186
u/ConsequenceKindly134 1d ago
"We used to actually work for our money"
94
u/usnmustanger 1d ago
“And involuntarily paid into SS our entire working lives, so yeah, that money’s already ours, so to tell us we can’t have it is pretty F$%^ed up.”
70
u/Kilgore_Brown_Trout_ 1d ago
At age 40, Im paying for boomer retirements so that the Feds can cut SS when. I really need it in 20 years. Miss me with that shit.
→ More replies (6)→ More replies (1)17
u/Mr-A5013 1d ago
Which is why they are trying to riase taxes on young people: https://thehill.com/opinion/robbys-radar/6137086-social-security-generational-divide/
They paid into their PARENT'S genreation, not their own.
→ More replies (4)
40
u/FamiliarTaro7 1d ago
That ain't a hand out though. I get the idea here but they've been paying INTO social security for decades, and they were promised they'd get it back. It's literally their earned money...
→ More replies (6)14
u/CombatDork 1d ago
FORCED to pay into at a disgustingly bad return rate and the gov want to make the return rate EVEN WORSE!
→ More replies (1)14
u/Broncuhsaurus 1d ago edited 23h ago
That’s fine. If they up and stop it then everyone should be refunded every dollar they’ve bloated into it. That’s what you guys aren’t understanding. Some People have been paying into it for their entire life up to the time they quit working, over 50 years for a lot of them and just when it’s time to start getting some yall want to end it…if they stop it, that’s cool, but we need to get fuckin payed back.
8
u/Stunning-Chipmunk243 1d ago
Absolutely and if the government ever wants to FAFO they'll eliminate it and not pay anyone back because there is no law saying they have to. Personally I started working, paying taxes, and into social security at 12 years old and haven't stopped working the last 41 years. If it's not available to me and/or not paid back by the time I retire I will only say that I'll be extremely " not happy " and volunteering whatever I can do to help with the find out phase.
6
8
u/Dependent_Remove_326 1d ago
How does being forced into paying into a supposed trust fund asking for government handouts?
45
u/potentatewags 1d ago
Eh, but you've actually paid for social security. The reason there's threats of cuts is because the money was pulled out and given elsewhere.
It's essentially the same as if you paid for a private pension plan and then the company decided to take it and give it to the Board for bonuses and then said "sorry, somehow you just don't have your pension funds anymore."
23
u/kbeks 1d ago
Not quite, you paid for your dad’s social security check. The people paying for yours are entering the workforce now. Because social security started paying out immediately, that wasn’t the retiree’s money that was in there, it was everyone else’s. The formula is based on what you earn but it functions more like a pyramid scheme than a bank. It would have more longevity if it were a bank.
→ More replies (1)6
10
u/Arguments_4_Ever 1d ago
Everybody pays into all social benefits we get. That’s how taxes work…
→ More replies (1)7
u/Shut_It_Donny 1d ago
Ok, but SS was specifically paid for a specific reason.
The nebulous “taxes” you’re talking about go to all sorts of things, and you’re not told exactly what for when you pay it in.
SS is literally put this money in to cover retirement. So having it rug pulled is pretty shitty. SS money should have never been used for anything other than people’s retirement.
→ More replies (1)2
2
u/Silver_Middle_7240 1d ago
They really didn't, they paid into a program that provided significantly less than social security does now.
2
u/Dry_Celery4375 1d ago
Social security works with younger generations paying for older generations. Kinda like a pyramid scheme but only works with consistent population growth. The issue is that the us population is starting to plateau and younger generations are having difficulty finding work, and wealth generation. It's only gonna get worse per generation over the next 30 years.
→ More replies (1)→ More replies (1)4
u/Capable-Course-673 1d ago
Not adjusted for standard earnings over time. They paid in, they deserve to be paid out, just like everyone else who currently contributes.
2
u/Astra-Fang 1d ago
Right, but they are going out of their way to make sure we don’t get what we paid. Why should we care about them?
→ More replies (1)→ More replies (4)2
u/archercc81 1d ago
No, this is a lie, money was not taken out of it, that would literally require an act of congress.
What they did was roll it into the omnibus budget for a while to show how big govt really is but rolled that back.
And the only money used for anything else was the surpluses back when they existed and they were lent to the govt and paid back with interest at the end of the fiscal year, as the law required.
The issue is demographics changed and people lived longer and had fewer kids, its not built for the new reality.
5
u/ChaosAndFish 1d ago
Keep in mind most boomers will be dead before serious cuts happen. It’s about saving the program for the rest of us.
3
u/HUNT3DHUNT3R Like a boss 1d ago
but they have been siphoning exorbitant amounts from the funds, while telling younger generations to pull themselves up by the bootstraps and invest.
→ More replies (2)
6
u/KennethHaight 1d ago
What the hell is up with Reddit th past 5 days or so? It's gotten markedly worse with culture-war bullshit in loads of subs.
→ More replies (3)
5
16
u/OneAcadia5401 1d ago
Had the government invested the money taken for social security instead of robbing the system to pay for whatever they wanted this would not be an issue. All taxpayers have been betrayed by our government as they have allowed so much fraud to take place.
→ More replies (3)
14
u/HuckleberryOk8136 1d ago
Social security was paid into.
Welfare often was not.
6
u/ieatedcrayons 1d ago
Not only that but if you are young and on welfare you can get your shit together and get a job. if you are 80 and your body is breaking down there is no pulling up the boot straps and labroing your way to a better life. That ship has sailed
2
u/InterestingSpeaker 1d ago
Welfare is paid into with taxes just like social security.
→ More replies (3)
14
u/thestridereststrider 17h ago
Social security isn’t a handout they are literally giving your money back to you at rates that are significantly less than if they’d of put it in just market account
2
u/Free_Byrd6969 13h ago
Look up your social security statement, see how much you've paid in then figure out how many years you can draw according to the payment they've allotted you at certain ages. Most people draw out way more than they paid in. That's when it becomes welfare.
→ More replies (4)
35
u/Bikes-Bass-Beer 1d ago
Since when is Social Security a handout? People pay into it their whole career.
Reddit stupidity never disappoints
→ More replies (6)6
12
u/Ghost132022 1d ago
If you have paid into something throughout your life is it really a “handout”?
→ More replies (1)
4
5
u/SwooceBrosGaming 1d ago
There's not gonna be social security by the time gen z retires or they're gonna raise the age so high that everyone will die on the job before they collect
→ More replies (1)
24
u/Potential_Spam_6969 1d ago
https://giphy.com/gifs/UvwI1X7XkbXq0
Not even worth the explanation...
→ More replies (1)12
u/RemnantsOfFlight 1d ago
This is me on pretty much every political post on reddit. I start typing something, then I cancel out. 95% of the time i just get downvoted and called a bootlicker anyway.
18
u/MoxBro 1d ago edited 1d ago
Respectfully they were forced to pay into the system their whole lives, with the explicit assurance it would be returned.
If I could opt out of SS today I'd do it in a heartbeat, but until then that doesn't mean I'm not hoping to get something in return when I'm ready to retire.
4
u/ChaoticAmoebae 1d ago
We pay in to all tax funded services. There is no difference beyond feelings
→ More replies (6)1
u/Hunter042005 1d ago
Okay but there is a big difference between social security and people taking advantage of programs like welfare for one you have to pay into social security a part of your paycheck goes into social security specifically and there is no way of like opting out or getting rid of it which is different than tax funded welfare I personally am not a big fan of government handouts because of personal experience I have an aunt and her husband who both take advantage of disability, welfare and ebt she has every ability to work yet has never worked a full time job in her life she’s an alcoholic who has only worked part time at bars and her husband had a job yet he quit and claimed disability yet having nothing wrong with him outside of being very heavy set and the thing that irks me the most is her son who the only thing wrong with him is he has adhd and she claimed he had a multitude of disabilities to get money from that and now he is struggling to get a job cuz of that but people can easily take advantage of these programs which sucks.
→ More replies (5)2
u/Blitzer161 1d ago
Pal, the people who take advantage of welfare are very few ans they still need it anyway. You would prevent thousands from surviving because you want 10 people to be punished? Not very logical
→ More replies (2)2
u/FTC-1987 1d ago
Yeah, agreed. Apples and oranges here. Social security is not a handout. It’s a shitty 401k plan they were forced to partake it.
→ More replies (16)3
u/Mammoth_Tax_4995 1d ago
Social Security is expected to run out sooner rather then later you ain’t getting shit when you retire 😭😭
3
u/Ok_Two_2604 1d ago
But paying into it is better than jail. Tell the IRS to sit and spin and see what happens.
2
u/Broncuhsaurus 1d ago
We know brother, they’ve been telling us since before we even knew what it was.
→ More replies (3)2
u/Stricken_Conscience 1d ago
It's paying out more than it's taking in. That's a problem (and needs to be fixed). But the Social Security program isn't going away, because Social Security taxes will continue to be taken from workers' earnings. A more likely outcome is that benefits would be reduced, but there would still be something for future generations (because they're still collecting out of one hand and paying out of the other, all along).
7
u/StrikeronPC 1d ago
Boomers would love to cut social security, for everyone who's supposed to get it after boomers. That's their whole schtick, pulling up ladders behind them
→ More replies (4)2
7
u/GoldenGlobeWinnerRDJ 18h ago
Tbf boomers have been paying for social security for 50+ years. Not really a handout from the government at that point.
7
u/izwiz2003 17h ago
Self employed person here.
I have to pay 15% of my gross income into Social Security. So yeah, it better be there when I retire.
→ More replies (2)
73
u/Parker1055 1d ago
Social security isn’t a handout
→ More replies (22)40
u/fnordybiscuit 1d ago
If we define social security not being a handout since it's a tax from your paycheck which you eventually receive when you retire, would we consider medicare to not being a handout as well? In fact, any program you pay via taxes in order to receive said services in the future depending on your life circumstances.... are they not handouts in that sense?
In other words, how do you define between which services are handouts and which ones are not? This is a genuine question.
6
u/Plus-King5266 1d ago
OP says welfare, not Medicare. Welfare covers an extremely broad range of services and payouts for an extremely broad cross-section of people —and yes, Medicare is among those services. While there have been a few crackpot congressmen who have advocated cutting out all welfare programs, most have not been Boomers (contrary to popular belief, a Boomer is not anyone over thirty-five) and the rest of Congress doesn’t not take them seriously. Congress has never voted to cut out all welfare and no bill to do so has ever made it to a vote to my knowledge. I don’t even think they’ve made it into committee, let alone out.
→ More replies (2)→ More replies (5)-4
u/Rubes2525 1d ago
In other words, how do you define between which services are handouts and which ones are not? This is a genuine question.
Depends on who is receiving the services.
Jobless losers who never paid taxes in their life? Handouts.
People who works/worked an honest living and has part of their income carved out by taxes? Not handouts.→ More replies (1)8
u/spiral8888 1d ago
What about the people in the middle? Say, you work and pay taxes for 10 years, then are made redundant and go to collect unemployment payment. Is that a handout or not?
If yes, then what's the difference to the social security? (I'm not an American so I had to Google and it says that you have to work for 10 years to qualify for Social Security. So, 10 years out of, say 40 years of active life. Doesn't sound so much).
If not, then how do you distinguish people who qualify for the same benefits? Is the same benefit at the same time a handout and not a handout?
→ More replies (1)
10
u/sailerman1963 1d ago
Social Security isn’t welfare. Boomers paid into it far more than they’ll ever take out.
→ More replies (1)
19
u/Smilesrck 1d ago
Nah OP your right social security is a government mandated scam and no generation wants to be the one left holding the bag after paying into it for so long.
5
→ More replies (4)11
7
u/thagor5 1d ago
Social security is not a hand out. I have been paying into it for 40 years
→ More replies (1)
5
u/BeenThruIt 1d ago
Forced to pay, worst ROI available, and now mfers want to keep it.
Who can blame them?
5
u/ReanimatedPixels 1d ago
OP does not understand things like they think they do. This would be more applicable to farmers in the US right now tbh
8
u/BxAnnie 1d ago
Do you not know where Social Security money comes from?
My god, apparently ALL children have been left behind.
1
u/wiserone29 1d ago edited 20h ago
It sounds like you don’t know where comes from. It doesn’t come from the boomers savings, it comes from people working today.
→ More replies (1)
8
u/fart_ganja 1d ago
Social security ISNT WELFARE. We all pay into it with every paycheck. If you believe social security is welfare you're being sold and buying lies.
3
u/TheGipper80 1d ago edited 1d ago
Not a boomer but I can’t really blame anyone for expecting social security to be there after being forced into the program, having their money automatically seized, and then still getting back a fraction of what they could’ve earned on the open market.
I don’t know if it’ll be there when I retire and I’m trying to plan for it both ways but most boomers have put in their time and rely on the disbursements for their daily bills. And many couldn’t do any meaningful work anymore even if they wanted to.
I’d be all for an opt out option or a means to invest SS in some type of market fund but trying to create a generation of starving, homeless elderly people ain’t the answer.
3
u/Nudgesicle 1d ago
Even better: Tell them that Medicare is socialism and that the govt should just give old people like $5k a year to buy private insurance so the free market can work out for them!
3
3
u/TheBionicCrusader Pro Gamer 1d ago
I really wish there was a way to opt out of social security. I hate paying into a system that’s not going to be there for me while lining the pockets of people with net worths in the millions.
12
8
u/burtono6 1d ago
I’ve paid into SS for 22 years. I’m 38 years old, and will likely continue to pay into it for another 15 years. Will I get any of that back? It’s not looking likely.
→ More replies (1)
6
u/ScottaHemi 1d ago
they've payed into it their entire lives though.
and the system is breaking down... and no one is allowed to touch address or try to fix it. Bush mentioned it like 26 years ago and people freaked out. it's only gotten worse sense then...
7
u/JacksonGhost1963 1d ago
if you are 65 collecting social security, there is a good chance you - and your employer,, have paying into it for 47 years! not quite a hand out!
7
u/fostertheatom Earl 1d ago
I mean, in this case I kind of understand them. This isn't a handout, they have paid 6.2% of their total wages for their entire life. They have maybe 10-20 years of good life where they don't have to spend half of it working, and if they lose Social Security a lot of them are going to be destitute because they spent their entire lives planning their retirement around it.
Comparing them to handouts is kinda apples to oranges.
→ More replies (1)
6
u/Low_Wall_7828 1d ago
Social Security is not welfare, it’s something you pay into when you start working.
8
u/Frostedfires 15h ago
Two totally different things. One is a freebie and one is something you’ve been paying towards your whole life…
→ More replies (7)1
u/SuggestionRare4128 13h ago
If the freebie handouts are paid by taxes then everyone is getting what they paid in as well?
→ More replies (1)4
u/Huntsman077 13h ago
Except the people that receive welfare pay essentially zero income taxes.
→ More replies (3)
32
u/Speedy89t 1d ago
Almost like they should get back the money that the government stole from them and promised back.
13
28
u/Firm-Cause2449 1d ago
If youre under the impression taxes = the government stealing from you, then youre welcome to move to any country that doesnt have taxes. They tend to be so developed and successful
→ More replies (3)3
u/leekee_bum 1d ago
That's not how social security works. The money doesn't just sit in a vault, it is actively used. Social security is paid for by the people that are currently working and the same goes for you when you retire.
→ More replies (3)14
u/Mr-A5013 1d ago
No, they are just taking money from young people https://thehill.com/opinion/robbys-radar/6137086-social-security-generational-divide/
6
u/sm753 1d ago
Yes...that's how that works. And they paid for the generation before them. Any more questions?
→ More replies (3)→ More replies (8)10
u/usnmustanger 1d ago
Your link is an opinion piece that categorizes social security as “welfare payments”. So it lends no credibility to your argument.
→ More replies (1)→ More replies (6)1
u/LimitAlternative2081 1d ago
Almost like the boomers are the reason the economy is set up this way. And will prevent future generations from collecting even though we also pay into it...
→ More replies (2)
5
8
9
5
3
u/OnCallPartisan 1d ago edited 1d ago
Are you advocating for the destruction of Social Security? That program you pay into with every single check?
It’s literally your fucking money so any clown talking about ’cuts‘ is spewing magat talking points. There should never be cuts.
3
u/irish_faithful 1d ago
Social Security is not welfare. You paid into it your whole life. Frankly, I wish they'd do away with it entirely. Let me invest my own money and be responsible for my own retirement.
3
u/Mr_Lumbergh (⊃｡•́‿•̀｡)⊃ 1d ago
It’s not a handout, it’s an earned benefit program. They just want the money back they put into it.
4
u/soap---poisoning 1d ago
Imagine not understanding the difference between an earned benefit and a handout.
9
u/DukeOfDisorder 1d ago
And while we're at it we can scrap Medicaid, Medicare, all interstate funding can be replaced with private toll roads, remove all federal funding to schools, basically anything to the people can be removed because fuck "handouts". Just think of all the extra money we could "invest" into businesses that politicians definitely aren't attached to, plus all the extra bombs we could drop on those filthy desert people. Fucking children, man.
Providing for the general welfare of the population is in the goddamn preamble of the Consitution, it's the first fucking sentence!!
→ More replies (3)
2
u/JohnBGaming 1d ago
We really should just scrap it entirely right now. The current demographic of people pulling from it on average is doing better than other generations before and after them, and taking money from a smaller population of less well off working people to give to a larger, generally well-off non-contributing population isn't sustainable or fiscally responsible.
→ More replies (9)
2
u/Loominardy 1d ago
Crazy how the economic opinions of this subreddit turn towards free markets when they are framed in a way as being anti-old people.
2
13
u/Wait_here_me_out 1d ago
We worked for thos money. I paid into it.
8
u/IncreaseOld7112 1d ago
The money that you paid into it is almost gone. The trust is almost depleted. That money is just a wealth transfer from the young to the old.
→ More replies (3)1
4
u/maximumbob54 20h ago
Social security. The thing systematically stealing from you your whole life. And then anyone is shocked they are pissed when they get jack back in return and instead see tax dollars handed out left and right. Can’t imagine why they’d be pissed. Meanwhile I’m in the age group that has been paying in there whole life and is just hoping it still exists when it’s my turn and hasn’t been misspent into oblivion.
→ More replies (1)
3
u/FormerStuff 1d ago
I’ve completely given up hope of ever receiving social security benefits by the time I can retire. It will be pilfered into nothingness by our government “servants”.
2
4
u/jeffvillone 1d ago
Boomers? Maybe they can be called out for this. They paid in some but benefited from the buy a car for a $1000 and a house for $35,000 era.
Now Gen X and all generations beyond?
Hell no, this joke is misapplied. We paid a significant percentage into social security from every paycheck we ever earned. And houses in the 90's were much more expensive for us than our parents.
4
u/Silentlaughter84 1d ago
I'm so happy to see that this post didn't go the way that OP had hoped it would. Unlike welfare, social security is paid into by yourself, not off of other people's taxes.
→ More replies (1)
2
u/traveler-traveler 1d ago
I’m still many years away from retirement, but if you don’t understand that Social Security is literally money that was stolen from people over their entire lifetime, and they’re simply asking for it back. You’re too uninformed to post on Reddit.
2
u/necessarysmartassery 1d ago
Social security isn't a handout, but it shouldn't exist, either.
→ More replies (17)2
3
u/genesis214 21h ago
Social Security and Welfare are NOT the same thing 😂. One I pay into and use for retirement, the other gets used by people who don’t work.
→ More replies (4)
4
u/A_normal_Potato3 1d ago
Is this an US-American joke that I have good social programs to understand?
You can cut social security?
→ More replies (1)4
u/eggplant_avenger 1d ago
if it helps, what Andy Burnham wants to do with the UK state pension would be considered cutting social security in the US
4
u/ObsoleteManX 1d ago
Because you pay into Social Security you don’t for welfare. I’m not sure how you can’t tell the difference. Personally I would rather keep and invest it.
6
u/DeadAndBuried23 18h ago
Oh you're one of those clowns who thinks people on welfare don't have jobs or pay taxes.
→ More replies (3)2
u/bonghumper 16h ago
Well if I had the choice, the majority of my tax dollars would go to welfare, not bombing children's schools and hospitals, then having to fund the welfare programs to take care of the vets that were damaged for life after having to kill women, children and non-combatants
3
u/Rizzmaster_Supreme 20h ago
Well actually other people pay into on your behalf. Boomers have on average paid in the least in real dollar terms
5
u/HowDidWeGetHereLast 1d ago
Asking for a hand out at working age while contributing nothing to society is not the same and working and paying into something for your entire working career and then not receiving it back like the government promised.
→ More replies (1)12
u/Shucknutsfrommouthty 1d ago
Which is exactly what is happening to young people, and is the point of this post.
→ More replies (3)
2
u/bellerinho 1d ago
Both things in the meme are bad
Social security is an absolute necessity as most of the workforce beyond a certain age simply can't do even basic work tasks. Cutting social security is brainless
Cutting money from the feds starts with the ridiculous military budget and should also extend to the healthcare industry. Ironically the idea of a Department of Government Efficiency is good, it's just that the people in charge of it were fucking morons and politically motivated to cut anything they didn't like
The money is there for social security AND better benefits for younger people, it's just not being used properly
2
2
u/mckenzie_keith 1d ago
They paid into social security their entire working life. So they believe it would be a violation to cut it. They do not see it as akin to welfare. Surely you understand this?
2
u/GeniusEE 1d ago
I put in a surplus.
The money was stolen.
It needs to be put back.
Removing the income cap on contributions fixes the problem on the right people (the ones who stole the money).
2
u/Iron-Bar-1966 1d ago
That's because we were FORCED to pay into the fucking system. There was nothing voluntary about it.
→ More replies (1)
2
u/Dillenger69 Number 15 1d ago
Social Security isn't a handout. I've been paying into it since 1985.
→ More replies (7)
2
3
u/Gazas_trip 1d ago
Most people would have been better off keeping the money they paid into SS and investing it instead.
4
u/Arguments_4_Ever 1d ago
Yeah but most people don’t do that, which is why we have to have SS. This significantly lowers elderly poverty rate because the human condition is to not save.
→ More replies (1)→ More replies (11)5
u/Affectionate-Area659 1d ago
The problem is most wouldn’t. They would squander it and have nothing when it comes to retirement.
→ More replies (2)
2
u/porkchop2022 1d ago
Also boomers: need to increase the tax so it doesn’t go broke while we’re alive.
→ More replies (4)
2
u/sm753 1d ago
Alright, looking through the comments.
OP has never had a job where social security was taken out of his paycheck. This is why he believes it's a "hand out". Yes, it's a handout if you've never paid in. Yes, you are not getting "your own" money back...we pay for boomers. Boomers paid for the generation before them. That's kind of how the whole system works.
In 2030+, the fund for social security is supposed to run out of money. However, that is not the same as "social security goes away". Under the current law, social security is only allowed to pay out as much money as it takes in...best estimates are that social security benefits will be cut by roughly 25% across the board when that happens if Congress does nothing - which they almost certainly will because boomers vote more than the younger generations.
→ More replies (10)
1
u/NewryBenson 1d ago
I don't get it. Why do they think they pay taxes? As a donation to the rich? Why would anyone pay taxes if it was not for that value in some way to make it back to them.
1
u/Ok-Protection-4003 1d ago
Funny how ‘pull yourself up by your bootstraps’ ends the moment the monthly check is on the line.
1
1
u/Agreatusername68 1d ago
Either pay social security properly, or cut it and refund every red cent thats been taken from taxpayers throughout their entire working lives.
There is no in-between.
1
u/masterofmayhem13 1d ago
Social security isn't exactly welfare. Workers pay into social security during their years working. It isn't the "boomers" fault the retirement system they paid into was mismanaged by the federal government. Yes, we all pay taxes. Social security is a separate fund from a special tax collected.
1
u/SuperCrappyFuntime 1d ago
Same with farmers. They move those farm bailouts, but sure do hate welfare.
1
u/Carbonated-Man 1d ago
The biggest problem with it is that the government keeps taking money away from it to pay into other things. Acting like a rainy day piggy bank. But the whole point of it is supposed to be that they take it away from us and start returning it to us when/if it's needed.
As long as they keep dipping in to it, the overall amount stored is going to run dry. If they just leave it tf alone like they're supposed the system would work as it was originally intended to.
1
u/DeadAndBuried23 18h ago
Personally I'm gonna do the right thing and end myself before I become a burden on society. Possibly sooner.
1
u/despeRAWd0 16h ago
It's not just Boomers. You better believe when us millennials get to that age we will fight for our social security checks, since we had to fucking pay into it our whole lives.
1
u/KnuckleMonkey_782 9h ago
This would be a good argument if the Boomers didn't pay into Social Security
498
u/D33GS 1d ago
I’m positive that when I go to retire Social Security will not be there for me. If you’re a millennial or a zoomer best get comfortable with that and start saving accordingly.