In 2013, AMAC—The Association of Mature American Citizens—took a big step with the creation of the AMAC Foundation, Inc., a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit entity designed to serve Americans. The Foundation’s mission is to help protect and ensure the financial security, health, and social lives of current and future mature Americans, and to help Americans navigate the bewildering array of decisions they need to make.
The Foundation’s projects and plans include providing factual information that improves understanding of the positive value of Social Security and Medicare and the current and long-term challenges these programs face, as well as providing interpretations by Certified Social Security Advisors through AMAC publications, workshops, webinars, podcasts, and telephone support.
In addition, the Foundation serves all Americans in a variety of capacities, including provision of a source of education on the principles of American Free Enterprise, long-term retirement financial planning, and preparing for life—and potential employment—after retirement.
We invite you to learn more about the Foundation and its operations at www.AmacFoundation.org
I received SS Still go in the hole 300.00 per month! The word is SS is welfare, I have & my employer paid 15% before taxes each paycheck, this my hard earned money 47years! The Government has spent my money instead of investing it to make sure I could retire and not live under a bridge! I think that should pay me back plus interest so I can live out my retirement!
You’re right that it’s your hard earned money that you’ve contributed to Social Security for many years, and it’s certainly not “welfare” by any definition. I do understand your frustration but I’d like to clarify a couple of things you are concerned about.
You’re correct that you and your employer have contributed over 15% of every paycheck to “FICA”, but not all of that goes to the Social Security Trust Fund. The breakdown is that 12.4% goes to the SS Trust Fund, and the rest – 2.9% – goes to help fund Medicare. The combined 12.4% Social Security contribution is evenly split – 6.2% each by you and your employer. Of the 6.2% you both contribute, 5.3% goes to the Old Age & Survivor’s Insurance (OASI) fund from which regular Social Security benefits are paid, and 0.9% goes to the Disability Insurance (DI) fund from which SS disability benefits are paid. Nevertheless it is, as you say, your money – and your employer’s – that goes into these funds.
Social Security really wasn’t set up as an individual retirement investment vehicle; rather it was designed so that current workers contribute to a fund from which “old age and survivor’s” benefits are paid to eligible seniors. Said another way, those working now pay for those now retired. Any excess – contributions over and above that spent to pay benefits – is deemed to be “surplus”. By law, the money in the Trust Fund can’t be used for anything other than Social Security & Disability benefits, and (also by law) any surplus money from contributions must be invested in “interest-bearing securities backed by the full faith and credit of the United States”. This is done via special-issue government bonds which pay interest at “market rate” (currently 1.5%). As of the end of 2015, the Social Security Trust Fund had about 2 ¾ trillion dollars invested in those special-issue bonds, which are redeemable either at maturity or on demand as needed to pay benefits. The Trust Fund still runs a surplus every year, although the amount of annual surplus is declining because the ratio of workers to retirees is declining. Current estimates are that Social Security’s “old age & survivor insurance” fund would not stop running a surplus until about 2035, at which point benefits would be reduced unless Congress acts before then to improve solvency. AMAC has developed a “Social Security Guarantee” plan which we have been regularly promoting to Congressional Representatives in Washington, D.C. This is a common-sense plan which ensures that Social Security will be able to pay full benefits into the next century, and we plan to continue lobbying congress to adopt the AMAC plan, or something similar.
So, to recap, the money you contributed while you were working went to pay benefits for those already retired and, after you retire, contributions from those still working will be used to pay your benefits. And any surplus funds collected are invested in interest-bearing bonds for future use, and those funds cannot be used for any other purpose than Social Security benefits payments. Thank you for being a part of AMAC. I hope this information is helpful.
The government has taken money out of my income for over 50 years. No matter what is was my money earned and trusted for its return once reaching the proper age. The government must come up with a remedy to protect those who trust the system no matter what. This is the United States of America with the people and for the people unless things have changed.
Lee:
We certainly agree with your comment. The Association of Mature American Citizens (AMAC) has long held that “The promise to guarantee Social Security for all Americans must be kept. AMAC has examined the many proposed solutions presented in the intermediate assumptions portion of the 2016 Trustees Report and selected the alternatives we feel are best-suited to save Social Security’s retirement trust fund. We have combined these selected assumptions with several other recommendations to achieve what is the best path to long-term trust fund solvency without raising taxes.” This statement is a preamble to the AMAC Social Security Guarantee,” a legislative framework put forth several years ago for action in Congress. You can read the full document here” AMAC.us/social-security.
Gerry Hafer
AMAC Foundation, Inc.
CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: The opinions and interpretations expressed in this message are the viewpoints of the message’s author, a trained advisor accredited under the National Social Security Advisors program of the National Social Security Association, LLC (NSSA). The author, the NSSA, and the AMAC Foundation are not affiliated with or endorsed by the United States Government, the Social Security Administration, or any other state government.