite small. A lot has changed since then, mainly the assumptions about where an elderly person might live.

I think a lot about where I will end up in the future. I'm currently 71 years old, in very good health, on my own, in a small home in Santa Fe, NM, that I just love. I would like to live here the rest of my life, but that may not be possible, depending on various things.

[throwthe_shoe]

38. this woman needs to be the next president....

she speaks from her heart and it is connected to the average person... unlike the ME ME ME president we have now..the younger generations need a chance for their older years.

[warmfeet]

42. I could not agree more.

What a wonderful sentiment.

Every one deserves a chance. Every, damn, one.

[AllaN01Bear]

44. im on ssi. when congress gave us a raise last year , this year ss goes to me you make too much

were docking your pay. didnt appeal and i think my appeal time ran out . also bussinesses tend to raise prices way before any raise is announced and that negates the raise .

[duforsure]

45. Why do people support trump and the GOP then

Re-Elected he plans on gutting both Medicare and Social Security. Why would anyone getting either one or in their 40's or 50's vote for that

[Blue_true]

47. Why?

Because they believe "unworthies" are getting their money. Unworthies is never them and are always POC (to them). It is about race in line with who LBJ pointed out about poor White men.

[Blue_true]

46. Like everything else that is financial.

People that maxed out (high salaried people) on social security contributions are doing fine. But those people had privileged lives and accumulated other assets like large 401k's and securities and own their homes.

[MySideOfTown]

51. I don't know about everyone else. But I'm surviving.

Those I do know about, making twice as much as me are borrowing money to make ends meet, those that make half, don't. Strange. I would recommend folks sacrifice some portion of their ssa to a savings account to account for emergencies rather than buy the latest gimmick.

[ColesCountyDem]

52. SSI is also too small.

SSI pays $771/month. Try living on that!

[elocs]

55. As a retiree I'm more worried about my SS getting smaller than it is now

than its being too small right now.

How about fixing the impending shortfall first that would result in SS checks being reduced and not increased in the not too distant future.

[madville]

56. My mom and dad only get about $5300 a month in SS

It's enough to survive on since their house is paid for but a major illness could wipe that out quick.

[cstanleytech]

57. 5300? Wow, that's more than the 3100 my brother and his wife bring home a month

from their full time jobs combined after taxes.
Just curious but what did they do before they retired?

[madville]

70. Mom owned a bookkeeping business, Dad was a salesman

They worked and waited up until age 70 to draw which maximized their benefit.

[Boomer]

59. Only?

That's $63,600 per year. Their retirement income is more than many Americans are making from full-time jobs.

[CountAllVotes]

67. !

No kidding!

[madville]

69. It's about what I gross in my current job

At $30 an hour, 40 hours a week.

[SMC22307]

65. Only? What sort of medical coverage do they have?

Medicare and a supplement?

[madville]

68. Yeah

But long term care is the wildcard. The assisted living facility my 96 year old grandmother is in is $4400 a month for example.

[CountAllVotes]

66. $5300/mo.!

That is more than I made working 3 jobs at one time!

[Kaleva]

71. I live on $1194 a month and I'm doing fine

[StarzGuy]

58. This is SOOOOO true

I am exhibit number 1. I've been on SSDI ever since I became too sick to work. Now, it has been 10 years and I have been in financial hell ever since. Fortunately, I have enough work credits to earn a fair social security disability insurance award along with a small pension. Still, the amount I receive is insufficient to even cover my basic needs. I lost my home when I got sick and most likely will never be in a position to own another home due to the lack of income sufficient enough to qualify. Never mind just how much the sale prices of homes have skyrocketed since I owned my home.

I rely on help from a friend and the local food bank to help with my expenses. But it still isn't anywhere close to what I need. My bank account is consistently overdrawn and I don't seem able to stop those overdrawn charges at $35 a pop.

So, Miss Warren is absolutely correct. Those of us who rely on our social security payments deserve better and a healthy increase is the order of the day. I have no illusions however as I seriously doubt that such a bill will see the light of day in Congress. Gee, I just cant wait for the 1.6% increase in my SSDI next January.

[Grasswire2]

60. and now McConnell plans to cut "benefits" and cut back Medicare lab testing.

Tryin' to kill off more retirees.

And those who are impoverished by his actions will be swept up into federal internment camps for the homeless.

[Progressive dog]

63. Yes they are, but social security was

intended to be insurance that was paid for by special taxes. There are also supplemental security benefits which are available to low income recipients. Both the original social security benefits and the taxes to fund them have been increased.

The original Social Security contribution rate was 1 percent of pay, which was matched by employers. The tax rate grew to 1.5 percent in 1950 and gradually increased to top 5 percent by 1978. The current tax rate of 6.2 percent has been in effect since 1990. However, higher earners don't pay Social Security taxes on all of their income. The Social Security tax applied only to earnings of $3,000 or less in 1950 and earlier.

The first monthly retirement check was issued to Ida May Fuller of Ludlow, Vermont for $22.54 in January 1940. Fuller, who worked as a legal secretary, collected payments until age 100 in 1975. Monthly payments to retired workers have continued since then and increased to an average of $1,464 per month in January 2019.

https://money.usnews.com/money/retirement/social-security/articles/the-history-of-your-social-security-payments

[SMC22307]

64. This, along with Medicare at 55, are winning issues.

And tax benefits from legalized weed. I'm tellin' ya.