A DISABLED man is being demanded to pay back $36,000 in Social Security after they reportedly overpaid him for 24 years.
Retired postal worker Ron Bonasso is in his seventies and has to work two jobs to make ends meet because he cannot collect his Social Security.
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Despite paying into Social Security for years, Ron could not collect this money because of two key provisions: the Windfall Elimination Provision and Government Pension Offset.
These two aspects of Social Security reduce benefits for nearly 3 million Americans, namely public servants who received a pension from a job that did not pay Social Security taxes.
Ron said: “I’m just trynna make ends meet here, it’s been no picnic.
“There’s a whole bunch of us who have been retired all these years who got schooled by Social Security.”
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The Social Security Fairness Act, which passed the Senate with a 76-20 vote on December 21, will remove these two provisions.
The bill will also end a second provision that reduces Social Security benefits for those workers’ surviving spouses and family members.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said: “The Senate finally corrects a 50-year mistake.”
Shannon Benton, executive director for the Senior Citizens League, which advocates for retirees, commented that the bill‘s passage is “a monumental victory for millions of public service workers who have been denied the full benefits they’ve rightfully earned.
“This legislation finally restores fairness to the system and ensures the hard work of teachers, first responders and countless public employees is truly recognized.”
Once signed into law, the legislation’s effective date involves Social Security payments for months after December 2023, according to the text of the bill.
Democrats uniformly voted for the measure, while Republicans in the Senate were split, with 20 voting to pass it and 20 voting against it.
Republicans who spoke against the bill largely objected to its cost, noting that the measure would accelerate the Social Security trust fund’s projected insolvency by about six months.
This is reportedly estimated to be roughly a decade away.
Emerson Sprick, associate director of economic policy at the Bipartisan Policy Center, said: “the fact that there is such overwhelming support in Congress for exactly the opposite of what policy researchers agree on is pretty frustrating.”
The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, a nonpartisan fiscal think tank, is also warning the extra cost will affect the program’s future.
HOW TO SUPPLEMENT YOUR SOCIAL SECURITY
Here’s how to supplement your Social Security:
Given the uncertainty surrounding Social Security’s long-term future, it’s essential for workers to consider ways to supplement their retirement income.
Senior Citizens League executive director, Shannon Benton recommends starting early with savings and investing in retirement accounts like 401(k)s or IRAs.
- 401(k) Plans
- A 401(k) is a retirement account offered through employers, where contributions are tax-deferred.
- Many employers also match employee contributions, typically between 2% and 4% of salary, making it a valuable tool for building retirement savings.
- Maxing out your 401(k) contributions, especially if your employer offers a match, should be a priority.
- IRAs
- An Individual Retirement Account (IRA) offers another avenue for retirement savings.
- Unlike a 401(k), an IRA isn’t tied to your employer, giving you more flexibility in your investment choices.
- Contributions to traditional IRAs are tax-deductible, and the funds grow tax-free until they are withdrawn, at which point they are taxed as income.
“We are racing to our own fiscal demise,” the group’s president, Maya MacGuineas, said in a statement.
“It is truly astonishing that at a time when we are just nine years away from the trust fund for the nation’s largest program being completely exhausted, lawmakers are about to consider speeding that up by six months.”
Republican Senator Ted Cruz on the Senate floor on Wednesday said the bill as written will “throw granny over the cliff”.
The House of Representatives last month approved the bill in a 327-75 vote, which means that Senate approval sends it to Democratic President Joe Biden to sign into law.
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