Please explain Social Security to me...

[redkow97]

I can't get into details, but an 18 yr old male from Puerto Rico informed me that he collects $831 a month in social security benefits.  His mother is about 33, and his custodial great-grandparents are deceased.

 

Would he be collecting his former custodians' benefits?  Being a US territory, are Puerto Ricans all eligible for social security?

 

I've assumed for quite some time that SS won't be around to pay out to me, so I admit I'm woefully under-informed on that topic, but WTF???  Why is this kid getting $831 every month?  He has to stay enrolled in school to get it, but he's 18 and in the 9th or 10th grade... 

 

Do criminal convictions affect social security eligibility? 

[Tpoppa]

http://www.ssa.gov/ssi/text-eligibility-ussi.htm

[Tigerpaw]

[Bubba]

SSDI maybe?  I thought that SS payments for minor children with deceased parents (presumably the custodial grandparents here) ended at 18, but maybe the payments continue until 24 as long you remain enrolled as a full-time student.  Hell, between the worthless SS/SSD cheats, the Medicare fraud, defense waste and burgeoning government employee pension costs, you might as well just say "Why not take all of me?"

[ReconRat]

I never thought I'd see a payout back, but it looks like it will happen. And max payment also, I worked a lot, apparently.

 

Not sure about the future, but from what I've researched before, once the "hump" of population retiring passes, the social security funding will be solvent without effort. That doesn't mean there won't be adjustments in retirement age. Nor does it mean that the government didn't borrow it all with a promise to pay it back later. That's another story for another time.

[4DAIVI PAI2K5]

I never thought I'd see a payout back, but it looks like it will happen. And max payment also, I worked a lot, apparently.

 

Not sure about the future, but from what I've researched before, once the "hump" of population retiring passes, the social security funding will be solvent without effort. That doesn't mean there won't be adjustments in retirement age. Nor does it mean that the government didn't borrow it all with a promise to pay it back later. That's another story for another time.

lets here the story. 

[ReconRat]

lets here the story. 

It's simple. There should be 2.6 trillion dollars in the social security trust fund. Despite paying out more than it took in from 2010-11 onward. And part of that was less people working to pay those taxes during the recession we didn't have. It still is enough to pay out ok for about 20 to 26 years, depending on who you believe. It is forecasted to be balanced and solvent by then if nothing major changes. (Increase in health and longevity, decrease in wages and taxes, etc. Changes to balance of income and payments.) But there are doubters of that, who say that it will be reduced to 75% payout by 2033 or 2040. And 70% by 2080. Or go with George W Bush estimate of broke by 2042.

 

But people fear that the federal government already "borrowed" the funds and spent it. More or less with a promise to pay it back. When Congress threatened a budget shutdown, the president said that social security checks would not go out unless a budget was passed. That wouldn't be true it there was actual funds in the trust fund. Only if the payments were made from the budget on demand. In reality, the surplus is primarily sold off as treasury bonds and "special" government bonds, which isn't really ready funds, and is indeed a form of borrowing. Although a profit can be made on the interest, if the timing is right.

 

So which was the lie? That social security would not be paid? Or that the social security trust fund is solvent?'

Probably both, but that's just me.

 

http://www.forbes.com/sites/merrillmatthews/2011/07/13/what-happened-to-the-2-6-trillion-social-security-trust-fund/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_Security_Trust_Fund

 

In the long view, nobody knows what will happen. Other than a good chance it will go broke and/or changes will have to be made. Count on certain things happening. If people start being healthier and living longer, the retirement age will have to go up (again) and people will work longer to compensate. The USA is pretty powerful with handling revenues, so expect some other countries to have problems or default before we do.

[turnone]

Don't worry about SS. It will likely be around. Millenials outnumber boomers. Soon as they all start working it should work out fine. Plus old people suck the most money from government for the simple reason that they vote the most often.

Want more shit from government, vote!

[redkow97]

You can donate it back.

[Strictly Street]

1 tenth of 1 %

That is your payback from your tax.

Seems fair to me.

How about you?

[ReconRat]

Don't worry about SS. It will likely be around. Millenials outnumber boomers. Soon as they all start working it should work out fine. Plus old people suck the most money from government for the simple reason that they vote the most often.

Want more shit from government, vote!

Plus AARP is #8 on the lobbyist list. Half of the top 8 are medical, one realtor group, General Electric, and the Chamber of Commerce. That last one is a surprise, since it's number one lobbyist. I guess a rally for reform of laws that effect small businesses.

[35RFTW]

Don't worry about SS. It will likely be around. Millenials outnumber boomers. Soon as they all start working it should work out fine. Plus old people suck the most money from government for the simple reason that they vote the most often.

Want more shit from government, vote!

I agree there are millenials than boomers, but I would also say there is a less percentage of them paying into the system vs what boomers did. Think of all the sub-30 aged people born into and living off the system with their 4 kids. That is what will suck us dry, not people living longer.

[Bubba]

Yes, the Boomers have paid far more into SS than any other generation; when the Boomer generation matures--and that'll be happening imminently--it'll also collect more than any other previous generation.  However, if you really feel the need to blame SS problems on the disparity of how much was paid in vs how much was collected, look no further than your parents and blame them.  The amount they've collected and are collecting still vs what they paid in is FAR GREATER than any gen to come after.  But if you have a smidgen of common sense and can do the math, turns out it isn't your parents that are the problem; it isn't the Boomers that are the problem, either--Boomers are the folks that are SOLELY responsible for the decades of SS fund surplus (if you believe we have one).  It's our damn representatives than have ignored the obvious problem of underfunding for several decades, kicking the can down the road, and using the SS revenue for general fund items.  Sure, there's a US government bond guarantee on the borrowed funds, but it's backed by the same government that is trillions of dollars in debt and have been running deficit budgets for years to the tune of hundreds of billions of dollars.  These are the folks we voted for….and voted for again….and blindly reelected again and again.  We the voters have been paying them huge salaries to sit in Washington and accomplish NOTHING for years!!!  Look in the mirror, folks.  There's the problem.

Edited November 26, 2014 by Bubba

[Gixxus Christ!]

10% approval rate, 90% reelection rate.

Dafuq?