Wednesday, July 09, 2008

How to kill the elderly and lose your inheritance....

....in one simple step. No, I don't recommend trying, but our government does exactly this. How?

They reduce Social Security benefits by 50 cents for every dollar earned after a certain threshold. When you count FICA, state income tax, and federal income tax, you come to the uneasy realization that Social Security takes back 50 cents, and the rest of government takes back up to 40 cents on the dollar. Not surprisingly, a study performed at my alma mater (Michigan State) found that seniors don't work for a dime on the dollar.

But how does this kill people and inheritances? Simple. Retirement is a disaster for health, as it all too often trades physical activity for worship of the idiot box, and when you combine poor health with poor income, you simultaneously kill Grandpa and the inheritance he wanted to pass down.

Dare I suggest repeal of this ill-founded rule?

3 comments:

Mark said...

My Dad had this syndrome for a while when he was still able-bodied enough to work after "retirement age." He got over it when he realized that he could still make $s and get a little bit of SS$s while being busy and happy.

Gino said...

i thought they eleminated the income cieling for SS.
didnt they, and now have reinstated it?

my grandfather would work part time, up to the limit of 8K, and then quit til next january.

Bike Bubba said...

Not repealed, but modified, for those under age 67. No limit on earnings for those over 67, it appears.

http://ssa.gov/pubs/10003.html