I read your article and I am amazed that an article coming from Forbes would not be better researched, and not misleading to the public. First, Social Security benefits being compared to a pension is not fair. SSA benefits were not meant to stand alone as retirement in full, but to SUPPLEMENT other retirements, such as 401k, pensions, etc. And, the computation of an individual’s SSA benefit does not stop after “35 years of work history” as you stated, the benefit uses a worker’s top 35 years of earnings in computing their benefit. So, if the worker’s 36th year of earnings is higher than any of their preceding 35…the new earnings would replace that lowest year of earnings to compute their new current benefit amount. And this replacement of highest earnings years continues until retirement. Once again, bottom line is that SSA benefits were never meant to be the sole retirement for individuals. I have given many retirement lectures/presentations on this and I get so frustrated when the questions I am asked come from articles which use language that can be misleading. Please be honest with your readers because retirement is life changing, and being informed correctly is very helpful. Respectfully…..
Odd you don’t seem to understand the article. Take my personal case. I’m 71. I’ve worked paying into social security since I was 16. That’s 55 years. 20 years are discarded and of no benefit.
I still work some, but no longer a lot. Let’s imagine I make only $20,000, but that is needed to supplement my social security. I will pay over $3,000 in social security Medicare tax. Being self-employed I pay both sides. If that isn’t higher than 21 other years of income it is discarded and provides no benefit.
If I make $40,000, then I’ll pay over $6,000 in ss tax and have to pay taxes on some of my social security benefits as well. If this is within my top 35 years, then some $39,000 year will be dropped. She finds this unfair. So do i. The fact that it is a supplement is irrelevant. If you put more in, you should get more out. Those of us who are old and still working are not saving for supplemental retirement benefits. We pay in now and get nothing out because of it.
I read your article and I am amazed that an article coming from Forbes would not be better researched, and not misleading to the public. First, Social Security benefits being compared to a pension is not fair. SSA benefits were not meant to stand alone as retirement in full, but to SUPPLEMENT other retirements, such as 401k, pensions, etc. And, the computation of an individual’s SSA benefit does not stop after “35 years of work history” as you stated, the benefit uses a worker’s top 35 years of earnings in computing their benefit. So, if the worker’s 36th year of earnings is higher than any of their preceding 35…the new earnings would replace that lowest year of earnings to compute their new current benefit amount. And this replacement of highest earnings years continues until retirement. Once again, bottom line is that SSA benefits were never meant to be the sole retirement for individuals. I have given many retirement lectures/presentations on this and I get so frustrated when the questions I am asked come from articles which use language that can be misleading. Please be honest with your readers because retirement is life changing, and being informed correctly is very helpful. Respectfully…..
Odd you don’t seem to understand the article. Take my personal case. I’m 71. I’ve worked paying into social security since I was 16. That’s 55 years. 20 years are discarded and of no benefit.
I still work some, but no longer a lot. Let’s imagine I make only $20,000, but that is needed to supplement my social security. I will pay over $3,000 in social security Medicare tax. Being self-employed I pay both sides. If that isn’t higher than 21 other years of income it is discarded and provides no benefit.
If I make $40,000, then I’ll pay over $6,000 in ss tax and have to pay taxes on some of my social security benefits as well. If this is within my top 35 years, then some $39,000 year will be dropped. She finds this unfair. So do i. The fact that it is a supplement is irrelevant. If you put more in, you should get more out. Those of us who are old and still working are not saving for supplemental retirement benefits. We pay in now and get nothing out because of it.