I am leaving early to a half day of travel tomorrow morning. I may move “It’s Sunday Night” to Sunday afternoon. The past two months have provided too many interruptions this late on a Sunday.
I thank you for your interest. I think Sunday afternoon will serve as a better time for these postings.
Until later.
Sunday, January 12, 2020
Give with one hand and take with the other.
I think it is appropriate that higher-income individuals pay more in taxes, but, don't increase taxes with the idea seniors will be served by it, they won't. The cost of living increases are vital to older Americans, but, don't penalize them with higher costs to Medicare.
January 7, 2020
By Cherly Winakur Munk
...For starters, (click here) higher-income workers will pay more Social Security taxes this year. As a result of an increase in the maximum taxable wage base, workers earning $137,700 or more will see their FICA taxes increase to $10,534.05 this year, up $367.20 from 2019, the publication reports. Self-employed individuals will pay double that amount, up to $21,068.10 in FICA taxes in 2020.
Social Security recipients will receive a 1.6% cost-of-living adjustment, but, alas, higher Medicare premiums will offset some of this boost....
...One bit of good news for certain recipients: Social Security beneficiaries who are under full retirement age and continue to work can earn $600 more in 2020 than they could in 2019—without forfeiting benefits. A person who reaches full retirement age in 2020 can earn an additional $1,680 without sacrificing benefits....
That is right, older Americans work besides getting benefits to MAKE ENDS MEET. In earning their additional much needed income they also pay taxes, including into Medicare. So for the "Working Elderly", they get hit with taxes both in their Social Security Check in having Part B deducted and in their paychecks. That is double taxation and there is something very wrong about it.
Very little reporting occurred about Trump's new director of SSI. There was plenty of objection by some special interest groups in opposition to him. As is the usual fashion, Trump never cares about ethical issues with his appointees, he bearly cares about legal worthiness, Andrew Saul is laughable in his self-righteous behaviors.
October 1, 2018
By Linda Benesch
(Washington, DC) — The following is a statement (click here) from Alex Lawson, Executive Director of Social Security Works, in anticipation of tomorrow’s Senate Finance Committee hearing on Donald Trump’s nomination of Andrew M. Saul for Commissioner Of Social Security:
“Like so many of Donald Trump’s nominees, Andrew Saul is utterly unqualified for the position to which he has been nominated. He has no background in Social Security whatsoever.
He did, however, serve on the board of the right-wing Manhattan Institute which has consistently been extremely hostile to Social Security, including publishing articles advocating for drastic cuts to benefits.
Furthermore, Saul has a track record of deeply concerning personal conduct. In November 2007, Saul was forced to drop out of the race for a New York Congressional seat due to unethical campaign contributions. In April 2012, Saul tried to lie “his way out of a trespassing rap by falsely identifying himself as a police commissioner.”
Saul graduated from The Wharton School in 1968, the same year as Donald Trump. Like Trump and many of Trump’s appointees, including Brett Kavanaugh, Saul appears to believe that his wealth and privilege should make him above the law....
Saul's appointment may outlive that of Trump in that he can hold the office until 2025. He can do a lot of damage in his remaining commission.
With the cost of living benefit this year the AVERAGE Social Security benefit will increase to $1,503 in 2020, up just $24 per month from the previous year. It is any wonder there are so many elderly working in places where they can find work that is simple and part-time. The employers know who they are and they don't pay a minimum wage of $15.00 per hour.
Then realize they are paying taxes in their part-time income checks and increases in the Part B Medicare premiums. There is no justice for the "Elderly Workers."
The standard Part B premium for outpatient services, which is usually deducted directly from Social Security benefits, increased by $9.10 per month to $144.60 in 2020. That’s a 6.7% increase in the base Medicare premium.
So, the COLA was a 1.6 percent increase in SSI, BUT, the cost increase in Part B was 6.7 percent. There is something VERY wrong with this picture.
I also don't want to hear how any SSI rescue plan is going to see people living into their 90s or later. The truth is American longevity is decreasing and not increasing. I wonder why.
November 29, 2018
If life expectancy (click here) gives us “a snapshot of the nation’s overall health,” then new federal numbers released Thursday “are a wakeup call that we are losing too many Americans, too early and too often, to conditions that are preventable,” says Robert Redfield, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
According to the government’s annual mortality report, life expectancy in the U.S. overall fell in 2017 for the second time in three years.
The average American could expect to live 78.6 years, down from 78.7 years in 2016, according to the report from the National Center for Health Statistics....
Plenty of the "Working Elderly" are choosing to retire at 72 years old with an incentive that they will receive the monies per month that were promised to them a decade ago but have since been reduced. Realize life into the 80s or 90s is in the minority and those retiring at 72 are only seeing about six years of SSI retirement.
Is it any wonder why White Men in their 50s are dying prematurely due to a lifestyle that removes the word caution from the dictionary. What kind of retirement do they have to look forward to? Why not live it all now and at least know something about what they are promised if they had made it to retirement? I doubt any of those 50 somethings have pensions to look forward to because they have been talked out of them politically.
By the way, for the employers, PENSIONS (when intact) is a way of delaying some salary increases. Sometimes the promise of a healthy pension at retirement is pleasing to workers. Gee, I wonder why? Pensions are not susceptible to government legislation reducing or imposing deductions on them because Congress can't contain it's spending or tax cuts to the wealthy.
The year 2020 will be a big year for elections regarding the ENTITLEMENTS of the USA to it's elderly. It might not be discussed and even swept under the table as nothing to worry about, but, if the wrong people make it into the White House and Congress the elderly and their well being will not be on the agenda.
January 7, 2020
By Cherly Winakur Munk
...For starters, (click here) higher-income workers will pay more Social Security taxes this year. As a result of an increase in the maximum taxable wage base, workers earning $137,700 or more will see their FICA taxes increase to $10,534.05 this year, up $367.20 from 2019, the publication reports. Self-employed individuals will pay double that amount, up to $21,068.10 in FICA taxes in 2020.
Social Security recipients will receive a 1.6% cost-of-living adjustment, but, alas, higher Medicare premiums will offset some of this boost....
...One bit of good news for certain recipients: Social Security beneficiaries who are under full retirement age and continue to work can earn $600 more in 2020 than they could in 2019—without forfeiting benefits. A person who reaches full retirement age in 2020 can earn an additional $1,680 without sacrificing benefits....
That is right, older Americans work besides getting benefits to MAKE ENDS MEET. In earning their additional much needed income they also pay taxes, including into Medicare. So for the "Working Elderly", they get hit with taxes both in their Social Security Check in having Part B deducted and in their paychecks. That is double taxation and there is something very wrong about it.
Very little reporting occurred about Trump's new director of SSI. There was plenty of objection by some special interest groups in opposition to him. As is the usual fashion, Trump never cares about ethical issues with his appointees, he bearly cares about legal worthiness, Andrew Saul is laughable in his self-righteous behaviors.
October 1, 2018
By Linda Benesch
(Washington, DC) — The following is a statement (click here) from Alex Lawson, Executive Director of Social Security Works, in anticipation of tomorrow’s Senate Finance Committee hearing on Donald Trump’s nomination of Andrew M. Saul for Commissioner Of Social Security:
“Like so many of Donald Trump’s nominees, Andrew Saul is utterly unqualified for the position to which he has been nominated. He has no background in Social Security whatsoever.
He did, however, serve on the board of the right-wing Manhattan Institute which has consistently been extremely hostile to Social Security, including publishing articles advocating for drastic cuts to benefits.
Furthermore, Saul has a track record of deeply concerning personal conduct. In November 2007, Saul was forced to drop out of the race for a New York Congressional seat due to unethical campaign contributions. In April 2012, Saul tried to lie “his way out of a trespassing rap by falsely identifying himself as a police commissioner.”
Saul graduated from The Wharton School in 1968, the same year as Donald Trump. Like Trump and many of Trump’s appointees, including Brett Kavanaugh, Saul appears to believe that his wealth and privilege should make him above the law....
Saul's appointment may outlive that of Trump in that he can hold the office until 2025. He can do a lot of damage in his remaining commission.
With the cost of living benefit this year the AVERAGE Social Security benefit will increase to $1,503 in 2020, up just $24 per month from the previous year. It is any wonder there are so many elderly working in places where they can find work that is simple and part-time. The employers know who they are and they don't pay a minimum wage of $15.00 per hour.
Then realize they are paying taxes in their part-time income checks and increases in the Part B Medicare premiums. There is no justice for the "Elderly Workers."
The standard Part B premium for outpatient services, which is usually deducted directly from Social Security benefits, increased by $9.10 per month to $144.60 in 2020. That’s a 6.7% increase in the base Medicare premium.
So, the COLA was a 1.6 percent increase in SSI, BUT, the cost increase in Part B was 6.7 percent. There is something VERY wrong with this picture.
I also don't want to hear how any SSI rescue plan is going to see people living into their 90s or later. The truth is American longevity is decreasing and not increasing. I wonder why.
November 29, 2018
If life expectancy (click here) gives us “a snapshot of the nation’s overall health,” then new federal numbers released Thursday “are a wakeup call that we are losing too many Americans, too early and too often, to conditions that are preventable,” says Robert Redfield, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
According to the government’s annual mortality report, life expectancy in the U.S. overall fell in 2017 for the second time in three years.
The average American could expect to live 78.6 years, down from 78.7 years in 2016, according to the report from the National Center for Health Statistics....
Plenty of the "Working Elderly" are choosing to retire at 72 years old with an incentive that they will receive the monies per month that were promised to them a decade ago but have since been reduced. Realize life into the 80s or 90s is in the minority and those retiring at 72 are only seeing about six years of SSI retirement.
Is it any wonder why White Men in their 50s are dying prematurely due to a lifestyle that removes the word caution from the dictionary. What kind of retirement do they have to look forward to? Why not live it all now and at least know something about what they are promised if they had made it to retirement? I doubt any of those 50 somethings have pensions to look forward to because they have been talked out of them politically.
By the way, for the employers, PENSIONS (when intact) is a way of delaying some salary increases. Sometimes the promise of a healthy pension at retirement is pleasing to workers. Gee, I wonder why? Pensions are not susceptible to government legislation reducing or imposing deductions on them because Congress can't contain it's spending or tax cuts to the wealthy.
The year 2020 will be a big year for elections regarding the ENTITLEMENTS of the USA to it's elderly. It might not be discussed and even swept under the table as nothing to worry about, but, if the wrong people make it into the White House and Congress the elderly and their well being will not be on the agenda.
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