10 things to know about Social Security

Familiarize yourself with strategies that can help maximize benefits or protect loved ones in the event of your death.

By Rachel L. Sheedy, Kiplinger's Personal Finance magazine

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Kirk Thomas
Nov 6, 2012 12:38PM
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I'll make this short and sweet -- I have worked all my life and SS has been taken out of my check..... Both parties --- KEEP YOU GREEDY HAND OFF OUR MONEY PERIOD. 
BillyJack55
Nov 6, 2012 10:47AM
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Social Security .....The greatest ponzi scheme in the history of man kind.

 

How much money has our congress raided from SS?

And now that we're 16.25 TRILLION in debt.....we'll never be able to put it back in Social Security.

Why in God's name do we keep reelecting these Idiots?

Someone (john a. naguski)
Nov 6, 2012 10:24AM
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If the monies paid into the fund since it's inception had been left in the fund there would be no problems with social security. The politicians need to pay off the IOU"S due the fund and this would keep the fund solvent.
djburns100
Nov 6, 2012 1:08AM
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The people to blame for SS going under are the democrats under Johnson. They passed a bill taking the money from the SS fund and put it in the general fund so they could use it for the war in Veitnam.
Old and still working
Nov 6, 2012 1:22AM
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I remember when the government decided to mess with SSI  It was solvent and more so.  There was so much $ the governemnt decided to use it for other things.  They even laid down a plan so you could do it yourself and take your money out to invest .  I let mine sit there not knowing the Gov would squander for thier projects.  Now they say not enough $. Well only people that kept their $ and paid in should be allowed to to take it out not for "pet" projects or to help the criminals and illegal squatters.
Realist9000
Nov 6, 2012 1:56PM
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I want more control over my Congress representatives. They should have to come to their constituents for pay and benefits approval. WE the people should decide term limits. We the people should have input into how our reps vote. Right now, once in office they only represent themselves.
Sickoright
Nov 6, 2012 8:53AM
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Don't fix social security by cuts....Fund it by taxing all income and cutting the rate..Yes 48% of income is not taxed because of the cap which is around 114000 for next year. If you taxed all the income you could lower the rate by 25% and give everyone a small raise . Bussiness match would also be reduced which would help most of them too . And the fund would never go broke
Solexer
Nov 5, 2012 8:02PM
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Micro brains like Thomas Dolby play right into the hands of the GOP by thinking that everyone who tries to qualify for SS (except for him of course) is some kind of free loader. Then he blames Obama - who has NOTHING to do with SS as somehow being responsible for the issues facing SS.

 

So he thinks that either privatizing SS or eliminating it altogether is the way to go. Nevermind that people like me who have paid into SS for almost 40 years will need to rely on SS - which we have already paid for - to keep us in our homes and food on the table.

 

Assigning blame to the wrong people and having no answers is why we are doomed Thomas - NOT because of Obama.

Storm Brewing
Nov 6, 2012 6:57AM
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get your representatives you voted in to re pay the Social Security fund the 790 some trillion dollars they sole of our money.  Yes stole. When interest rates were very very high (I got 17% in the 80's on a 6 mo certificate.)  You see at 700+ trillion dollars would of multiplied so fast this fund as it was set up shoud have gone on in perpetuity. Al Gore was the only person I ever heard saying to lock up the ss funds in a strong box and throw away the key. Yes that is a pretty close quote.
king124
Nov 6, 2012 3:26PM
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I JUST READ WHERE SCUMBAG TRUMP HAD THE NYPD BLOCK OFF A GAS STATION SO HE COULD FILL UP THE VANS THAT HAUL THE CONTESTANTS FOR HIS CRUMMY TV SHOW. IS THERE NO END TO THIS CLOWNS DISREGARD FOR ALL THE PEOPLE IN NY AND NJ THAT ARE SUFFERING FROM SANDY .THIS JACKA## SHOULD BE HORSE WHIPPED!!!!!!!!!
mine1955
Nov 6, 2012 8:49AM
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If you people would look around yourselves and see the ones on Social Security. There is nothing wrong with them. I have only 40 percent of my heart left because of heart muscle damage and fought long for my ssi/ssd. I started working in the deep mines and fields when I was only 4 years old. I know many people out there (in my own family) who got ssi instantly and never worked and nothing wrong with them,plus they work under the table to hide their wages. This is why the real disabled can not get what they worked for. I am a Democrat, and as for the so called Politicians out there we need to get rid of all them and start over with the new lies they tell and vote in new liars ; democrats & republicans.
scarlet1991
Nov 16, 2012 8:27PM
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Wake up peope, first you have to have people contribute to have the monies and when you have millions of people who have not contributed to society their entire life collecting SSI, (no 10 quarters needed for SSI) for every ailment kniown to man (drug addicted, depression,bad backs etc) leeching off the social secuirty that the rest of the working class has contributed to. Investigating SSI is only done on a complaint driven report so....... we know how that goes, then you have to 40+ year old students who have gone to school ten years and continue so they don't have to pay back student loans another federal leech. When you think thats bad enough then there are the baby factory welfare generation after generation who never intend to go to work, after all this is the best retirement program better the pension,medicare that the rest of us have worked for, all expenses paid for cash,food stamps,full medical medicaid (eyes, ears, feet,no deductables)  why work??????????????  We need to revamp the qualification process.
insagt
Nov 5, 2012 7:53PM
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Has anyone applied for their deceased husbands benefits?  I am 63, my husband died 9 years ago and would be 63 now as well.  I still work ful time and would like to start drawing off his social security if possible and still work full time.  Any answers here I would like to hear.
mikeyknows
Nov 6, 2012 5:44AM
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Since the guns and butter administration of lyndon Johnson both democrats and republicans have used social security tax receipts to cover their reckless deficit spending. In the year 2014  social security will go into the red. The soc sec tax receipts will be insufficient to cover future retirees at this point. Social Security benefits will be paid to those retiring not by increasing the deficit, but by electronically creating money and depositing it directly into their accounts and printing checks of created money. This is the modern day "printing press". This will hasten the imminent collapse of the dollar and its removal as the worlds reserve currency. For all those who have rendered basic arithmetric politically incorrect all of the above is meaningless. 
oklabilly
Nov 6, 2012 11:27AM
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My view is that the so called political class is not really quailfied to do anything; least of all create priorities, establish a budget and live within those means.   The government agencies' budgets are based on what they recieved this year plus 5% for next year. There is no attention paid to evaluate any of these programs or to even discuss whether the taxpayers are getting their money's worth.  There is no reporting on the success of these programs.  The goal of government agencies is to spend the money and get more next year, not create real value for the citizens.  As long as this is the culture, the taxpayers, of which there are too few in my view, get hosed.  The conflicts of interest among members of Congress is absurd.  Lawyers in Congress are many and who beneifts from more ridiculous laws and regulations, LAWYERS.   The federal government is not run by elected officlials.  It is run by carrer bureaucrats whose view is we will just wait out the current adminsitration and then control the next one.  Elected officilias cannot even get rid of these people.  I think it is time for a politcial movement focused on Responsible People; those that work, raise their families and who demand accountantaibility of the political class.   
Someone (john a. naguski)
Nov 6, 2012 10:20AM
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Take your benefit as early as you can. If you are still working what you pay imto social security will increase your benefit. Cola no matter how small will also continue to increase your benefit.
S Joshi
Nov 6, 2012 12:53AM
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SS can never be claimed by an illegal, there is no way of doing that.  Even if you are a US citizen and haven't worked for 10 years then you are not eligible for the SS, so you have to work at least 10 years in this country to get SS benefits.  Please educate yourself!!!
JJD2
Nov 6, 2012 1:19PM
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I wonder if people actually understand that

" the retirement program would be able to pay out only 75% of scheduled benefits starting in 2033, three years earlier than projected last year."

means that for example if your getting 2,000 per month benefit all of a sudden current beneficiaries will get 1,500 per month. This can change if this president had the political guts to fix this problem now..but he dosen't  which is one of the reasons why he needs to be fired today !!!!

Independent 1946
Nov 18, 2012 11:16AM
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The Congress is full of thieves and liars. We , the people, end up paying for it. Eliminate the special retirement and medical benefits for Congress.
antonio padilla
Nov 18, 2012 10:30AM
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SOCIAL SECURITY AND POLITICS SUCKS.. I WORKED FOR FIFTY YEARS  AND ALL I GET IS 944.00 DOLLARS..I DO NOT QUALIFY FOR MEDICAID OR ANY OTHER HELP BECAUSE ACCORDING TO RULES I HAVE ENOUGH INCOME TO LIVE WELL..

BUT I SEE ALLFOREIGNERS FROM PRACTICALLY EVERY COUNTRY IN THE WORLD  SHOPPING WITH GOVERMENT DEBIT CARDS..GETTING FOOD STAMPS & GETTING RENT SUBSIDIES....

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