It's Time For Medicare (whether I want it or not)

[ultrarunner]

Many known have social security as the cornerstone and maybe more important Medicare…

As mentioned it is very possible to do well without much in additional income.

Some of the senior housing is in units in the free market would cost $3000 monthly but are almost at no cost based on income and many now have meal plans, discounted utilities, internet, transportation and no co-pay medical…

I still find those that have no idea so much can be provided for… it’s not just food stamps anymore.

Don’t underestimate the security and peace of mind that comes from knowing all your needs are fully covered…

 

[Gale Hawkins]

Social Security Declined By More Than $31 Billion for the First Time in 40 Years

If you're young enough to positively impact retirement funds consider doing so.

 

[ultrarunner]

Social Security Declined By More Than $31 Billion for the First Time in 40 Years

If you're young enough to positively impact retirement funds consider doing so.

Quite a few in my circle decided not to go back…

Not one planned on early retirement but era of Covid changed that.

 

[Gale Hawkins]

Quite a few in my circle decided not to go back…

Not one planned on early retirement but era of Covid changed that.

Since I have 3 hours between appointments this morning and the temperature is warm I'm sitting here in the car reading the news and listen to YouTube. A person that I had not listened to in a long time is Teal Swan and she just was discussing this pandemic and fear and the impact it's had on people. Overreacting to fear can have serious consequences not responding to fear can have serious consequences so I think this has been a time where each person had to learn how to set on their own bottom.

The need to maximize Social Security in itself shows a failure to prepare. Our best earning years can get away from us before we know it. I know one guy a couple years older than me as a pickup he bought an enclosed trailer and a nice zero turn mower and weed eater and he has done very well since retiring boosting his income each summer. I know another guy that in retirement he started a lawn mower and repair, blade and chainsaw sharpening business and a little building behind his house out in the boonies and augmented his income quite well and stay very busy.

I see the pandemic as a net positive because it has caused all people to reevaluate things. I know some people in their nineties that have seemingly been happy with public housing and Social Security income that just happened not be my cup of tea by choice with any options.

I know another guy who lives where there's lots of Amish people and he had a good relationship with them so he started hauling them their produce livestock etc and made a business out of it that which he really enjoys.

Often if we put our minds to it there's more than one way to skin a cat.

 

[ultrarunner]

Since I have 3 hours between appointments this morning and the temperature is warm I'm sitting here in the car reading the news and listen to YouTube. A person that I had not listened to in a long time is Teal Swan and she just was discussing this pandemic and fear and the impact it's had on people. Overreacting to fear can have serious consequences not responding to fear can have serious consequences so I think this has been a time where each person had to learn how to set on their own bottom.

The need to maximize Social Security in itself shows a failure to prepare. Our best earning years can get away from us before we know it. I know one guy a couple years older than me as a pickup he bought an enclosed trailer and a nice zero turn mower and weed eater and he has done very well since retiring boosting his income each summer. I know another guy that in retirement he started a lawn mower and repair, blade and chainsaw sharpening business and a little building behind his house out in the boonies and augmented his income quite well and stay very busy.

I see the pandemic as a net positive because it has caused all people to reevaluate things. I know some people in their nineties that have seemingly been happy with public housing and Social Security income that just happened not be my cup of tea by choice with any options.

I know another guy who lives where there's lots of Amish people and he had a good relationship with them so he started hauling them their produce livestock etc and made a business out of it that which he really enjoys.

Often if we put our minds to it there's more than one way to skin a cat.

Very True and so much the better if it is something you enjoy.

A doll collector retired and found a demand from people inheriting dolls and wanting to sell so she appraises and brokers them on the internet...

 

[Williy]

We are supporting the Mexican retires cause they
cross the border and get free SS. Why? because
Jimmy Carter Dem
Solution! Sign a bill that will eliminate anyone that
did not pay into SS and not a U.S. citizen gets cut off!
Then maybe we can get a decent raise like the rats in
D.C. get $10,000 raise etc they just vote themselves a
raise when ever they want on tax payers expense.

willy

 

[Larry Caldwell]

We are supporting the Mexican retires cause they
cross the border and get free SS. Why? because
Jimmy Carter Dem
Solution! Sign a bill that will eliminate anyone that
did not pay into SS and not a U.S. citizen gets cut off!
Then maybe we can get a decent raise like the rats in
D.C. get $10,000 raise etc they just vote themselves a
raise when ever they want on tax payers expense.

willy

If they have a green card, they paid into SS while they were working, and are entitled to it. If they didn't pay in, they don't get anything.

 

[Fuddy1952]

That's the part I'm not understanding.
As a child I read Aesop's Fables and remember "The Ant and the Grasshopper".
Here's the synopsis for those who haven't read or forgot it:

The Ant and the Grasshopper, alternatively titled The Grasshopper and the Ant (or Ants), is one of Aesop's Fables, numbered 373 in the Perry Index.The fable describes how a hungry grasshopper begs for food from an ant when winter comes and is refused. The situation sums up moral lessons about the virtues of hard work and planning for the future.

I took that to heart, working as a young child knowing if I wanted something I had to work for it. Before my father passed years ago at 88 I thanked him for not giving me things.
I wanted a bicycle which having a paper route provided. Even as a child I was paying into social security.
I retired at 61, drawing S.S. a year later. Unfortunately being the ant that I was has consequences since my social security was and has since been taxed.
My 95 year old Mother pays a fortune (to most) caregivers 24/7, exorbitant taxes, even her social security is taxed, factored in as earned income (?).
At the time Aesop was correct, the ant reaping rewards of hard work pays off in the future.
The reverse is true today. Many have never paid a dime into social security yet reap the rewards. The ants who planned, invested and saved for many years are now punished
receiving not only no benefits but having to pay exorbitant taxes.
If Aesop were alive today he would say it's foolish being an ant, be the grasshopper.

 

[lman]

Some of the non-citizens paid in using somebody else's social security number, which causes some real problems come tax return time. I'm sure the IRS appreciates their donations.

 

[Fuddy1952]

There are many loop holes in the system. A friend's wife's mother moved her about 10 years ago, got citizenship, now gets free housing, food stamps, paid utilities, etc. yet never worked a day in America.
A fellow I know never planned for retirement yet with a reverse mortgage no longer makes mortgage payments, receives full social security and his unemployed wife gets a paycheck as the husband's caregiver!

 

[KennyG]

An immigrant who never worked can get SS if they are a qualified dependent of someone who paid into the SS system. It happens but it's not a common situation. Just another example of why SS is an insurance program, not a savings/investment program.

 

[ultrarunner]

That's the part I'm not understanding.
As a child I read Aesop's Fables and remember "The Ant and the Grasshopper".
Here's the synopsis for those who haven't read or forgot it:

The Ant and the Grasshopper, alternatively titled The Grasshopper and the Ant (or Ants), is one of Aesop's Fables, numbered 373 in the Perry Index.The fable describes how a hungry grasshopper begs for food from an ant when winter comes and is refused. The situation sums up moral lessons about the virtues of hard work and planning for the future.

I took that to heart, working as a young child knowing if I wanted something I had to work for it. Before my father passed years ago at 88 I thanked him for not giving me things.
I wanted a bicycle which having a paper route provided. Even as a child I was paying into social security.
I retired at 61, drawing S.S. a year later. Unfortunately being the ant that I was has consequences since my social security was and has since been taxed.
My 95 year old Mother pays a fortune (to most) caregivers 24/7, exorbitant taxes, even her social security is taxed, factored in as earned income (?).
At the time Aesop was correct, the ant reaping rewards of hard work pays off in the future.
The reverse is true today. Many have never paid a dime into social security yet reap the rewards. The ants who planned, invested and saved for many years are now punished
receiving not only no benefits but having to pay exorbitant taxes.
If Aesop were alive today he would say it's foolish being an ant, be the grasshopper.

Live for today for tomorrow may never come or as one RAP artist I know said he never thought he would see thirty because had he known he would not have been so reckless

I was in the first high school class taught by a new biology teacher who continued teaching another 32 years to retirement... active, excellent health and truly beloved...

His last class gave him Hamilton tickets for the same week he retired and was so enthusiastic about it... other teachers were also going... he was a no show... officially retired 3 days at full retirement age and died in sleep from brain aneurysm.

I bet a lot of people never give much thought about senior life in their younger years...

 

[Gale Hawkins]

I gather some children were not taught by their parents or the person of influence in our life that is better to focus on yourself and work on that instead of focused on what is wrong with others and bitching about that.

 

[Fuddy1952]

Live for today for tomorrow may never come or as one RAP artist I know said he never thought he would see thirty because had he known he would not have been so reckless

I was in the first high school class taught by a new biology teacher who continued teaching another 32 years to retirement... active, excellent health and truly beloved...

His last class gave him Hamilton tickets for the same week he retired and was so enthusiastic about it... other teachers were also going... he was a no show... officially retired 3 days at full retirement age and died in sleep from brain aneurysm.

I bet a lot of people never give much thought about senior life in their younger years...

I certainly understand that, we've known people retiring, receiving one SS check then dying. What I learned early in life as a child is I can save $××, buy candy and it's gone. Invest that $×× and one day I can buy candy with the dividends I receive for years.
I never felt neglected or missed out on things I could have blown money on.
If I chose to smoke should I have sympathy for later having copd or lung cancer?
Drinking liver disease?
Not saving for the future living in poverty?
We make choices. Life is tough.

 

[ultrarunner]

I have been called an old soul...

Probably because even as a teen most of my friends were 30 to 60 years older mostly from the old car hobby...

The collective advice to me was save and buy property...

So doing the math buying at 20 with a 30 year mortgage meant paid by 50...

Too long so paid extra to pay in 15...

Just fortunate to have the advice of much older seasoned citizens willing to share...

 

[KennyG]

If Mexican citizens get SS they must have had legal status (green cards) and paid into the system for 40 quarters. Then they qualify just like US citizens. It doesn't matter where they live (or where US citizens live), as long as it isn't a banned country like Cuba or North Korea.

I'm sure there are a huge number of Mexican citizens that qualify, especially if they live in a border town.

As far as I know, nothing changed under Carter except the physical design of the "green card". If anyone has better information, I'd be interested in seeing it.

 

[Williy]

Back in the late 70's a mother with her daughter
came to me at a cars sales shop and held her
daughters are and pulled her in front of me and
said would you please get my daughter pragnant?
She wanted more free bee's she was on welfare.
I have seen people with; food stamps get a full
check out counter full of lobsters. Nothing but
the lobsters no other food.

willy

 

[Gale Hawkins]

Plan to fix Postal Service shifts retirees to Medicare, along with billions in costs

I did not know about this new liability coming to Medicare.

 

[Jstpssng]

Dad (rip) made $200/month...later more... yet retired at 56 very well off from planning.

What year? A couple of years ago I found a check stub from my first job out of college, after I'd been there for 2 years. (1982)
I pay more in taxes now than I brought home back then.

 

[Gale Hawkins]

3 Reasons You're Better Off Claiming Social Security at 70 | The Motley Fool

Reason #3 was new to me SS info.