Jogeephus
Well-known member
Yesterday I was asked to read over some social security paperwork for someone who was very upset with the information they had received in the mail. I ended up making them very mad with understanding of the letter and the opinion I voiced. I'd like to see what if I was out of line with this or not.
Person A worked for the state for a number of years and did not have to pay into social security because they had their own pension plan and were exempt from social security tax. Person A was also married to someone for over 10 years but decided the grass was greener on the other side of the fence and divorced their spouse. Their spouse never remarried and died some 20 years ago and Person A was able to collect the spouses social security check which amounted to around $1000 a month. In addition to this person A collected $865 a month from their government pension making their total income work out to $1865/month.
The recent letter from the social security states that since Person A is already receiving a government pension from their own retirement plan that of their spouses will be reduced by 66% or $666 leaving person A only $334 from SS but a total combined income of $1199/month. Person A was livid about this. I explained that it is not that terrible since IF Person A had worked in the private sector there is no percentage and it is deducted dollar for dollar which would have meant Person A would have $865 deducted from the social security check leaving only a third or $135/month or a total of only $1000/month so in a way Person A is doing better than the average tax payer by $199/month. I also pointed out that Person A was lucky that their spouse stayed single for over 20 years else this payment would have had to have been split.
Anyhow, Person A didn't like my take on the what the papers explain but it got me to thinking - is this really fair? Not so much for Person A but for the taxpayer to be treated with different math than a government employee.
Person A worked for the state for a number of years and did not have to pay into social security because they had their own pension plan and were exempt from social security tax. Person A was also married to someone for over 10 years but decided the grass was greener on the other side of the fence and divorced their spouse. Their spouse never remarried and died some 20 years ago and Person A was able to collect the spouses social security check which amounted to around $1000 a month. In addition to this person A collected $865 a month from their government pension making their total income work out to $1865/month.
The recent letter from the social security states that since Person A is already receiving a government pension from their own retirement plan that of their spouses will be reduced by 66% or $666 leaving person A only $334 from SS but a total combined income of $1199/month. Person A was livid about this. I explained that it is not that terrible since IF Person A had worked in the private sector there is no percentage and it is deducted dollar for dollar which would have meant Person A would have $865 deducted from the social security check leaving only a third or $135/month or a total of only $1000/month so in a way Person A is doing better than the average tax payer by $199/month. I also pointed out that Person A was lucky that their spouse stayed single for over 20 years else this payment would have had to have been split.
Anyhow, Person A didn't like my take on the what the papers explain but it got me to thinking - is this really fair? Not so much for Person A but for the taxpayer to be treated with different math than a government employee.