I am so angry!  That arrogant stupid Obama SOB just gace Federal Employees a 2% Cost of Living raise while he took from us the cost of living raise on Social Security.  I really hate that kenya B------d!  How can he explain there was no cost of living increase when he keeps giving others a cost of living raise.  I am so angry I can't see straight.  I hope Obama gets cancer or hit by an eighteen wheeler!!

  You sound like you know this Social Security area/

Can you please tell me if anyone who is an illegal alien, can receive social security benefits? For instance, when someone brings their elderly mother here , and she has never worked or lived here, when she turns 65, does she receive any government benefits?? and especially , does she receive social security??

Thanks

  krlklar ,

ALL Social Security Retirees Get a $63.00 Raise

I see where almost all Social Security  retirees get a 5.8% raise. 

That sounds fair but is it?

Social Security Raise Fair?

Is a 5.8 % Social Security raise fair?

Would a $63.00 raise for everyone be more fair?

Everyone pays for Gas, Food and Shelter.

Why should some people get $116.00 raise and some people get only $29.00 and less?

.058 * 1 087 = 63.00  raise

.058 * 2000 = $116.00 raise

.058 * 500 = $29.00 raise

.058 * 972 = 56.38 raise

You made my point. The SS old age benefit is very disproportionate to FICA tax paid.

!. Only the best 35 years of tax paid are considered so that many years of taxes may not increase benefits at all.

2. The formula is so heavily weighted toward low average taxes paid or short term payers that paying the max, tax for 40 years only increases the benefit by a small % over those who only had earned income and paid FICA for a few years.

3. While it is good that wives receive benefits, in many cases they paid little or no FICA tax.

4. If one has saved in an IRA or 401k or has income ,up to 85% of SS benefits can be taxed again!

5. for "notch" babies the formula for benefits actually provides lower benefits for the same average FICA tax paid than everybody else!

<I can say that because the benefits are only loosely related to taxes paid for many.>

• in each year the taxes paid are converted to the wages that the tax was paid on
• then those wages are increased to about age 62 by applying the ratio of average wages at age 62 to the average wages paid in that year
• then the lowest years under 40 years are discarded
• then wages are averaged over the remaining years that is the AIME (Average Indexed Monthly Earnings) - in essence the average career earnings all indexed to age 62
• then a three part formula is applied to that AIME to get a base monthly benefit
• finally that benefit is reduced if you retire early.

     You will note that no other factor gets into the benefit except the tax you paid - everything else is a constant.

     That means the benefit is a DIRECT result of the taxes you paid.

     Mathematical formulas can be complex, but don't confuse complexity with the function itself.  Your SS benefit is a pure function of only the tax you paid and constants - in math terms:

     SS benefit = f(OASDI Tax)

     To calculate the benefits paid to retirees who retire in any year the only input needed is the string of taxes paid by the person - the rest is a simple set of calculations using constants - the lowest benefit goes to those who paid the lowest sexes and the highest benefit goes to those that paid the highest taxes - THAT IS A DIRECT RELATIONSHIP - NOT A STRAIGHT LINE BUT A DIRECT RELATIONSHIP NONETHELESS.

I can say that because the benefits are only loosely related to taxes paid for many.

<My thought is that SS as it has evolved ha s become just another tax program that provide s some needed social benefits.> 

     I don't know how you can conclude that.

     The OASDI tax we pay is paid under the Federal Insurance Contribution Act (FICA) and it is kept track of by year that it is paid.  The benefit we receive is directly related to that tax (your earnings up to the wage cap) and the year the tax was paid (NO OTHER FACTORS ARE INCLUDED).

     Yes the formula is complex and some years might be dropped if you have many years of contributions.  But the formula ONLY uses those taxes (wages up to the wage cap).  The more you paid in taxes the more you get in benefits.

    But under corporate pension plans using a final 5 year average salary is common (there you might drop 30 years) and in many of those cases amounts below a certain wage is lower than amounts above that wage (called integration with SS).  In no case would you say a corporate pension plan wasn't related to your pay.

     By the way the benefit formula is 90% at the low end (not a 10%) and 15% at the high end and averages about 40% of pay for the average worker - more for the low paid (which is good) and less for the high paid (which is good - and I fit in that category).  But that weighting is no different than the weighting under corporate pension plans except it is just the opposite kind of weighting.

     SS also provides spouses benefits and disability benefits and survivor benefits for workers and their family.  This is also good.

<Because there is such a mixture of social benefits and retirement benefits SS has become a " sac red cow" th a t poli ti cian s are a fr a i d t o t o u ch .>   

     SS is a sacred cow that politicians are afraid to touch because the public loves SS and will do serious damage to anyone in politics that messes with it.  Notice what we did to maybe the most powerful President in many decades when he tried to destroy SS with his Privatization scheme. 

     SS is the best domestic legislation that Congers has ever passed, followed closely by Medicare.  It changed how all Americans view getting old.  Before SS getting old was dreaded by much of our population because it meant the "poor house" or imposing on children.  But today people look forward to retirement.  I know I did and a large part of that was due to SS and Medicare. 

<Doesn't that kind of sound to you like people who get Social Security are getting something for nothing?> 

     Well said - not one dime of government money goes into SS.  The use of the term entitlements comes from those that hate SS and want to destroy it.