Social Security benefits are a perennial target for cuts because the program faces a long-run shortfall. Some lawmakers and opinion leaders mistakenly portray the program’s benefits as lavish. The fact is, benefits are modest and workers have earned them by paying into Social Security — protecting themselves and their families if they retire, become disabled, or die. Here are five key facts that policymakers need to keep in mind…

  • jeffw@lemmy.world
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    11 months ago

    My favorite part of SSI for people with disabilities is that they can have a $2000 asset limit. That limit was set decades ago and remains unchanged. That’s like 2 months of SSI, so you can’t accumulate wealth

    • ____@infosec.pub
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      11 months ago

      I pay for (via employer) long term disability coverage because it’s cheap, and because my odds of needing it are marginally higher than average.

      But in reality, I buy the coverage because I hear the horror stories of people trying to get disability, backlogs, denials, etc.

      For me, the fear is not being able to work / work full time, and how the hell would I live while waiting the process out? Could I reduce costs enough to live on SSDI? Probably. But I can’t reduce costs to zero while the process drags out.

      As ever, we underfund programs so they do t work properly and then try to cut more funding because they don’t work properly.