Community Chat

[hckynutjohn]

---

@sometimesQVCaddict wrote:
Must be nice to even get SS! My generation & probably those after me might not even get it! I should be the one complaining, and I guess I am! And pensions don't exist for many in the workplace now not close to retirement age. Thats a long gone thing for current jobs. So complaining about anything related to SS falls on deaf ears to me personally as I'd be happy with 5 dollars a month from the government when I retire, and probably will get nothing.

Wanna talk about a "fixed income" when that number is zero??? That's what future generations have to look forward to. I foresee retirement for anyone being a pipe dream unfortunately for future generations.

Be happy you're getting anything! Maybe some perspective helps.

@sometimesQVCaddict 

Don't know what "your generation" might be, and it's irrelevant to me and this topic. Guess you missed the part where it was our money. 

It isn't your money, it is my money, kept for decades interest free. Many that paid over 5 decades, died before they were old enough to collect it.

Perspective you say! I will deal with my facts. And "your" generation, whatever that might be, can deal with your present and future. 

hckynut  🇺🇸

[Sooner]

When money is being thrown around like they are printing more of it, they are printing more of it.  Economics 101.  Terrible inflation has a historical precedent and a reading of the issues explain the economics of it.  B.C.  And those truths are still self-evident.

Look it up and you can see what periods of history we had rampant inflation and why.  NO different this time folks!  Same story.  Same causes!

[hckynutjohn]

---

@Sooner wrote:

When money is being thrown around like they are printing more of it, they are printing more of it.  Economics 101.  Terrible inflation has a historical precedent and a reading of the issues explain the economics of it.  B.C.  And those truths are still self-evident.

Look it up and you can see what periods of history we had rampant inflation and why.  NO different this time folks!  Same story.  Same causes!

@Sooner 

Never made it out of high school, thus no Economics 101. I did learn math when I was 8 years old. Buying newspapers at wholesale and selling at retail.

Most of my subsequent jobs, prior to the United States Army, involved working with money. Some as simple car hop paying a cashier money, then at time having a hard time getting it paid back by high school kids trying to bilk me.

Life experiences taught me that the more paper money that is printed, it's value decreases. Heck, 100 bucks in the 50's, was a lot of money. Today, it won't even fill up our gas tank on our SUV.

Don't know how many trillions have been printed recently, but!  Anyone that shops for goods, knows those $$$$, are worth a lot less. I am not a historian, but I have read the causes of past inflation, and born in a year of the great depression.

My mother lived through that depression, and never let myself or 3 older sister, forget what she told us about how she worked and lived. "Repeating the same mistakes and expecting a different outcome". Or something like that!

hckynut  🇺🇸

---

[781Florist]

Last year much was made about how the increase was the biggest in years.

After the increase, Part B went from $148.50 to $175.00 a month.  My Medex went from $213.00 to $233.00.  My Part D Prescription Drug plan went from $14.30 to $36.00 a month.  When I called them  to ask why the near 150% increase they said the government mandated the increases.  So much for how lucky we were to get that huge increase!

[AngelPuppy1]

I am happy to get any increase!  We all know that everything right now has increased in price -- and it's not fun for anyone --- whether you are working or retired!  I, for one, will just say that I do not feel bad about getting SS!!  Why should I?  And why should anybody?  I, as so many of you, and so many Americans, have worked my whole life from the time I was 18 years old and never stopped and so I was paying my taxes and contributing to this.  This is not free money --- we all worked for this!  So -- my statements are -- yes, I am grateful for an increase -- any increase!  Does it cover the rising cost of everything?  No, but it helps.  Do I feel guilty because I receive SS which I worked hard to receive?  Nope!  And no one else should feel so either or should be made to feel so!!!! 

[geezerette]

---

@781Florist wrote:

Last year much was made about how the increase was the biggest in years.

After the increase, Part B went from $148.50 to $175.00 a month.  My Medex went from $213.00 to $233.00.  My Part D Prescription Drug plan went from $14.30 to $36.00 a month.  When I called them  to ask why the near 150% increase they said the government mandated the increases.  So much for how lucky we were to get that huge increase!

---

My Part D drug premiums went down by a few dollars.

[Sooner]

You only get these increases because it costs you more to live.  Not because they want you to be happy.  And you can bet it costs you more to live than the "increase" you get. 

[vsm]

---

@gertrudecloset wrote:

---

@vsm wrote:

---

@JamandBread wrote:

---

@vsm wrote:

---

@LuvSoCal wrote:

---

@vsm wrote:

More spending means more inflation.  That's not politics -- it's economics 101.

---

But @vsm I think many of the recipients will be spending their COLAs on necessities and not frivolous purchases.

---

Unfortunately, the purpose of the spending doesn't matter to the inflationary spiral. Spending is spending, and it juices up inflation to the point that only a recession will reduce it.  Recession will in turn make necessities even harder to come by.

---

Actually, the increase is not intended to provide MORE buying power. It is intended to keep pace with current prices. With that said, spending will not increase, so no inflationary impact. The covid stimulus checks to everyone is an example of EXTRA money which has an inflationary impact.

Inflation is world wide and has been ratcheted up by the pandemic and supply chain disruptions. It will take all the countries who drive the global economy to solve the price hikes caused by the pandemic. 

---

Would that this were so, but it's not.  Again, more spending by the government so that the people suffering from its inflationary policies  can "keep pace" with inflation is itself inflationary.  The reason for the additional spending is irrelevant.  Spending stimulates demand, regardless of its purpose -- and that remains the case even though other governments are doing the same thing in a vain attempt to blunt the impact of having spent money they didn't have but simply printed.

One way or the other, the piper will be paid. If we don't pay the bill, our grandchildren and their children will have to, and it will be an even bigger one, as interest rates rise to compensate for the declining value of the dollar.  

---

You're wrong here.  That might be true in terms of the general premise but it's certainly not true in this case @vsm .  Only a small portion of US citizens receive these benefits.  The entire economy doesn't contract and retract based on what social security recipients receive.  

A country with an estimated population of 330MM with only 10% of its population receiving retirement benefits via Social Security is nothing compared to the spending the government sends to other countries.

---

The "as long as I get mine" mentality,  @gertrudecloset , only fuels the inflationary spiral.  It focuses on one piece of the federal benefits pie -- "the piece that belongs to me" -- while ignoring all the other federal beneficiaries/current employees/programs/agencies/bureaus/departments grabbing for a COLA piece of their own. The fact remains that inflation shrinks that pie, and COLAs shrink it further. This is so even if you're right that the benefits going to SS recipients are "nothing compared to" the money "the government sends to other countries."

That said, it's simply inaccurate to imply that SS COLAs would have a negligible impact on inflation.  Even the COLA-supporting Center on Budget Policy Priorities admits that "Over 65 million people, or more than 1 in every 6 U.S. residents, collected Social Security benefits in January 2022. While older adults make up about 4 in 5 beneficiaries, another one-fifth of beneficiaries received Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) or were young survivors of deceased workers." Unfortunately, we can't wish ourselves out of the inflation mess we're in by adding COLAs to already out-of-control spending. They will only prolong and ultimately worsen the pain -- for everyone, but especially for those who least deserve it and can least afford it.

[gertrudecloset]

---

@vsm wrote:

---

@gertrudecloset wrote:

---

@vsm wrote:

---

@JamandBread wrote:

---

@vsm wrote:

---

@LuvSoCal wrote:

---

@vsm wrote:

More spending means more inflation.  That's not politics -- it's economics 101.

---

But @vsm I think many of the recipients will be spending their COLAs on necessities and not frivolous purchases.

---

Unfortunately, the purpose of the spending doesn't matter to the inflationary spiral. Spending is spending, and it juices up inflation to the point that only a recession will reduce it.  Recession will in turn make necessities even harder to come by.

---

Actually, the increase is not intended to provide MORE buying power. It is intended to keep pace with current prices. With that said, spending will not increase, so no inflationary impact. The covid stimulus checks to everyone is an example of EXTRA money which has an inflationary impact.

Inflation is world wide and has been ratcheted up by the pandemic and supply chain disruptions. It will take all the countries who drive the global economy to solve the price hikes caused by the pandemic. 

---

Would that this were so, but it's not.  Again, more spending by the government so that the people suffering from its inflationary policies  can "keep pace" with inflation is itself inflationary.  The reason for the additional spending is irrelevant.  Spending stimulates demand, regardless of its purpose -- and that remains the case even though other governments are doing the same thing in a vain attempt to blunt the impact of having spent money they didn't have but simply printed.

One way or the other, the piper will be paid. If we don't pay the bill, our grandchildren and their children will have to, and it will be an even bigger one, as interest rates rise to compensate for the declining value of the dollar.  

---

You're wrong here.  That might be true in terms of the general premise but it's certainly not true in this case @vsm .  Only a small portion of US citizens receive these benefits.  The entire economy doesn't contract and retract based on what social security recipients receive.  

A country with an estimated population of 330MM with only 10% of its population receiving retirement benefits via Social Security is nothing compared to the spending the government sends to other countries.

---

The "as long as I get mine" mentality,  @gertrudecloset , only fuels the inflationary spiral.  It focuses on one piece of the federal benefits pie -- "the piece that belongs to me" -- while ignoring all the other federal beneficiaries/current employees/programs/agencies/bureaus/departments grabbing for a COLA piece of their own. The fact remains that inflation shrinks that pie, and COLAs shrink it further. This is so even if you're right that the benefits going to SS recipients are "nothing compared to" the money "the government sends to other countries."

That said, it's simply inaccurate to imply that SS COLAs would have a negligible impact on inflation.  Even the COLA-supporting Center on Budget Policy Priorities admits that "Over 65 million people, or more than 1 in every 6 U.S. residents, collected Social Security benefits in January 2022. While older adults make up about 4 in 5 beneficiaries, another one-fifth of beneficiaries received Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) or were young survivors of deceased workers." Unfortunately, we can't wish ourselves out of the inflation mess we're in by adding COLAs to already out-of-control spending. They will only prolong and ultimately worsen the pain -- for everyone, but especially for those who least deserve it and can least afford it.

---

Call it what you want @vsm .  This is the reality we have to deal with.  I didn't set the laws, nor do I make or set any policy concerning the Social Security Administration.  President Roosevelt did that.  Yes, that's what Capitalism is all about.  "As long as I get mine."  As long as a company can you charge you an obscene amount of $$ to use, or purchase a product and someone[s] are willing to abide it's called "what the market can bear!"  I didn't make that up either.

We live in a mixed economy of social programs and capitalism.  I'm grateful that I worked long enough to get my benefits and I do hope this program will be around long enough for those who are paying into it now.

Bye.

[gertrudecloset]

---

@AngelPuppy1 wrote:

I am happy to get any increase!  We all know that everything right now has increased in price -- and it's not fun for anyone --- whether you are working or retired!  I, for one, will just say that I do not feel bad about getting SS!!  Why should I?  And why should anybody?  I, as so many of you, and so many Americans, have worked my whole life from the time I was 18 years old and never stopped and so I was paying my taxes and contributing to this.  This is not free money --- we all worked for this!  So -- my statements are -- yes, I am grateful for an increase -- any increase!  Does it cover the rising cost of everything?  No, but it helps.  Do I feel guilty because I receive SS which I worked hard to receive?  Nope!  And no one else should feel so either or should be made to feel so!!!! 

---

I am happy too.  Don't care what anyone else cares.  The increases helps "me" and others like me.