Social security

[BlueMarkOhio]

Social Security is not a 401K. It is insurance with a retirement benefit.

 

[user 37446]

I've deleted a few posts. Please avoid political discussion and bickering.

Please pm me and advise what was political about my deleted post so I can learn what is acceptable.
Thank you

 

[eDJ_]

I saw this in Yahoo News:

An Average American Income may not Cut it Anymore

A Nomad's cost of living may be quite different than the suburban Middle Class home/auto owner. Then this may be why so many Americans are turning to RV Full Time life and expatriate consumerism. Unfortunately for Business & Industry these mobile workers may travel far and wide to find the incomes and quality of life "they" need to live well without all the baggage the more submissive "Job Men & Women" have to carry while working in their office dungeons.

As my father used to say to me when I was in school, "Son, some of the most important life shaping decisions you will be called on to make will come to you at an age when you are least qualified to make them". (your career track, education for it, marriage, having a family, purchasing a home, car, even a divorce settlement/child support & a better remarriage to name only a few) Dad's career required a lot of travel and he lamented only getting home occasionally for short bits of time. Still he felt it was better than
the lives so many office workers lived for 35 to 40+ years to get one last pat on the head and a gold watch. But the sacrifice earned big money for him. He felt he had more autonomy, got to travel & see the country, take photos and films of places he visited, had an expense account so he could enjoy fine dining all as part of his job. He dabbled with being a part time Nomad while Mom was teaching school and looking for summers off so they could travel together in his RV. He wasn't so worried about Social Security like so many other office workers at his Corporation.

 

[user 37446]

This issue wont involve most readers but it did negatively affect me.

I taught for 6 years in Tx public schools and the school districts had some agreement that they don't contribute towards SS. I wasn't aware of that until the second year. So, I lost out on those contributions and ended up lowering my SS. Oops.

A portion of an article from AARP (May 26, 2021):
“According to Social Security Administration (SSA) data, 89 percent of U.S. workers ages 21 to 64 are in "covered" employment, meaning they pay into the Social Security system via payroll or self-employment taxes. But there are groups of “non-covered” employees. These include:

• Some state, county and municipal employees, who are covered by state-funded pension plans rather than Social Security.
• Employees of the U.S. government who were hired before 1984, the year federal agencies came under the Social Security umbrella. These longtime federal employees get pensions under the old Civil Service Retirement System.
• Railroad employees, who are covered by a separate pension system that came into being in the 1930s, around the same time as Social Security.“ (end of copied extract)

Thankfully I got back into paying into SS when I returned to Az. Don't know how much that 6 year hiatus dropped my check but now I wish I’d not done so.

Moral of the story- be aware of what you are doing financially, especially when it concerns your future.

 

[RvNaut]

I quoted text form the original SS bill and a post with the history of the SS program.. they were deleted for being political...

.. I give up and am going away.

 

[john*thomas]

I quoted text form the original SS bill and a post with the history of the SS program.. they were deleted for being political...

.. I give up and am going away.

Just to note, I do not know your specifics but at times a perfectly fine reply will get deleted because it is quoting one that was not. No way to not delete both.

 

[RonDean]

I don't know if this is the proper thread for this statement, but I do wonder sometimes about where the political red line is. Even the term "political" ... should we be saying "partisan"? Or argumentative instead? Does it matter if we post and label something as opinion vs. claiming it is "fact" without evidence?

For myself I usually understand why the moderators need to cut certain threads off. Today's society makes it difficult to have actual discussions about some issues. I wish this were not so. I have occasionally managed to discuss politics and religion and other sensitive subjects with people that I absolutely disagree with. And occasionally one or both of us might have reached a broader understanding, even if our original stance remained unchanged.

Like RvNaut, I had my post(s) deleted and left for many months in protest. After a time, I realized I was only punishing myself. Agree or disagree with them, here is where my peeps reside. So, I came back. I hope he does as well.

 

[Carla618]

Does it matter if we post and label something as opinion vs. claiming it is "fact" without evidence?

Would improve political type topics for me, IF people did it. I doubt they will stop posting opinion as fact, though. Especially opinions as facts sans links.

 

[rvwandering]

We really don't want to delete posts however discussing politics usually causes arguments and to keep the forum peaceful and civil the moderators have no choice but to delete. Sometimes posts are deleted because they are in the middle of an argument and don't make sense on their own.
Here are a couple of links with the rules of the forum as decided by Bob Wells and Suanne Carlson. Although neither of them is involved with the forum anymore we still follow their guidelines.

Political posts: https://vanlivingforum.com/threads/no-political-posts-allowed.6465/#pid72917
Rules of the Forum: https://vanlivingforum.com/threads/the-rules-of-the-forum-february-2014.6554/

 

[user 37446]

I will say that I have looked at some other forums in the past (marine, rv, solar, homesteading/off grid living etc) and can say that this the most civil forum of them all. Without a doubt the rv ones are the worst I’ve seen.

 

[RonDean]

Moderators - et. al...
I wonder if some such discussions could be allowed if everyone remained civil AND presented factual links instead of just spouting opinion? Or allow it until someone complained? Probably too much to ask, but I would welcome some loosening of our rules if we could do so and remain somewhat polite to one another.

 

[Morgana]

Respectfully disagreeing with @RonDean on this -- things seem to get pretty heated already sometimes before the moderators step in. Of course, what seems pretty heated to me might seem mild to the next guy, and vice versa.

If I were to have one wish, it would be that the small minority who constantly push the limits on this would cut it the heck out. Less work for the mods and less aggro for the rest of us when we get caught in the backwash in one of the grey areas.

In other words I am kind of wishywashily both advocating the opposite of RonDean and saying I can see his point.

We have 5,000,005 places we can go to express political opinions and only 1 of this special place. It's a miracle in 2023 to have people with such differences still getting along. Let's keep it that way.

 

[LargeMarge]

... Let's keep it that way.

.
Ouch!
That hurt!
I feel scolded by the hall-monitor!
.
Please, re-phrase as an 'I' statement.

 

[Morgana]

Not a chance. I meant every word.

I didn't name any names. If the shoe fits, wear it; if it doesn't, don't.

 

[RonDean]

Respectfully disagreeing with @RonDean on this -- things seem to get pretty heated already sometimes before the moderators step in. Of course, what seems pretty heated to me might seem mild to the next guy, and vice versa.

If I were to have one wish, it would be that the small minority who constantly push the limits on this would cut it the heck out. Less work for the mods and less aggro for the rest of us when we get caught in the backwash in one of the grey areas.

In other words I am kind of wishywashily both advocating the opposite of RonDean and saying I can see his point.

We have 5,000,005 places we can go to express political opinions and only 1 of this special place. It's a miracle in 2023 to have people with such differences still getting along. Let's keep it that way.

Morgana.
OK. Heard and understood. I'll try not to push the boundaries.

 

[SLB_SA]

This article, Proposed Social Security Cuts Could Cause Retirement Turmoil, discusses a proposal to eliminate the SS COLA, means test (in some manner) benefits and raise the full retirement age. It offers suggestions like work longer, downsize (dwelling/house), diversify assets, create a budget, reduce expenses and inform your legislators in Congress of your opinion(s). I imagine the nomad community will (greatly) expand if this proposal is enacted. Would there be "room" for a few million additional nomads?

 

[Carla618]

This article, Proposed Social Security Cuts Could Cause Retirement Turmoil, discusses a proposal to eliminate the SS COLA, means test (in some manner) benefits and raise the full retirement age. It offers suggestions like work longer, downsize (dwelling/house), diversify assets, create a budget, reduce expenses and inform your legislators in Congress of your opinion(s). I imagine the nomad community will (greatly) expand if this proposal is enacted. Would there be "room" for a few million additional nomads?

Your article is from Wealth of Geeks. I did a search for "Social Security Cuts" in the news and came up empty. You have another current link?

 

[SLB_SA]

Your article is from Wealth of Geeks. I did a search for "Social Security Cuts" in the news and came up empty. You have another current link?

Fox 8 News had an article titled Proposed Social Security cuts: The impact on Baby boomers and Gen X-ers with Wealth of Geeks as the origin.
Here is an article by the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College which discusses the proposal. Here is a Yahoo Finance article on the proposal.

 

[tx2sturgis]

Friendly reminder guys and gals, we never 'want' to delete anything but sometimes the line gets crossed, and we need to.

The topic of Social Security is so deeply embedded in our political system that it's easy to cross the line into political statements and opinions that are demeaning (intentional or not) of the 'other' party.

Remember that no matter what party you are aligned with, you cannot disparage the 'other' political party on this forum. We have members of all political persuasions and we respect them all here.

Many of us are highly dependent on Social Security benefits and so we would like to keep the discussion about this topic interesting and productive....

Help us do that, OK?

Thanks.

 

[Carla618]

Fox 8 News had an article titled Proposed Social Security cuts: The impact on Baby boomers and Gen X-ers with Wealth of Geeks as the origin.
Here is an article by the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College which discusses the proposal. Here is a Yahoo Finance article on the proposal.

Sorry I didn't respond. I'll read the links soon