If your plan was to retire exclusively on SS, then you are in for a rude awakening. That is why they send out those annual statements showing what your monthly benefit will be. If you looked at them, you knew that it would not be enough to retire on and it is YOUR responsibility to do something about it. If you just tossed them and said meh, then you reap what you sow.
They sure do try to make them bigger and spendier though. It's their political nature.
Au Contraire, the state of WA minimum wage is $15.74/hr. That does not include the required health care benefit, sick leave, vacation, and FMLA. That easily equates to $30/hr. total. The way that the struggling small business handles that is to cut everyone's hours to the point that they are part time and don't get the benefits--banks discovered this 40 years ago. I've quit going to fast food places because that unhealthy crap is not worth what they are charging. As a result you will be seeing fewer and fewer of these entry level jobs--no customers, no jobs. What are all of those homeless that everyone complains about doing--NOTHING because they can get more on the public dole for doing nothing than they get for working.
They tried that in Spokane, WA. Camp Hope, they called it. Talk about squalor. Crime sky-rocketed. The city council tied LE's hand to the point that the sheriff threw his hands up and quit. Businesses in the area closed down or moved creating more squalor in the abandoned part of the city. Same thing happened in Modesto, CA when they tried the same thing--they closed that one down too. Communism does not work.
Think of it as a savings account. How would you react to someone saying that your account was worth 1% less than you contracted for?
The repub mantra has always been, "We got it, you don't, too bad."
I am opposed to supporting people who refuse to support themselves. There are more social programs in this country than any other--the southern border is proof. If our government was serious about their concern for Americans, they would not be opening our borders to all. If we cannot support our own, why are we allowing unbridled immigration that just adds to the problem. This country thrived for nearly 250 years and is the destination of choice for most of the world's people. In order to maintain that, better choices need to be made than have been made in the last 20 years or so.
I might support that if it is located somewhere in a wilderness area far from civilization
Its a prepaid benefit but no set contracted amount of payback
Its not immigration
Do you deny that it is a factor? Talk to protectionist about what unbridled immigration has done to rents in his area. Do you understand how supply and demand work? If you have limited supply, do you think the prices will remain unchanged or reduce by increasing the demand? There is and always has been a segment of the population, the young who are entering the work place and have limited skills, that have had to struggle and make tough financial decisions in order to survive. Rents are always high for this segment. The solutions are myriad. Live with your parents. Advertise for roommates, share a modest place with friends to defray those costs. Drive a beater instead of the latest BMW, don't buy a new phone everytime one comes out. Dump the cable. These are only a few of the options. Nobody starts out rich. The world doesn't owe you anything.
Medicare will be bankrupt in 2024
Yes there is a contracted amount and those benefits are communicated annually. Social Security Benefit Amounts As for your small reduction, I'll take one when you contribute a like amount from your paycheck. See how that works.
Medicare is going bankrupt... I hear 5 years at best.... and no one is doing anything about it...
