How many people do you know who could not live without their social security check?

Most of my patients rely on their social security; and for many, it is their only source of income.

Quite a few people I know would be in dire straits without their social security. It is what keeps their heads above water.

I know a bunch of people who could not live without their social security check.

I’m related to a few of them.

Without it, I suspect they would be trouble financially.

Who can afford to save anything? Wages are not increasing proportionally to inflation. Fewer jobs offer pensions and health benefits. The stock market isn’t safe to invest in.

We’re all going to be screwed unless something serious changes.

My mother-in-law is in a assisted living situation. She counts on her social security check.

Four. But to be honest I don’t know that many people that are that old. Two of the people are barely getting by with SS and would be completely screwed without it.

@Seek_Kolinahr The two I spoke of above lost most of their life savings with this recent stock market collapse.

My mom couldn’t have. She got a small check from her 401K, her social security check and my husband and I sent her a check every month. She was able to live a comfortable modest life in a retirement home.

@Seek_Kolinahr The part they paid into the system would not have been removed from the check all those years if the SS system did not exist. Do you think they would have set more money aside?

I thought it would be interesting to put this out there for the discussion. The maximum someone can receive from Social Security retirement benefits, if they retired at 66 in 2012 and had contributed the maximum amount to their retirement account since age 21, is $2513 a month according to this.

@Judi, did your mother live in a private retirement home?

@bkcunningham Thanks for the stat. I was wonderng what specifically is interesting about it to you? That some people are living on so little if they live only on SS?

@JLeslie I get about $20 a check taken out. That money would go to the household, just like any other money in the check. It’s not like I’m going to say “Woo hoo! Extra money! Now I can start a savings account!” I’m just a tiny droplet less in the hole than I was before.

To put @bkcunningham‘s stat in perspective, my modest lifestyle with a paid-for car and 2 bedroom apartment costs about $2000/month not including food.

@jerv Or prescription medication, gods help you if you need THAT.

@Seek_Kolinahr Correct. That is just rent, lights, phone, internet, and enough gas to get to/from work. Anything extra like medical expenses, food, clothes, car maintenance and registration, etcetera adds to that $2k figure.

2 friends and many patients. These people would literally be on the streets without it. And the argument that they would have been better off if they would’ve made their own investments with the 12% of their pay that is taken out doesn’t hold water with me. In their lifetimes, they could’ve been repeatedly wiped out in the recession of the 70s, or the crash in October ‘87, the recession in 92–93, the dot-com crash in ‘01, the long slide starting in ‘07, the real estate crash in ‘08, or today’s resultant recession/depression. They are damned lucky that SSI is there for them. With SSI we have the opportunity to both make our own investments and have a modicum of insured income in our later years if those investments don’t work out. It’s a good deal. Best of both worlds.

@bkcunningham , I do not receive anywhere close to the figure that you quoted ($2513.oo) & I (literally) worked all of my life, from the time I got my first job at the age of 14 until I retired at the age of 66. I had a simple IRA, but the economic crash in 2008 wiped it out. So, without my Social Security check, I would end up out in the street.

My parents live on social security alone. They have a little nest egg, but are not independently wealthy or anything. I am getting close to retirement, and have a small amount in my 401K, only because my employer put it there. I raised four kids through several recessions and never have had more than necessary to live. All my life, since I was 16, I have been raped for social security tax. Add federal and state tax on top of that, and it is no wonder that I didn’t have any left. @Espiritus_Corvus makes a good point – if they had not raped that 12% out of me, do you think I would have it in the bank today? Not!

For me, it’s not a matter of having to live on social security; it’s my choice. I started paying into it 50 years ago and, as a new retiree well past retirement age, I feel completely entitled to having that monthly check supplement my savings and other income streams.

My wife and I are both 62 and we could both retire today and live very well off of our investments without any Social Security. We don’t needed it but will take it. We are not rich. I work in a hospital lab and my wife is a dietitian. We have always taken full advantage of IRA’s, 403B’s, the S&P 500, and bought stocks in many sound companies. We viewed all of the Wall Street bursting bubbles and crashes over the years as buying opportunities. Our house is paid off and we are frugal. We also will get retirement checks from civilian medical systems but we could likely live off our stock dividends alone even as highly taxed as they are.

I also know of 3 other couples who couple easily live without Social Security.

Any way, I think that a way that would help to save Social Security would be to give it to only those who need it. Similar to the way food stamps are managed.

@Linda_Owl That $2513 figure is a maximum, based on the Social Security Wage Base. As of 2013, that is $113,700; if you earn less than that, you won’t be maxxing out your contribution, so your benefits will be reduced. In other words, the more you earn during your working years, the more you get after retirement.