Yes, you didn’t
We can’t control what others do and we can’t stop misfortune from striking. But we can control our own actions. Those who are financially prudent will most likely enjoy success, even if events don’t always go their way.
QUINNSCOMMENTARY 
I am 67 and started SS benefits at 62, I have all FICA taxes paid back after just 70 months. If I live to life expectancy of 82.5, I will collect an additional $291,000 in benefits. As a USAF retiree I have collected over $500,000 in military retirement and will receive an additional $374,256.
The clowns in DC want to add to SS payments when they have not even funded current and future benefits. Crazy way to run a Circus, lol.
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I’m not surprised by the “hostile” reactions you’re getting, Mr. Quinn. For those retirees on SS who are living extended lives (thankfully) the facts are what you have stated. They will receive much more in SS payments over their life span than what they contributed during their working years. BUT…. it’s natural to think “I deserve all the SS coming to me and don’t you dare suggest otherwise!”
P.S. I’m one of those.
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I agree we deserve all we are entitled to under the law, I plan on doing that, but we just need to realize it’s not our taxes that are paying for those benefits. If we received benefits based on the taxes paid by us and our employer, our SS would stop after 7-8 years of collecting.
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I’m sorry. I must be more tired than usual today because I don’t follow your “Yes, you didn’t” post at all.
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Many Americans believe because they paid payroll taxes all their working life, that they have paid for the benefits they eventually collect. That’s just not true as collectively we only pay for about 15% of the benefits we collect.
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OK. So what you’re saying is most people, if not all, OVERCOLLECT on what they’ve put in? (That’s been happening since the very beginning…Ida May Fuller, the 1st person to collect a check, paid in for a few years (I think less than 5) but collected for about 30+ years…if memory serves).
Is that right? Or am I still tired and confused? Ha ha ha
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Probably, but given the many changes since 1935 and taxes failing to keep up, not sure. In any case revenue to the trust is woefully inadequate not only to pay immediate benefits let alone the accumulated liability.
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Are you saying we did not pay for SS & MEDICARE through our entire working lives…??
Remind me what the FICA deduction was for…
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Oh yes, just like everyone else, but the point is I have not paid in taxes and premiums in the case of Medicare to cover even a part of the SS benefits or Medicare payments for health care that my wife and I received since retiring – not even close.
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So if we stop give aways to the illegals. and for all those who saved in 401K line cou counseled…you get hit with the IRMAA where no one counsels you on future costs in your later years…
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Giveaways? You do realize that illegal immigrants pay billions each year in taxes, include toward SS and Medicare and can’t collect any benefits while the taxes they pay far exceed the emergency medical care they may receive.
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Are you complaining or bragging? You are living off your pension & SS, none of which you paid for.
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My pension was earned as part of my total compensation and working 50 years, and while I paid SS taxes all those years as did my employer, I did not pay for the benefits my wife and I have received – by hundreds of thousands of dollars.
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