Why Is Social Security Failing Seniors?
With the federal deficit climbing everyday with no end in sight, our federal government has for many years, strategically and intentionally, decreased the buying power of the monthly social security direct deposit.
We all know that inflation effects the buying power of the dollar.
The government implemented years ago an inflation calculator called the consumer price index (CPI).
This CPI was to offset the decreasing purchasing power of the seniors social security monies.
If you were getting $1000 each month and the CPI was calculated at 5% for the prior year then come the following year your monthly social security payment would be 5% higher or $1050 per month.
However, for the years 2012 and 2013 the federal government did not increase social security payments because the CPI, according to their calculations did not increase.
Hence a zero increase in social security payments for two consecutive years.
Unfortunately for the seniors, the method that the government uses to calculate the CPI is skewed so that the government does not have to pay more when they actually should.
When the CPI does not include neither food nor gas, something smells fishy.
This either shows how desperate that the government has become because of the current status of the federal deficit or the utter corruption that is pervasive in our "government for the people".
In either case, the direction that the government has chosen, leaves a program that over the years, has become less effective.
Social security according to the tax code may or may not be taxable.
In the code there are two thresholds, $25,000 and $32,000.
If your filing single the $25,000 comes into effect.
If your income and half of your social security income passes $25,000 then at that point each dollar past that threshold your social security becomes more and more taxable up to 85%.
For married filers the $32,000 amount is the threshold.
These two amounts have not changed since I started preparing income taxes, that was 1990.
Back then $25,000 and $32,000 were a lot more than it is today.
This is just another example that the program has been slowly choking seniors.
During these 25 years the federal government has acknowledged that as the entitlement program is paying out more than it is taking in.
This has been exacerbated by social security disability.
Because the United States has been in a long-term recession with high unemployment and low wage paying jobs, workers have sought their own personal government bail out by coercing an entitlement program (disability) to give them money until they die.
So at the end of the day, we have an older population that is qualifying for social security because they have reached retirement age, plus dissatisfied exworkers that have not qualified age wise, but which are utilizing another method to get on the government gravy train.
These are they very people who should be, by working and paying taxes, helping to keep the program afloat.
However, they are depleting the social security program faster than it was expected.
This is evidence that citizens will take advantage of a governmental system to the detriment of the citizens who come after them, ie their children.
As a result, the federal government has no choice, for fear of raising taxes,but to "cook" the consumer price index statistics.
In 2014, they gave the seniors a small bone, by giving them a small token increase.
In their foresight they just want to keep the program going so that the politicians can suck out as much as they can before the system explodes.
The social security program is a hot potato and their goal is to pass it to someone else.
We all know that inflation effects the buying power of the dollar.
The government implemented years ago an inflation calculator called the consumer price index (CPI).
This CPI was to offset the decreasing purchasing power of the seniors social security monies.
If you were getting $1000 each month and the CPI was calculated at 5% for the prior year then come the following year your monthly social security payment would be 5% higher or $1050 per month.
However, for the years 2012 and 2013 the federal government did not increase social security payments because the CPI, according to their calculations did not increase.
Hence a zero increase in social security payments for two consecutive years.
Unfortunately for the seniors, the method that the government uses to calculate the CPI is skewed so that the government does not have to pay more when they actually should.
When the CPI does not include neither food nor gas, something smells fishy.
This either shows how desperate that the government has become because of the current status of the federal deficit or the utter corruption that is pervasive in our "government for the people".
In either case, the direction that the government has chosen, leaves a program that over the years, has become less effective.
Social security according to the tax code may or may not be taxable.
In the code there are two thresholds, $25,000 and $32,000.
If your filing single the $25,000 comes into effect.
If your income and half of your social security income passes $25,000 then at that point each dollar past that threshold your social security becomes more and more taxable up to 85%.
For married filers the $32,000 amount is the threshold.
These two amounts have not changed since I started preparing income taxes, that was 1990.
Back then $25,000 and $32,000 were a lot more than it is today.
This is just another example that the program has been slowly choking seniors.
During these 25 years the federal government has acknowledged that as the entitlement program is paying out more than it is taking in.
This has been exacerbated by social security disability.
Because the United States has been in a long-term recession with high unemployment and low wage paying jobs, workers have sought their own personal government bail out by coercing an entitlement program (disability) to give them money until they die.
So at the end of the day, we have an older population that is qualifying for social security because they have reached retirement age, plus dissatisfied exworkers that have not qualified age wise, but which are utilizing another method to get on the government gravy train.
These are they very people who should be, by working and paying taxes, helping to keep the program afloat.
However, they are depleting the social security program faster than it was expected.
This is evidence that citizens will take advantage of a governmental system to the detriment of the citizens who come after them, ie their children.
As a result, the federal government has no choice, for fear of raising taxes,but to "cook" the consumer price index statistics.
In 2014, they gave the seniors a small bone, by giving them a small token increase.
In their foresight they just want to keep the program going so that the politicians can suck out as much as they can before the system explodes.
The social security program is a hot potato and their goal is to pass it to someone else.
