Should Social Security and SSI laws be changed immediately?

The U.S. budget deal comes with a Social Security surprise: the media reports a provision could take $50,000 out of some Americans' lifetime benefits.   The media should report that it takes from Americans that are abusing the system.

The deal President Barack Obama and congressional leaders have reached would end a strategy, called ‘file and suspend’ that retirees are using to get more money out of the Social Security System. A strategy that should have never been allowed in the first place!

The rules for claiming Social Security are enormously complicated, and a law passed in 2000 made them even more complicated by creating the opportunity to 'file and suspend'. File and suspend is a rule that practically no one knows about unless they are financially secure and have tax consultants or financial advisors. It certainly does nothing to help the poor elderly or middle class trying to survive on Social Security and it certainly depletes the Social Security fund faster.

The longer you wait to start receiving your Social Security benefits, the higher your monthly benefits will be. File early and you lock in a lower benefit. Wait until 70 and you lock in your maximum benefit. The monthly check for a single person who files at age 70 can be 76 percent higher than if he or she had filed early at 62.

Under 'file and suspend', married workers can file for Social Security and then immediately suspend their benefits. Their benefit checks won't start arriving in the mail, and the value of their eventual benefits will keep rising as if they hadn't filed. In the meantime, their husband or wife can apply for a portion of the spousal benefit they are entitled to once their spouse has filed. In other words the couple does not really need their Social Security benefits to survive. They allow their spouse to draw the spousal benefits and wait until age 70 for the other one to draw. This allows the one to draw benefits immediately and the other to get about 76% more when they begin to draw at age 70. This is but another example of the rich getting richer and the poor worrying if their Social Security benefits will last until they die. GREED!

Couples who 'file and suspend' are double-dipping. They're getting the extra benefits that come from waiting until age 70 to file, while also accessing benefits early. Boston University Professor Laurence Kotlikoff estimates that file and suspend can boost lifetime Social Security benefits for many couples by $50,000.

The loophole even provides a clause if you try 'file and suspend' and do not like it you can suspend it and be paid a lump sum for all the back benefits from age 62 that you did not collect and it is paid in one check. I wonder how many wealthy elderly use the program as an insurance policy.

The legislators and President now call 'file and suspend' an "unintended loophole," and there is evidence that Congress never meant to create the strategy. The 2000 law that allowed it was the Senior Citizens' Freedom to Work Act, aimed at encouraging older Americans to work if they wanted to. It only took 15 years for them to discover the loophole and try to correct it. I have to give credit to President Obama for proposing to close the loophole last year claiming it was a strategy that mostly benefits wealthier retirees. Nancy Pelosi said that the Obama health care bill had to be passed before they could read it.  I guess the same happen with the Senior Citizens’ Freedom to Work Act.

If passed in its present form, the bill would end 'file and suspend' for future retirees. It would make it impossible for people to access their spousal benefits while their spouses are still waiting to access theirs.

It also stops children of Social Security beneficiaries, who have their own version of 'file and suspend'. Social Security sends a monthly check to children of beneficiaries who are either under 18 or are adults who were disabled when they were young or attending college. These children wouldn't get their checks until their parents start getting theirs.

The budget deal would end 'file and suspend' in six months for everyone using the strategy. They are trying to amend the bill so it would not affect those presently using the strategy and would only affect those that intend to use the strategy in the future. I SAY STOP THE STRATEGY FOR ALL NOW!

Most people don't know how to take full advantage of Social Security. The Social Security Agency Administration should be doing more to help retirees find legal ways to maximize their benefits. The truth is that a larger percentage of rich people than poor people are eligible for government money because of the gap in knowledge. Most people don't even know about the thousands of government giveaway programs because most of these programs are funded by Washington, but administered through either the states or little-known organizations. The 1% know about the venture capital and special "loans" they can get from the government and do not have to pay back.

Did you know that a legal alien that has a sponsor, a person who signed an agreement with DHS to provide support for them can have the sponsor’s income and resources count as their income and resources which may entitle them to more S.S.I. benefits? If a sponsor agreed to support the alien why is the government involved in supporting them. SSI is not Social Security it is a U.S. Welfare Program.

Did you know legal aliens from Haiti or Cuba are automatically eligible for SSI for a maximum of seven years from the date DHS granted their immigration status.

Did you know legal aliens who are blind or disable can draw lifetime SSI?

Did you know you can be a “deemed qualified alien” for SSI if you, your child or parent were subjected to battery or cruelty by a family member while in the United States?

Did you know alien immigrants seniors are allowed to collect SSI even if they have children who have money and could support them. I know of an alien from India who owns two dry cleaning shops in Houston, Texas who has brought his mother, father, mother-in-law and father-in-law over and they all draw SSI. I wrote my Congressman to have it verified and he advised me that it was legal. I question the man from India who was renting space from me in a strip center and he told me that his pastor in India teaches them how to do it. To make matters worse his father owns a drug store in India being run by another son.

It is no wonder the U.S. is trillions in debt. The government admits billions of dollars are paid in fraudulent funds each year for Social Security Disability Benefits. The Government Accountability Office identified 36,000 people who have received $1.29 billion of disability overpayments at the same time they were working and earning wages.

It is worth noting that current Federal law prohibits the Social Security administration from paying a financial reward to an American citizen who reports a case of Social Security disability fraud. This law should be changed immediately. Give an incentive to report fraud!