Where does the government get off calling our Social Security payment a 'FEDERAL BENEFIT PAYMENT'?  

answers 0:This isn't a benefit – its our earned income being paid back t us! Not only did we all contribute to Social Security but our employers did too the government didn't contribute one dime to this money. In fact the government has been robbing Social Security blind for years now. Social Security totaled 15% of our income before taxes. If you averaged $30K per year over your working life, that's close to $180,000 invested in Social Security. If you calculate the future value of your monthly investment in social security ($375/month, including both your and your employer’s contributions) at a meager 1% interest rate compounded monthly, after 40 years of working you'd have more than $1.3 million dollars saved! This is your personal investment. Upon retirement, if you took out only 3% per year, you'd receive $39,318 per year, or $3,277 per month.That’s almost three times more than today’s average Social Security benefit of $1,230 per month, according to the Social Security Administration (Google it - it’s a fact). And your retirement fund would last more than 33 years (until you're 98 if you retire at age 65)! I can only imagine how much better most average-income people could live in retirement if our government had just invested our money in low-risk interest-earning accounts. Instead, the folks in Washington pulled off a bigger Ponzi scheme than Bernie Madoff ever did. They took our money and used it elsewhere. They “forgot” that it was OUR money they were taking. They didn’t have a referendum to ask us if we wanted to lend the money to them. And they didn’t pay interest on the debt they assumed.And recently, they’ve told us that the money won’t support us for very much longer. But is it our fault they misused our investments? And now, to add insult to injury, they’re calling it a “benefit,” as if we never worked to earn every penny of it.Just because they “borrowed” (stole) the money, doesn't mean that our investments were a charity to these fat cats in Washington, DC.! We need to keep these shyster out of Earned Retirement Income, and make them, call it what it is, OUR Earned Retirement Income...Show more answers 1:An old point but still valid if you ever believed that your social security payments were an investment. The weren't of course. Those payments were just a tax in sheep's clothing. I thought only the silly fell for that greatest of the great society lies.--------------------Your additional comment is just factually incorrect. The program was never funded since benefits of all sorts were initiated immediately for people who made no contribution at all. The funding requirements placed on private industry pensions by ERISA were never placed on the Social Security/FICA programs. Not in the 1940's nor the 50's nor any time since. This was never an investment program and the much alluded to "trust fund" never existed. ...you just thought it did.... answers 2:I see your point and agree with you 100%. But in order to get your point accross people must understand the difference between the wording of Cocial Security Insurance (Which is wha it is) vs. Social Security Benefit.Insurance- Insurance is a form of risk management primarily used to hedge against the risk of a contingent, uncertain loss. Insurance is defined as the equitable transfer of the risk of a loss, from one entity to another, in exchange for payment.Benefits- As described as Employee Benefits: various non-wage compensations provided to employees in addition to their normal wages or salaries. In instances where an employee exchanges (cash) wages for some other form of benefit is generally referred to as a 'salary packaging' or 'salary exchange' arrangement. In most countries, most kinds of employee benefits are taxable to at least some degree.Examples of these benefits include: housing (employer-provided or employer-paid), group insurance (health, dental, life etc.), disability income protection, retirement benefits, daycare, tuition reimbursement, sick leave, vacation (paid and non-paid), social security, profit sharing, funding of education, and other specialized benefits.As Described as WELFARE BENEFITS: Welfare may be provided directly by governments or their agencies, by private organizations, or by a combination.Welfare may be funded by governments out of general revenue, typically by way of redistributive taxation. Social insurance-type Welfare schemes are funded on a contributory basis by the members of the scheme. Contributions may be pooled to fund the scheme as a whole, or reserved for the benefit of a particular member. Participation in such schemes is either compulsory, or the program is subsidized heavily enough that most eligible individuals choose to participate.Examples of social insurance programs include the Social Security and Medicare programs in the United States.Read into it and decide which way is the correct way.... answers 3:Not quite.Social Security is a Ponzi scheme legitimized by FDR.The government takes money from some people and gives it to other people.You do not get your own money back. Your money goes to somebody else.Then you are left to HOPE that when your time comes to retire, other people's money will be given to you.Your annual Social Security notice says this clearly. You do not have an account balance. All current benefits are paid out of current payroll withholdings from other people.The ONLY material difference between Social Security and Madoff's Ponzi scheme is that participation in Social Security is COMPULSORY. They take the money out of your pay before you even get it. With Madoff's scheme, participation was voluntary.Social Security is WORSE than a Ponzi scheme because the government FORCES you into it. You have no choice. So any other difference is immaterial.I hope FDR is burning in Hell for the things he did.... answers 4:we need an organization to advocate for fixing this Social security problem. We have paid in money for years and the government has robbed from the fund for years. Lets start an organization to stand up for retirees rights answers 5:@ brenton s. You are one of those liberals that only believe what your liberal handlers tell you to believe, right? answers 6:@ David F. When I started paying into SS, back in the 1940's, people as a whole, even our government were at least half way honest people. It all started to go wrong when our government found out they could dip into this fund anything they wanted, for any reason they thought up, now the government believes this to be their money. answers 7:@ brenton s. You are one of those liberals that only believe what your liberal handlers tell you to believe, right? answers 8:The answer is the Federal Reserve. The main issue is with our money itself. Its no longer technically our cash. All US bucks are technically the property of the Federal Reserve and we're only "entitled" to the money that we posses. As long as we still have a Federal Reserve system, we are prone to this style of subjectitude. answers 9:First, of all your post is internet spam that mathematically and historically wrong. Payroll taxes are 15.3% of wages, but only 10.6% of it goes to Social Security. It ignores inflation not to mention common sense.Second, you may have 'paid' for Social Security, but you only paid a fraction of the cost. If you started work in the 1940s about 1/4th of your check is what you paid, and the rest of it is welfare - you are welcome.Third, the politicians that you voted for weren't honest. They left you with the impression that you were 'paying' for your benefits. The Social Security Administration testified repeatedly that you should have paid 3 times more than you did. The difference was parked on your grandchildren.... answers 10:Your being hysterical..There is actually a Earned Income..portion on the IRS Form../ answers 11:Your right, it is an earned income. Progressive politicians have never suggested otherwise. But to the GOP, this is an entitlement and subject to cuts. They have even suggested making SS private and allow private banks to manage the fund. We know how well banks handle other peoples money don’t we? For these reasons, I have never understood why those who live in retirement vote Republican. They are voting for the very same people who want to cut or privatize their benefits, it makes no sense....