Many Americans held their breath to see if Congress was going to extend the payroll tax cut at the beginning of this year.
While most were happy to hear the cuts would be extended, many risk losing their benefits if these cuts continue.
Because payroll taxes take care of a large portion of the funds by which many Social Security benefits are drawn, these cuts have taken quite a sizeable chunk out of an already dwindling pot.
The current payroll tax cuts extension allows for employers to pay 2 percent in taxes, rather than the 2 maintained in previous years. With nearly 9 million Americans depending on Social Security benefits for their survival each month, further tax cut extensions could seriously threaten the future of benefit funds.
In 1940, benefits paid totaled $35 million. These rose to $961 million in 1950, $12 billion in 1960, $39 billion in 1970, $125 billion in 1980, and $248 billion in 1990 (all figures in nominal dollars, not adjusted for inflation). In 2004, $492 billion of benefits were paid to 45 million beneficiaries. In 2009, nearly 51 million Americans received $650 billion in Social Security benefits.
Married women who will qualify for survivor benefits from their spouse can consider drawing upon their Social Security benefits early, as long as their spouse waited until full retirement age to begin drawing benefits.
This ensures that the survivor benefits a married woman receives is not reduced by up to 25% for early retirement, and will be an amount that is better suited to sustain her during her later years of life.
While most were happy to hear the cuts would be extended, many risk losing their benefits if these cuts continue.
Because payroll taxes take care of a large portion of the funds by which many Social Security benefits are drawn, these cuts have taken quite a sizeable chunk out of an already dwindling pot.
The current payroll tax cuts extension allows for employers to pay 2 percent in taxes, rather than the 2 maintained in previous years. With nearly 9 million Americans depending on Social Security benefits for their survival each month, further tax cut extensions could seriously threaten the future of benefit funds.
In 1940, benefits paid totaled $35 million. These rose to $961 million in 1950, $12 billion in 1960, $39 billion in 1970, $125 billion in 1980, and $248 billion in 1990 (all figures in nominal dollars, not adjusted for inflation). In 2004, $492 billion of benefits were paid to 45 million beneficiaries. In 2009, nearly 51 million Americans received $650 billion in Social Security benefits.
Married women who will qualify for survivor benefits from their spouse can consider drawing upon their Social Security benefits early, as long as their spouse waited until full retirement age to begin drawing benefits.
This ensures that the survivor benefits a married woman receives is not reduced by up to 25% for early retirement, and will be an amount that is better suited to sustain her during her later years of life.
from SOCIAL SECURITY BENEFITS EXPLAINED - Blog http://ift.tt/1HnmwIp
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