Getting it Right - Welcome

The goal of this blog is to publish my thoughts on a variety of economic and political topics in the hopes that people who find them educational or beneficial will utilize them and/or forward to others who might find them interesting and/or worthwhile to promote to others, possibly including politicians who can push some of these ideas to fruition. The topics in my blog are meant to be of value on a long term basis, not a daily diary or political issue of the day log. If the information posted is useful to you, by all means utilize it and/or forward it as you see fit. If not useful, then merely ignore it. There are no universally agreed upon truisms and too little tolerance between some of those with opposing viewpoints to successfully convince the people with hardened opinions to move away from them. I am an analytical type person who will try to be as factual as I am able.

I disdain the current popularity of name calling and condemnation of viewpoints with no factual alternatives or logical solutions given that I see so often. If you don't have a solution based on fact and logic, then opt out of the discussion because you have nothing to contribute. My background is a degree in Economics from the University of Michigan and 39 years working in middle management jobs for a major retailer. My opinions are forged on the personal experence of life, family, friends, and work as well as triumphs and mistakes that I have made and hopefully learned from. My hope is that this blog helps you.

My first topic will be about personal finance. I chose that one first because most of us work long and hard just to survive but not all of us realize our dreams of becoming financially independent from the labors of our work. Much of our political votes/thinking also focus on the economy and in particular how well we are personally doing financially.

It is relatively simple, without sacrificing the enjoyment of living for 'today' and even at moderate incomes, to retire as a millionaire or multi-millionaire, if you focus on that goal consistently from a young age. It is also simple to ensure that your child or grandchild retires rich. It merely requires a one time gift of just $2,000 invested wisely and the passage of time. Please read my first post on this blog to learn more.


Getting it right on Politics, Economics, and Personal Finance

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Thursday, December 24, 2020

When Are We Going To Stop Taxing Social Security Benefits

 

When are we going to stop taxing Social Security benefits?

The federal government can tax your Social Security benefits if your combined income – your annual adjusted gross income (AGI), any nontaxable interest, and half of your Social Security benefits – exceeds $25,000 for an individual or $34,000 for a married couple. Some states tax Social Security benefits as well, though each has its own formula to determine the level of taxation.

Those are ridiculously low thresholds to be taxing SS benefits. They have been in effect for decades (since 1984) and have never been indexed to inflation so that now they tax the SS benefits of the poor and the middle class, when their original intention was to tax only the wealthy.

More ridiculous, your SS benefits, are subject to tax rates that can reach as high as 50%!!!!!! The highest Federal income tax rate for wealthy Americans including millionaires and billionaires is only 37%!!!! When Social Security was initiated in the 1930s, SS benefits were supposed to be tax free. We need to return to that intent.

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