DONALD J. TRUMP & JD VANCE 2024

F Me In The Brain said:

I shut my anecedotal or Google informed opinion down and asked questions when Johnny shared this is an area he covers as part of his living.  I believe Gern is a CPA?
Googling something doesn't give us full picture vs someone who has real world experience in topic being discussed.  

I have argued positions that I have expert opinions on in this forum before, it is frustrating. 

LOL, yes, see every Covid/vaccine discussion on here.

Gern Blansten said:

Johnny Abruzzo said:

Yes social security is taxed but there is a low income exclusion. I agree it shouldn’t be taxed but yeah that is a big budget impact. Of course Trump doesn’t say where to get the money. 

The proposal sounds good but I guarantee that most seniors don't pay tax on it now.

Seniors with only ss income aren't even required to file a tax return. Unless benefits are very high 

Most is not all.

Gern Blansten said:

cincybearcat said:

Gern Blansten said:

Johnny Abruzzo said:

Yes social security is taxed but there is a low income exclusion. I agree it shouldn’t be taxed but yeah that is a big budget impact. Of course Trump doesn’t say where to get the money. 

The proposal sounds good but I guarantee that most seniors don't pay tax on it now.

Seniors with only ss income aren't even required to file a tax return. Unless benefits are very high 

Most is not all.

Right so why focus on something that mostly benefits wealthy retirees? 

Cause why not treat people the same with $ they put in to a system? 

And remember... Married joint has about a $30k standard deduction so even if some is taxable you only pay tax on income - deduction.

Smoke and mirrors 

Gern Blansten said:

And remember... Married joint has about a $30k standard deduction so even if some is taxable you only pay tax on income - deduction.

Smoke and mirrors 

So you are saying some is taxed….

cincybearcat said:

Gern Blansten said:

And remember... Married joint has about a $30k standard deduction so even if some is taxable you only pay tax on income - deduction.

Smoke and mirrors 

So you are saying some is taxed….

Well yeah... I said most don't have to worry about it but yes some people pay tax on part of their benefit 

gimmesometruth27 said:

has anybody seen the polls? why is nobody posting the polls that are favoring trump?

i know, i know, polls do not matter yet, but it's funny how that has suddenly stopped the last 2 weeks.

National : President: general election : 2024 Polls | FiveThirtyEight

Based on this, which shows national polls based on surveys done over the past 5-10 days, they're +/- 1-10 points, most +/- 1-3, some leaning Harris, some leaning Trump. That to me is coin toss territory and not worth speculating on one way or another. All I will say is for Harris to have effectively started the race two weeks ago and being in coin toss territory is likely a good sign. 

Lerxst1992 said:

Gern Blansten said:

SS benefits for people who were high earners is decent income. Not unusual to see $55k per year for some people. 

Unfortunately to survive in the NY suburbs, retirees will need an income they makes the majority of SS taxable. Supplemental insurance and property taxes consume the majority of the $44k. If they’re renting, even worse. Like the entire federal code, HCOL regions get screwed.


edit, I mention  Supplemental insurance and property taxes because these are costs that get us nowhere, they are “existence expenses.” Now let’s add heat, utilities, food, out of pocket medical. It takes almost 100k cash to live around here.

yeah it's not that cut and dry...when income hits $44K that doesn't mean that 85% of your benefit is taxable.

Here are some real figues

Married Joint...Income other than SS is $40K...total social security benefit is $33,502. So..true total income is $73,502 yet only $7,100 in SS benefits is taxable or 21% of the benefit.

Married Joint...Income other than SS is $80K...total ss benefit $33,502. True total income $113,502, then $28,477 of SS is taxable which is the full 85% (total tax would be $7,190 or 6.3% of total income)

so...it's another benefit for wealthy taxpayers and does little to nothing for everyone else