Don't squeeze us seniors with taxes

You open with "My wife and I have been retired since 1996. We get about $500 a month from Social Security for the two of us."

This says you and your wife must have paid very little into SS. Before I get my crying towel out why don't you tell me what the other retirement amount is?

Whatever the other check amounts are, the fact is that it is becoming more difficult for people to retire and get by. At some point the taxation should stop for senior citizens, so they can live a comfortable retirement life.

What is even, worse than this, Bush wanted to privatized social security which would have lowered it even more. What is that other check? Social security was a safety net, that's all. I still wish you well however as you struggle to get by. Read the latest AARP questionaire that was sent to Obama and Mccain. Mcain refused to answer many of the questions. (trhe maverick)

Why not stop taxes on the homes of the senior citizens. If we tax them to the point they can't pay, they will simply have to rely on other entitlement programs. Then we foot the entire bill. Allow them to stay in their homes for as long as possible.

Incidentally, Mr. Manning my wife and I have been drawing our earned benefit (my first payment into it was in 1955) since my retirement at age 65 five years ago; it's a decent amount. Our main tax liability is on our home. It's a shame local governments don't see it to give seniors much of a break. Our's claim they do. Here to get full relief you have to be 65 or older, your home is in your name, your gross income is $31931 or less and all of your assets (savings, 401K or other retirement funds, vehicle, boats, RVs, life insurance, etc (your home is excluded.)) Partial relief is available for gross income between $31931 and $50K with some "small print" you have to understand. So if "Mr. Smith" satisfies the above rules and his home is assessed at $200000 he will not have to pay the city's $2200 ($1.10 per $100 of his property's assessed value.) My bill is approaching $3000/year. Our assessor shows no mercy from year to year, i.e., up, up..up.

Jack234, Bush did want to allow tax payers to invest some their SS tax and thus OWN it rather than have the DIMocRATS put it all in the general fund, and tax hell out of it and write IOUs as they do now. I agree that we older folks paid our share of school taxes even after we had no kids in school and should pay no more. Time the younger ones who keep having those kids to pay up to educate their little crumb snatchers.

d1zmljqg: Where is "Here" ? I live in A-RC and I pay my Federal and State income taxes and pay into Social Security based on income. I do not deal with any rules for either 'full relief" or "partial relief" and with homestead and school tax exemptions my property bill is much less than $1.10 per $100 of my property's assessed value.

Mr. Manning: NO, the county DID NOT add trash TAX, they added a FEE for solid waste service. IMO the fee should not be included on the property tax bills, and they way the amount of the fee is determined needs to be revisited. Why should it be different for urban/rural residents or based on the property value of others?

Quit lying Jack1234. Bush only wanted to allow people to divert a small percentage they would normally pay into SS into a private retirement account. You libs love lying, don't you? Now, if you ask me, I don't want to pay a DAMN thing into SS. It's a broke f'n system and it was doomed from the get go. It's a damn pyramid scheme.

No_Longer_Amazed: "Here" is Newport News, VA. (btw all of my comments applies to retirees in the "full and partial.") We were at $1.24 per 100 but our brilliant leaders reduced the tax rate while sky rocketing the assessments. SignalAlways: in 48 years my employers and I paid about $180,000 into Social Security. In just a little over five years of retirement I have already gotten much of that back. From 1955 - 2003 I paid my share and for most of those years I always paid the max per year without an "attitude." I also paid my share of the Medicare taxes for 38 years, and my wife and I appreciate how well the benefits have been and have no complaints.

How old are you, d1zm? BTW, there is no way you've recouped 48 years worth of SS in just 5 years. Sorry, don't believe it. If it's true, it shows what's wrong with the system. Everyone is over 65, and now 70 or older? If you've only paid 180,000 in 48 years, you're a huge burden on the government. I'm having to pay for you. That's why it's a damn pyramid scheme. Also, when you die, your wife can collect for maybe 6 months and it's gone. With a 401K, I own the policy. If I die, it goes to whomever I give it to.

I.e., We're running OUT of young people to support all of the baby-boomers who are retiring. We're not producing as many offspring. This is why the damn thing will be broke in a few years.

Signal Always: Average out the 180k Social Security over 48 years and it comes to payments of over $300 a month, and keep in mind that the employer matches that and Medicare is extra. I would imagine that a Social Security check, if the individual waited until full retirement age, could be well over 20K a year. That would soon recoup the individual's contributions. A widow can collect benefits for the rest of her life on the husband's account, it does not end after "maybe 6 months." Now for the parts that upset me and IMO drains the program and "is why the damn thing will be broke in a few years." A spouse or spouses can collect off a former husband's account, and people who have never contributed into the system can get SSI and Medicaid. I agree with your comment about the 401k, but I don't remember that as being an option until later in life!

Signal Always: I just looked at the history of 401k plans, and they didn't start until around 1981. I had already been in the workforce for 23 years by that time!

Signal Always: Prior to one year before my retirement I had paid $78364 and my employers had paid $78672 (total=$157,036). The amounts paid into Medicare was $18339 and $18357, respectively. Also, I said in 5+ years I had gotten much of that back; I should have said just a little over half of that back. Also, I waited until I was 65 in order to get the full benefit. Being a son of sharecropper in hot south Georgia I learned early what hard work was so I did not have a lot of problems working those 48 years. Since I also contributed max amount into my 401K beginning sometimes in the 1980s that is substantial today. Get one thing straight you are not paying my retirement and I am in no way a burden to you. If that was the case I would go back into the work force.

Signal: You said above, " Also, when you die, your wife can collect for maybe 6 months and it's gone. " Readers this is a very erroneous statement. wrt this Much information is available on the Social Security web site. My wife also paid into SS and met all requirementas to draw benefits. Also, spouse benefits can be up to 1/2 (provided they wait until their full retirement age occurs) of the main spouse's benefits if his/her benefit is less. If they go before that age it based on a percent

So, before SS and 401K plans there was no such thing as a retirement plan, No Longer Amazed? For the rest of you, none of you can convince me that this pyramid scheme is a good idea. If it were, it wouldn't be going broke. It wouldn't be a bane on our government's outgo. It's NOT retirement, it's a supplement. Not too many people can live on SS alone. I know I damn sure don't want to. It's Socialistic and oppressive. "I" make this damn money. I want to put it into the best plan "I" deem necessary. You guys may feel comfortable having the government make decisions for you; I, however, do not. They're failures at everything and always have been.

No, Signal Always, I didn't say that. I just commented on SS and the 401k. By the time the 401k came along I was already fully vested in another retirement plan and was already guaranteed at least 55% of my base pay for life.

Oh thanks NO_Longer, I forgot about a fully vested company retirement plan. So I have it, my 401K and and SS. As I said earlier I paid into the SS for 48 years, which was usually the maximum, and accepted it without any complaints. In my peak years more was going into my 401K than SS per year. Mr. Freddie Manning I always looked at the glass as being 1/2 full. Good luck in your retirement.

d1zmljqg: Congratulations on what you have achieved, it just shows what you can do if you work hard. That's why I have little sympathy for those who claim that the 'system' has worked against them and anyone who has anything must have had it given to them on a silver spoon.

Signal, jack234 wasn't lying. You should have read enough of his comments to know that he couldn't possibly comphrehend Bush's idea.