Re: Whoopi Snaps At Trump, Says If He Touches Entitlements, "We Could Put You In Jail"

On Sat, 16 Mar 2024 12:59:41 -0700, The Horny Goat <lcraver@home.ca>
wrote:
 

On Fri, 15 Mar 2024 04:30:52 -0400, Ubiquitous <weberm@polaris.net>
wrote:
>

There are a few simple facts of the matter with regard to Social Security.
One, we don’t have the money for it: it’s a Ponzi scheme. We don’t have
enough young people to pay for it, and life expectancy has increased. This
means that by 2033, we will in fact be forced to cut benefits or raise taxes.
There is no third option.

>

Except there is a third choice that has been proposed for a long time
which is to raise or eliminate the limit on what income can be taxed
for Social Security. So currently the base limit is $168,600 so any
money earned over that amount doesn't get taxed for Social Security.
Eliminate that limit and there's more than enough money to pay out the
benefits going forward without hurting anyone.

 

That's hardly surprising - when the first old age pension system was
established (by Bismarck in Germany) the average German male lived 68
years so Bismarck set retirement to last only a very short time. These
days average lifespans are at least 10-15 years longer than that so
such universal systems have become much more expensive.
>
THAT's where age 65 as 'retirement age' came from. >I< retired at 66
but that was more about exiting the family business in a way that
assured continuity after a store relocation than any fixed date.
>
(For reasons I'm still unsure of my exit took 8 months rather than the
3 weeks expected - and two months after my wife's passing which caught
me by surprise as I never expected to be the surviving spouse)