Another analysis: Why Early Social Security Provides the Greatest Spousal Benefit

[Chuckanut]

With all due respect, I think we often ignore the ‘Social’ aspect of social security. It is designed to help keep seniors out of poverty, thus the bend points do tilt the table somewhat in favor of lower income people who have contributed to SS. My mother-in-law was one of those people. Social security plus the proceeds from the sale of her home (about $100,000) in the 1980’s allowed her to live modestly for the rest of her life. She never had to use any so-called welfare programs, not even food stamps. In my book that is a success and is what SS is designed to do. I don’t begrudge seniors like her who get a somewhat higher return on their SS dollars than I do.

 

[pb4uski]

+1. When one is young and starts paying in you really have no idea which end of the spectrum you will end up at. I did well but a good friend from high school had more modest success so SS is a very critical piece of his retirement. His bang per contribution dollar is a lot higher than mine but I'm a-ok with that.

 

[Dtail]

With all due respect, I think we often ignore the ‘Social’ aspect of social security. It is designed to help keep seniors out of poverty, thus the bend points do tilt the table somewhat in favor of lower income people who have contributed to SS. My mother-in-law was one of those people. Social security plus the proceeds from the sale of her home (about $100,000) in the 1980’s allowed her to live modestly for the rest of her life. She never had to use any so-called welfare programs, not even food stamps. In my book that is a success and is what SS is designed to do. I don’t begrudge seniors like her who get a somewhat higher return on their SS dollars than I do.

+1. When one is young and starts paying in you really have no idea which end of the spectrum you will end up at. I did well but a good friend from high school had more modest success so SS is a very critical piece of his retirement. His bang per contribution dollar is a lot higher than mine but I'm a-ok with that.

Spot on.