On Unemployment and Social Security

[giblets]

I guess we could give seniors smaller SS checks the larger their income gets. If they have a large income they probably won't quit working to get better checks.

[Japher]

I'm for that gribbler... as a compromise. Though, if they stop working I don't see why they couldn't get back what they put into it over a period of time. However, if they are working and pulling in 200k a year at age 68 why do they need the extra $600/mo or whatever?

We pay into unemployment, but may never use it (hopefully)

We pay into taxes for roads that we may never drive on

Why then should we feel entitled for SS that was meant to help the elderly, blind, and disabled?

[Kidlicious]

I could be wrong, but SS income is taxable if your have other income.

[Japher]

So. Unemployment is taxable (upto a certain amount) even if you don't have other income.

[Kuciwalker]

I'm not discouraging seniors from working, did I say that?

I said that if they want the benefits that the government was setting aside for their retirement then they should be retired.

You just contradicted yourself in the span of two sentences.

Saying that seniors should be provided with a disincentive from working is saying that seniors should be discouraged from working.

[Kuciwalker]

So why can't a receive unemployment while I work when others can receive retirement without retiring?

Unemployment is a disincentive to work. That's a detrimental aspect of it that has to be weighed against the good of providing it at all. In the current system, it is not feasible to provide everyone with unemployment insurance AND have it be enough to sustain people who lose their jobs.

[Kuciwalker]

Means-testing social security would also, generally, be a bad idea, because it would be YET ANOTHER stealth income tax in the 0-100k range.

Now, if we temporarily means-tested it until the baby boomers all died, that would provide amazing cost savings while minimizing the economic impact. If only we could do that

[Dinner]

I'd love to see SSI's cap removed so all income is taxable by SSI instead of just the first $100,000. We also have to raise the retirement age to 70 and start means testing. Anything else won't keep SSI stable.