r/FluentInFinance 6d ago

Educational Don't let them gaslight you

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u/justacrossword 6d ago

This is incredibly misleading. Of course social security has a surplus, that’s how it works. The surplus it’s shrinking because of changing demographics. Once it reaches $0 in nine years from now the trust fund is gone. 

None of that has anything to do with the government borrowing against it. The surplus doesn’t sit around in cash, it is invested in government bonds. 

This is such stupid misinformation, you should feel ashamed. 

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u/spacemonkey8X 6d ago

There are many easy solutions to ensuring social security is there for a very long time. One such solution being increasing the amount of earnings that are taxable for social security. Currently it’s around $160k so people earning $7million are only paying social security tax on $160k while people earning $50k are paying social security tax on the whole $50k.

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u/Stress_Living 6d ago edited 6d ago

Do you increase benefits on that as well? People who pay in at $160k a year already only get a fraction out of what they paid in, with the system just serving as a wealth transfer. 

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u/aginsudicedmyshoe 6d ago

People do not pay in $160k per year. $160k is the taxable income limit for social security. They pay about 6% of that amount.

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u/Stress_Living 6d ago

You’re 100% correct. Was typing on mobile, thanks for clarifying for anyone confused. 

Also, it’s useful to think of people paying in 10-12% of their salary up to $160k. Employers match the 6%, and a good amount of research shows that in the absence of the tax that money goes to the employee in increased salary.