Reply #11: Do the freakin' math [View All]

[triguy46]

My wife, 52 years old, has been a school teacher for 30 years. The Social Security Administration sends her an annual report of her earnings and her benefits. If she had the nerve to retire at 62, her social security would be $1,092 per month, before any deductions.
At 65 it would jump to around $1,400. Now if you multiply that by
12, her annual will range from 13,000 to 16,800.

Now how in the world, is someone earning $20 K or less going to get enough of a boost to get to a reasonable income level? They don't have any extra money to invest in private accounts. But beyond that,
$16,000/yr is pretty much a poverty wage. So what we have accomplished is institutionalizing poverty and calling it "better off."