posted on Sep, 8 2006 @ 10:51 PM
If you were born after 1960, your full benefits retirement age with Social Security is age 67. Benefits are based on your life-time earnings record.
You receive interest on all the OASI money you and your employer pay in to the Trust Fund. Old Age and Survivors Insurance. OASI also provides
benefits to surviving children up to age 18 or 22 if in school. It also pays about 65% of average wages if totally disabled. This fund, along with the
Medicare insurance payment, is collected under FICA. Federal Insurance Contributions Act. Currently the SS tax is 6.2% of wages capped at $80,000 per
year.
The Medicare tax is 1.45% of wages but there is no cap. FICA is 7.65%, and matched by employers. Self-employed persons pay both for a total of 15.3%
of taxable income. The Medicare insurance is a paid-up Part A plan. You pay premiums all during your working life and when you retire, Part A is
furnished to you at no further cost.
Part B, OTOH, which covers doctors, labs, therapy, etc., charges a monthly premium deducted from your monthly SS payment, adjusted annually, and
currently $88.00 a month. (It was $45 in 2001). The law provides that any excess in Part A, after setting aside actuarial reserves, is paid over into
Part B. Up to now, there has been a substantial pay-over which has kept the rise in Part B premiums down.
Part D is new and is not paid in advance. You are billed for the private plan you select. The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services oversees the
private firms that handle disbursement of both Medicare and Medicaid funds. Medicaid is wholly paid out of the General Fund and has no connection to
social Security or Medicare. The SSA administers only for Medicaid.
Because Medicare pays 80% of the approved fees, the patient is liable for the other 20%. The private insurance industry jumped in quickly. In the case
of Medicare, as opposed to the 2004 fiasco of Plan D, the 1965 Federal law provided any company could sell a medicare supplement, but they had to
offer Plan A and one other plan they could choose from 10 government written plans. Companies could offer their own plans but none have chosen to do
so. Because the coverage is the same for all companies, it is possible for consumers to pick and choose the cheapest plan. 1965 was done by Democrats.
2004 was done by Republicans. You don’t even have to be smart to see which was best for old people.
Because of much improved longevity since the enactment of the Social Security Act in 1935, the life expectancy of retirees today is close to 15 years.
This poses special problems in the 2010 to 2040 time frame. This is the Baby Boomers retiring. By 2040, the number of workers will again put the Trust
Fund in the black. There are various estimates how much will be needed to make up the shortfall, but it will be made up. No Congress would dare not
to. This means many more workers will stay on the job past age 67.
Persons working full time after age 65, in 1995, 16% men, and 8% women but in 2005, those numbers were 19.8% for men, and 11.5% for women. So, where
to work?
Here is a partial list of the 50 employers who are given accolades for being "friendly" to older workers as rated by the employees.
1. Mercy Health System (WI); 2. Lee Mem. Health Sys. (FL); 3. Bon Secours HS Richmond (VA); 4. LRMC/TVRH (FL); 5. VW of America (MI); 7. MIT (MA); 8.
Oakwood HS (MI); 9. First Horizon Corp (TN); 10. Hoffman-LaRoche (NJ); 14. Brevard Public Schools (FL); 16. Principal Financial Group (IA); 17.
Aerospace Corp (CA); 21. SC Johnson Co (IA); 24. Va Commonwealth U. (VA); 30. Univ. of Kentucky; 32. Cornell U. (NY); West Va U Hosp )WVA); 43. L. L.
Bean (ME); 48. UT Cancer Center (TX);
and 50. John Deers (IL). To see the full list go to www.aarp.org.
[edit on 9/8/2006 by donwhite]