Social Security - your thoughts?

[Thunder Good-Oil]

open social security site has BE around 81/82.

I go back and forth - don't need the money now but every time I see the CBO type stuff I think I better grab it while I can. I'm lucky enough to have a great pension so I don't really need the longevity insurance aspect of waiting.

We can grab as much as possible as soon as possible but that wont stop those that advocate for taxing wealth from going after it later.

How does Swiss banking work. Or stashing cash in the Cayman Islands (which I’d never heard of before the Butcher brothers were caught stealing)? Bitcoin and other crypto had potential, but the government(s) has/have the means to track that wealth (unless you’re in a monarchy or a Rothschild, Soros, Etc).

 

[McDad]

Just because CBO is coming out with this info doesn't mean the politicians will let it happen.

 

[volinbham]

Another issue with waiting to take SS is the tax burden paring with RMD from your retirement savings and the impact on Medicare premiums. I'm learning that it's increasingly about tax management as much as cash flow. I'm lucky that I'm in the group that doesn't see RMDs until 75 and still hoping that gets pushed back one more time before I get there.

Taxes and Foosball are the Devil

 

[volinbham]

Just because CBO is coming out with this info doesn't mean the politicians will let it happen.

agree but reality will have to hit sometime one would think.

 

[McDad]

agree but reality will have to hit sometime one would think.

Been thinking that for about 30+ years.

 

[Thunder Good-Oil]

Ripping off the Band-Aid and fixing the whole system all at once won’t happen. I think that they will phase in the various adjustments over as many election cycles as possible.

Instead of taking a hit by cutting benefits immediately by a third:

The COLA will be trimmed.

The 6.2% x2 tax will be adjusted upward - phased in over several years.

The Full Retirement Age will creep up again from the current 67 into the 70s.

The early benefits amounts will be reduced.

Another COVID type of crises comes along to thin the population of beneficiaries.

 

[volinbham]

Been thinking that for about 30+ years.

me too - Laissez les bons temps rouler I reckon

 

[McDad]

me too - Laissez les bons temps rouler I reckon

Yessir. Let em roll.

Headed to New Orleans next week in fact.

 

[Thunder Good-Oil]

Removing the cap on taxable salaries won’t happen. They can’t piss off those people and get re-elected into their 80s.

It’s a regressive tax to fund basic welfare. The lowest paid workers pay a higher rate than the highest paid workers. But the benefits are reduced a bit for the highest paid workers through income taxes.

It’s disguised as a “retirement” benefit. It certainly is not a defined contribution plan but does share some elements of a defined benefits retirement plan (a traditional pension).