Social Security not deal it once was for workers

(AP) WASHINGTON - People retiring today are part of the first generation of workers who have paid more in Social Security taxes during their careers than they will receive in benefits after they retire. It's a historic shift that will only get worse for future retirees, according to an analysis by The Associated Press.

Previous generations got a much better bargain, mainly because payroll taxes were very low when Social Security was enacted in the 1930s and remained so for decades.

"For the early generations, it was an incredibly good deal," said Andrew Biggs, a former deputy Social Security commissioner who is now a scholar at the American Enterprise Institute. "The government gave you free money and getting free money is popular."

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If you retired in 1960, you could expect to get back seven times more in benefits than you paid in Social Security taxes, and more if you were a low-income worker, as long you made it to age 78 for men and 81 for women.

As recently as 1985, workers at every income level could retire and expect to get more in benefits than they paid in Social Security taxes, though they didn't do quite as well as their parents and grandparents.

Not anymore.

A married couple retiring last year after both spouses earned average lifetime wages paid about $598,000 in Social Security taxes during their careers. They can expect to collect about $556,000 in benefits, if the man lives to 82 and the woman lives to 85, according to a 2011 study by the Urban Institute, a Washington think tank.

Social Security benefits are progressive, so most low-income workers retiring today still will get slightly more in benefits than they paid in taxes. Most high-income workers started getting less in benefits than they paid in taxes in the 1990s, according to data from the Social Security Administration.

The shift among middle-income workers is happening just as millions of baby boomers are reaching retirement, leaving relatively fewer workers behind to pay into the system. It's coming at a critical time for Social Security, the federal government's largest program.

The trustees who oversee Social Security say its funds, which have been built up over the past 30 years with surplus payroll taxes, will run dry in 2033 unless Congress acts. At that point, payroll taxes would provide enough revenue each year to pay about 75 percent of benefits.

To cover the shortfall, future retirees probably will have to pay higher taxes while they are working, accept lower benefits after they retire, or some combination of both.

"Future generations are going to do worse because either they are going to get fewer benefits or they are going to pay higher taxes," said Eugene Steuerle, a former Treasury official who has studied the issue as a fellow at the Urban Institute.

How can you get a better return on your Social Security taxes?

Live longer. Benefit estimates are based on life expectancy. For those turning 65 this year, Social Security expects women to live 20 more years and men to live 17.8 more.

But returns alone don't fully explain the value of Social Security, which has features that aren't available in typical private-sector retirement plans, said David Certner, legislative policy director for AARP.

Spouses can get benefits even if they never earned wages. Children can get benefits if they have a working parent who dies. People who are too disabled to work can get benefits for life.

Because of spousal benefits, most married couples with only one wage earner will continue to get more in benefits than they pay in taxes for the foreseeable future.

"You are buying this lifetime inflation-protected benefit that you can never run out of and that will always be there for you," Certner said. "It protects your spouse, protects your family and protects you from disability."

Certner noted that private pensions, retirement savings and home values took a big hit when the economy collapsed, putting a dent in the retirement plans of many Americans.

"When you have that combination of factors, Social Security becomes more and more important," Certner said. Social Security is financed by a 12.4 percent tax on wages. Workers pay half and their employers pay the other half. Self-employed workers pay the full 12.4 percent.

The tax is applied to the first $110,100 of a worker's wages, a level that increases each year with inflation. For 2011 and 2012, the tax rate for employees was reduced to 4.2 percent, but is scheduled to return to 6.2 percent in January.

The payroll tax rate was only 2 percent in 1937, the first year Social Security taxes were levied. It did not surpass 6 percent until 1962.

Even with low tax rates, Social Security could afford to pay benefits in the early years because there were more workers paying the tax for each person receiving benefits than there are today. In 1960, there were 4.9 workers paying Social Security taxes for each person getting benefits. Today, there are about 2.8 workers for each beneficiary, a ratio that will drop to 1.9 workers by 2035, according to projections by the Congressional Budget Office.

About 56 million people now collect Social Security benefits, and that number is projected to grow to 91 million in 2035. Monthly benefits average $1,235 for retired workers and $1,111 for disabled workers. Social Security provides most older Americans a majority of their income. About one-quarter of married couples and just under half of single retirees rely on Social Security for 90 percent or more of their income, according to the Social Security Administration.

"Social Security is what's carrying me," said Neta Homier, a 79-year-old retired hospital worker from Toledo, Ohio. "There's no way I would have made it without it. The kids, they're on their own, now, and I'm not going to be a burden for them. That's what it would have been if I hadn't had Social Security."

Homier said she started receiving Social Security when she was 63 and now gets about $800 a month, after her Medicare premiums are deducted. She said her father died at 51, so he never received Social Security, and her mother died at 71 and collected benefits for only a few years.

"It's definitely worth it," she said.

At 52, Anthony Riley of Columbus, Ohio, has a different perspective. Riley said he has a private retirement account because he worries that Social Security won't provide adequate benefits throughout his retirement.

"I use to think that it was worth paying for your Social Security, but now I don't think so," Riley said. At 22, Mackenzie Millan of Los Angeles has even greater doubts about whether Social Security will be a good deal for her.

"The money that I put aside now, it's not like that money is going to be waiting for me. That money is going toward someone else," the recent college graduate said. "If I wanted Social Security 50 years from now, when I wanted to retire, I would have to hope that someone else is still working and putting money aside in their paychecks to pay for my Social Security at that point."

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Oh, one more thing: the mainstream media will completely ignore this story.

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Sigh. The level of intellect and morality shown by the other people who posted comments is depressing. One guy is angry that he's not rich and thinks the rich don't deserve any of it. Another guy thinks the system is great because his wife will make more than she put in -- as if that's fair. And the third guy can't do the math.

This article misses the point that people aren't just losing some of what they put in -- they're losing all of the profit they should have made by investing in their retirement instead of paying for other people's retirement. Social Security is a ripoff.

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32 Trillion dollars hidden away in offshore bank accounts.

16 Trillion dollars = Total US national debt.

Govt. has robbed SS over the years and due to the massive, Govt. sponsored off shoring of our core industries, millions are out of work.

The increased profits from those activities overseas don't get taxed by the US Govt as they should. Too many overseas tax loopholes.

So it's a total lose-lose scenario for the poor and the middle class and the Nation's Treasury. It's a win-win for the Rich and the Lobbyists and the Congressmen that are bought by the Rich. You see very clearly here who is winning and who is losing.

Perhaps the biggest failure of our Govt is them always taking the easy way out on issues that effect the entire nation. If it's for a special interest group, it get's fixed. If it's a big problem that effects everyone? Mostly nothing happens as the politicians don't want to compromise and make hard choices.

The Govt needs to make the firm decision and outright declare to save SS and medicare/medicaid and it's benefits packages. People today in their 20's and 30's should be fully assured it WILL be there for them. That the Govt fully intends to keep its promises.

The ultimate slap in the face to a blue collar working person, after a lifetime of pumping money into the SS system and watching Congress (who have a different retirement and medical system) coddle and take care of the Rich and the Corporations for the last 30 years, is being told "sorry, we just don't have enough money to pay you what you put in to Social Security".

"We will be retroactively slashing benefits and increasing the age you have to retire at". You have no recourse and no voice in it. Suck it up losers.

That is going to sit real well with the millions and millions of beaten down poor and middle class workers who are sick and tired of seeing the Rich get all the gravy and Congress kissing their @#@sses, while they keep getting stuck with the bills for everything on the @#$@ing planet.

Gas going up? Shut up and pay for it.
Electricity going up? Shut up and pay for it.
Medical costs going up? Shut up and pay for it.
Costs of food and other goods keep going up? Shut up and pay for it.

That's the life of the poor and the middle class and that is the message that is consistently sent from Washington and Wall Street to the poor and the middle class. Shut up and pay for it. Welcome to the US.

32 Trillion dollars hidden away in off shore accounts. Must be nice.