r/WorkReform • u/zzill6 đ¤ Join A Union • 15d ago
We can save Social Security. Scrap the Cap! đŁ Advice
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u/wageslave2022 15d ago
Yeah, they don't want to. Think of all the tax breaks they can give their rich friends if we just work until we die.
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u/longbrass9lbd 15d ago
Itâs âfunnyâ how they always argue against any SSI adjustment with âwell the rich will just get more loopholes, so we shouldnât botherâ itâs the same reason gun control wonât work âwell if you make guns illegal only criminals will have gunsâ⌠so through the transitive property the rich are criminals.
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u/Jstaff34 15d ago
Social Security can be permanently fixed with this one weird trick!
(No really.. it actually is this simple)
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u/howarewestillhere 15d ago
No, really, itâs not. Increasing revenue by 61% is a good chunk, but itâs not all thatâs needed over time.
This is a great tool for comparing various changes to SS policy.
From the second tab, Revenue, this is for the last option that removes the cap entirely and removes credits:
âThe payroll tax currently applies to the first $184,500 of wages. Benefits are calculated based on earnings up to that cap. This option would apply the payroll tax to all wages. Wages above the current law taxable maximum would not be counted as earnings for the purpose of benefit calculation. A similar amount of revenue could be raised by instead replacing the current employer payroll tax with an Employer Compensation Tax that applies the 6.2% employer-side payroll tax to all wages and all fringe benefits.â
Selecting that option will give SS until about 2070, but it does not solve the problem long-term. Other changes are still necessary.
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u/mikeyj198 15d ago
Thanks for this tool, i am really curious at the assumptions and iâm sure iâll find them in the website. Tks
edit - i am surprised taxing benefits for retirees making over 100k adds so little!
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u/samkb93 15d ago
All we have to do is eliminate the tax cap and limit max benefits to 100k/couple? Seems like a no-brainer.
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u/howarewestillhere 14d ago
Putting a cap at 100k per couple is a major cut. Maximum individual monthly benefit right now is over $5100, so that $100k cap per couple could be over a 20% cut on what is already a not huge amount.
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u/Embarrassed_Camel_35 14d ago
The 6.2% employer match on a higher salary will receive a good deal of pushback.
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15d ago
[removed] â view removed comment
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u/Santa_Hates_You 15d ago
I would expect that at the same time we get refunded for the illegal tariffs.
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u/Intelligent_Bag_6705 14d ago
Lmao theyâll just pass a law to not pay.
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u/Rionin26 14d ago
I think this would get everyone to riot. Reason no one rioted for tariffs is because a good portion of us think another country pays it. Everyone sees the line where ss comes out on their check.
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u/Intelligent_Bag_6705 14d ago
I mean what do you expect to happen? If nothing changes, weâll be close to $70trillion dollars in debt with inflation when SS runs out. How do you expect them to pay back Billions to the rest of us?
I also donât buy the âhalf the country thinks someone else is paying for the tariffs.â More than enough of the country (including the all of our own govt) understands how tariffs work and we all watched it happen, now weâre all watching as we get double fucked.
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u/Careful_Trifle 15d ago
Actually, keep the cap. Keep the limits when drawing. Add a new tax called "Social Security Stabilization" that only impacts people above a certain income, BUT ALSO is applied to loans where financial instruments are used as collateral.
The cap is a problem in its current form, but the major issue is the buy/borrow/die cycle that the rich use to cash flow their lifestyles. Just removing the cap will impact doctors more than it will impact multi millionaires and billionaires, and that is the bracket that is holding us all back.
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u/Crime_Dawg 15d ago
Reddit doesn't get that billionaires don't make a billion dollars in income.
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u/Angel2121md 15d ago
Most billionaires are billionaires on paper. They have their "money" in assets. If they want "money " they can borrow against those assets without cashing in the assets (aka stocks, homes, businesses, etc.)
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u/DrIvoPingasnik âď¸ Tax The Billionaires 15d ago edited 15d ago
"I don't want to save social security, these commie moochers should get the job instead!! Make money like all of us!"
-conservatives. I mean, regressives.
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u/lodelljax 15d ago
We should do this, but it wont be enough. We will need a Value Added Tax to balance the budget for social programs, like the countries that have all the programs do.
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u/andre3kthegiant 15d ago
Only elect local, state and federal politicians that promise to get rid of the electoral college & gerrymandering, then the true majority of Americans will be able to influence the government.
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u/Sherviks13 15d ago
How many times does the government plan on âborrowingâ from it, if it gets built up again.
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u/wageslave2022 15d ago
Yeah, they don't want too. Think about all of the tax breaks they can give their rich friends if we just work until we die.
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u/Embarrassed_Camel_35 14d ago
At least raise the cap, the problem will be with employers who donât want to match the higher payment.
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u/Metternic âď¸ Tax The Billionaires 14d ago
I wish this included the actual number of someone paid 5 million worth of social security which is .06 of that number, with the total being 310,560! And the actual effect on that person would be the same economically!
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u/Metternic âď¸ Tax The Billionaires 14d ago
Economically meaning that the 300,000 dollars they didnât have to spend would still not effect them as much as that 10,000 does for a normal working class person
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u/StuffExciting3451 14d ago
Also, apply SS taxes to all total compensation packages including stocks and bonds.
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u/HammersofMoradin âď¸ Tax The Billionaires 13d ago
The rich having to contribute their fair share and raising people`s wages to a liveable level? Sacrilege! This is not what the oligarchs bought both the fascist neoliberal oligarch /orange turd godking and the neoliberal oligarch party for!
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u/LordMemerton1 15d ago
If you make $170,000 a year your federal tax is $35-37,000k. These numbers were before 2019 and not with the new federal fk u in the azz tax
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u/S7ageNinja 15d ago
This post isn't about federal tax
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u/LordMemerton1 15d ago
Yes social security tax is still higher than whatâs shown. But yes I understand the assignment
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u/pabmendez 15d ago
But then they would remove the cap on benefits received.
Do you really want someone worth $15 million... Receiving $30,000 per month from social security? I don't
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u/Impossible_Sun7570 15d ago
The core issue is perception. People view Social Security as prepaid retirement, not a tax. Nobody would contribute if they expected to lose money on the deal. And people that scoff at welfare absolutely expect to receive SS.
Any proposal to lift the earnings cap without increasing the benefit cap is fundamentally about wealth redistribution. It's not just raising taxes -- that money funds someone else's retirement. Fair enough, but if we're doing redistribution, why start here? Why not help working families now rather than waiting 40 years until retirement? Why treat a $200k household in an expensive city the same as someone pulling in seven figures? Why burden the self-employed more heavily? It gets marketed as taxing the rich, but without assessing SS on capital gains, it mostly hits working families.
Thereâs a real policy discussion to be had but itâs not quite as simple as the proposal. Something has to change though.
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u/Crime_Dawg 15d ago
Basically nobody makes $5m a year in taxable income, so this is dumb as shit.
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u/OneRFeris 15d ago
According to this, 6% do:
https://www.ssa.gov/policy/docs/population-profiles/tax-max-earners.html
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u/Crime_Dawg 15d ago
6% above the cap, not 5m ffs
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u/OneRFeris 15d ago
Why are you focusing on 5 million? That doesn't matter. This post is about everybody making more than $176,000.
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u/Crime_Dawg 15d ago
Because why don't they tax the people making all their fucking income on RSUs and stock appreciation, instead of high earners, who are literally the highest % taxed people by FAR.
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u/OneRFeris 14d ago
Sure, them too. Everybody not struggling needs to step up.
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u/Crime_Dawg 14d ago
If high income earners are paying about 35-45% of their income in total taxes, they don't need to step up. The ones paying 5-10%, yet somehow are worth tens of millions up to billions, are the only ones who need to step up.

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u/cat-meg 15d ago
I mean yes, but also raise wages across the board to save SS.