2y ago

YSK: If you work in the U.S. as a W-2 worker, you can check to see how much money you've paid into Social Security and learn when you'll become eligible to draw from it in retirement

https://www.ssa.gov/myaccount/statement.html

Wanted to share this as a resource since I started doing a deep dive on the financial implications during one's retirement years of being a homemaker earlier today in light of a new law in Florida stopping the practice of lifetime alimony.

29 comments

Apparently the SSA’s website closes for the evenings. Who would have thunk.
- I ran into this as well and honestly just can't believe it. Like, this is something my grandparent would think might happen and I'd laugh at how silly it is. Yet here we are.
  
  Those bits and bytes need time off too! 😂🤣
  
  I'm 99% sure it's because the website is hooked into ancient systems that need complete control over the data to process and update. So they run that part overnight to have up to date information for the next day.
- If only there was a way to keep services up and running after hours. ¯⁠⁠⁠(⁠ツ⁠)⁠⁠/⁠¯
- You can open a.n account online though it's a pain in the ass. But I like to keep track so I can figure out what kind of dumpster I'll be able to afford in retirement.
- Think about how well the SSA is funded and then consider where they might have cost cut. You'd be surprised how much contract IT eats into a budget.
- Gotta turn off the mainframe to save money!
  
  Actually, the mouse running the wheel powering the server also needed to clock out for the night.
  
  😂
So theoretically as long as my gross was below the cutoff (currently $160K in 2023) would that keep a running tally of my gross earnings over the years or are there other things such as 401k that would reduce that amount?
I was wanting to calculate how much I grossed in my lifetime but of course don't have a chunk of that data anymore.
- Short answer is yes. Your SS is taken out before any reductions like 401k apply. Look at your W2 for any year where you just had one job(or didn't change jobs) to make it simple. Your gross earnings for your job are the same as your SS taxable/taxed earnings, and should match your SS statement online.
It's a good idea to check in on this every so often just to make sure your employers are paying their contributions too. I recall some horror stories when this this been posted before.
- It's also a massive YSK for personal data safety to make an account and set a password. Pretty much only accountants and data thieves use the site at present as most of the general public have no idea their info is just sitting there waiting to be claimed for anyone with some basic personal info that, thanks to data breaches, is not that hard to find anymore.
Bold of you to assume anyone on here will be able to claim social security before it goes kaput
This is rad. They have me starting work a year before I thought I did. Heck yeah. I’m doing much better than I thought.
Is this applicable to someone who worked in US for say 5 years on H1B visa and then left the country. I know I paid social security with each of my pay check. Would I be able to get any benefit when I retire (or before)?
- I believe you need 10 years to qualify for benefits, be considered disabled, or married to someone who contributed for 10 years.
YSK, Social Security is predicted to become insolvent in 2034.
- No, it's not.
  https://www.marcumllp.com/insights/no-social-security-is-not-going-bankrupt
  While the current expenditures predict, without any action, one of the funding sources for social security, the trust fund, will deplete in 2032, payroll taxes still exist.
  Although the Trust Fund is projected to be depleted in 2033, Social Security will not be insolvent or bankrupt. Although it may not be able to pay 100% of the program’s cost, as it stands now, Social Security estimates it will be able to cover approximately 76% of the program’s cost due to employee and employer payroll taxes.
  A simple fix -- remove the cap on the ssa taxable cap. Currently, only income under $160,200 (2023) is taxed for social security. Removing, or simply raising that cap opens up solvency for decades.
  
  That cap is one of the biggest fuck you to the public. Ohh you made too much money, ok, you don't need to fund social security anymore.
- I am aware that this has been covered, but I have to maintain the belief that much like the US Postal Service, the federal government will continue to foot the bill regardless.
- Sure, but the US fuckin loves old people. It’s the one thing we will spend money on. Most countries spend 3x-4x more on elder services than general social services for all ages. The USA (can’t forget my homie Japan, them too) spends TWENTY times more on shit for old people. I doubt this will change until all the boomers are dead and the distribution of ages in the USA changes.
  The one thing republicans and Dems will fix together is social security. Not until the last minute, of course.
  
  We do spend 20x more on old folks, but IMO that's mainly because we're lacking social safety nets for those not yet of retirement age compared to most other countries.

29 comments