Day: January 17, 2025

Social Security Changes To Come

I am an retired senior and I try to keep my fellow retirees abreast of any changes to come to their retirement.

This is about some of the ‘promises’ that Trump made to senior citizens…changes that sound good but are they?

The big one is that he wants to eliminate the income tax on benefits….sounds on the surface like a great idea but in the long run is it as good as it sounds?

During his presidential campaign, Donald Trump signaled support for ending the decades-long practice of taxing Social Security benefits on several occasions. “Seniors should not pay tax on Social Security,” Trump asserted on his social media platform in July. He then repeated the proposal in August during an interview with Fox.

Trump will return to the White House later this month, and many Social Security recipients are undoubtedly hoping the president-elect can make good on his proposal. But ending the taxation of Social Security benefits may actually be bad news for retired workers. Read on to learn more.

The Social Security trust fund holds money used to pay benefits. The asset reserves in the trust fund fell by 45% between 1974 and 1983 because of a growing imbalance in Social Security beneficiaries and taxpayers supporting program. In other words, the cost of paying benefits was increasing more quickly than revenues from payroll taxes.

Congress approved sweeping changes in 1983 to fix the financing problem, and one of those changes made Social Security subject to federal income tax. Initially, seniors with a combined income above a certain level owed taxes on 50% of benefits. But legislation approved in 1993 added a second combined income threshold, above which 85% of benefits were taxable.

Combined income is defined as adjusted gross income (AGI) plus nontaxable interest plus one-half of Social Security benefits. The chart below shows the taxable portion of Social Security benefits at different combined income levels based on filing status.

https://www.fool.com/retirement/2025/01/07/social-security-change-donald-trump-bad-news-retir/

This one move could possible truly bankrupt the program for good….maybe that is what they want.

To reiterate…..

We’re just days away from a second Trump administration entering the White House, and like all political transitions, we can expect changes once he takes office. Some of the most interesting ones for retirees could be those related to Social Security.

The program is in danger of benefit cuts in about a decade, and many people are disappointed with the way its buying power has declined over the years. While it may not be the most important issue on Trump’s agenda, he’s made a few comments about changes he’d like to make that could directly or indirectly affect Social Security. Here’s a look at three of the most significant and how they could affect seniors.

https://www.fool.com/retirement/2025/01/13/ways-donald-trump-may-change-social-security/

If he gets his way big changes are coming for the retirees, most of whom voted for the person that will screw them the hardest…..

Markets reacted strongly to the reelection of Donald Trump. In the week that followed Nov. 5, the S&P 500 was up about 3.7%. While the likely economic impact of all of Trump’s campaign promises is mixed, the stock market appears to believe that Trump will follow through with those that boost business, like cutting corporate taxes, while not following through with potentially damaging promises like hiking trade tariffs.

How this plays out will have broad implications in the lives of all Americans, but for the millions of Americans who are retired or will soon be so, Donald Trump’s Social Security plans could have an even bigger impact. The program is already on a path toward financial distress, but according to a recent analysis by the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget (CRFB), many of the proposals put forth on the campaign trail by the President-elect could exacerbate the issues. First, however, let’s take a look at the state of the program.

https://www.fool.com/retirement/2025/01/13/president-elect-donald-trumps-social-security-plan/

The problem with financing the social security program has a an easy fix….everybody pays the same deductions with no cut-off point.

Easy peasy …..but billionaires do not like that idea and we know no matter who is in the White House billionaires always get what they want.

Time will tell just what damage will be done to our retired seniors in the coming years.

I hope you can live with the choice you made…..

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

No Accountability

For years I have been preaching that the War Department is in the pockets of special interests and that this organization pisses away more money than any other…..we hear about all the money that is supposedly mismanaged by other offices but very few in Congress have anything to say about the Pentagon.

With the rise of food costs, healthcare sucks, that Congress does not want to tackle they instead reward the War department with a huge budget after it has failed numerous audits.

Despite the Pentagon’s repeated failures to pass audits and various alarming policies, 81 Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives voted with 200 Republicans on Wednesday to advance a $883.7 billion annual defense package.

The Servicemember Quality of Life Improvement and National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2025, unveiled by congressional negotiators this past Saturday, still needs approval from the Senate, which is expected to vote next week. U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said Wednesday that he plans to vote no and spoke out against the military-industrial complex.

The push to pass the NDAA comes as this congressional session winds down and after the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) announced last month that it had failed yet another audit—which several lawmakers highlighted after the Wednesday vote.

Reps. Mark Pocan (D-Wis.) and Barbara Lee (D-Calif.), co-chairs and co-founders of the Defense Spending Reduction Caucus, said in a joint statement, “Time and time again, Congress seems to be able to find the funds necessary to line the pockets of defense contractors while neglecting the problems everyday Americans face here at home.”

“Instead of fighting the rising cost of healthcare, gas, or groceries, this Congress prioritized rewarding the wealthy and well-connected military-industrial complex with even more unaccountable funds,” they continued. “After a seventh failed audit in a row, it’s disappointing that our amendment to hold the Pentagon accountable by penalizing the DOD’s budget by 0.5% for each failed audit was stripped out of the final bill. It’s time Congress demanded accountability from the Pentagon.”

https://www.commondreams.org/news/ndaa-2025

With Trump we have 2 czars of spending reduction….does this mean the Pentagon will finally be held accountable? 

HAHA!

Not in this lifetime!

Some bitch and moan about all those people getting benefits from the government as a way to piss needed money away and yet could care less that the War Department pisses away money by the buckets full.  Why is that?

Something needs doing to rein the defense spending….but that will be for another Congress down the road.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”