gamb00ler

The age of most measles fatalities is under 5 years old. Are you older than 5?

Last year I set up LOGIN.GOV for the wife and ID.me for myself. We've been using those methods for over a year now. LOGIN.GOV is easier to use. A couple of days ago I noticed that SSA.GOV still offered the option to Sign in with Social Security Username. I tried it and it still works. Since it's a much simpler and faster method I'l continue with it rather than the convoluted ID.me process.

I can tell you really struggled for that catchy comeback.

Your posts imply that you're actually a chatbot that escaped into the wild before the code was finished.

You will find that the majority of investment advisors tell their customers that as they approach retirement they should reduce the risk in their investment portfolio. That advice is very conventional. Of course, with less risk the returns are also reduced. At any point in time, a large percentage of the funds in the SS trust fund belong to those who are close to retirement. The contributions of those near retirement have already grown substantially due to the compounding nature of long term investing. That block of funds are best invested in low risk securities. Investing SS trust funds to produce the "best" result is exceedingly difficult because what is best for one SS participant can be markedly different from what is best for a different participant. Such is the nature of investing funds collectively owned by a diverse group. I think the current method is a good one because even though it may not produce the highest return it does provide a benefit to the nation as a whole by reducing the level of foreign ownership of the Federal debt. It is also reliably a low risk strategy.

This response by you (@Harrisfan) to simple1's post really proves to me that in fact you don't read any news or history. The Allies did not side with Russia... they needed them.... almost as much as the Russians needed the aid from the Allies before they could get their war effort organized. The existential Nazi threat was what brought Russia and the Allies together. Another of your posts that is a complete non sequitur to the discussion you quoted. In case you forgot.... the other posters were addressing appeasement to prevent war

Out of the last 4 weeks this is the 3rd steep rise in the $/Baht during Mon - Wed. This week's doesn't seem so significant.

Yeah... I was mistaken... you're stuck at X's and O's level.

It seems you're stuck in checkers thinking.

As usual... upside down logic. With Obama and Biden in poser, Putin knew that the only chance he could get what he wanted was to use aggression. But, with Trump in power Vladdy knew what he wanted would be handed to him.

I think the thread title should be : Macron Plays Trump in Discussion of Ukraine Conflict in White House Meeting

For some reason you seem obsessed with the T-bill rates. Did you not read the part of the law that states that the SS trust fund rate is set to the actual average rate that the government pays on all comparable debt obligations? The T-bills are only a portion of the debt that the government continually borrows. The SS funds are paid at the blended rate not just the rate of the most visible portion of the funding sources.

On that page at the bottom of the historical rates is a link to the calculation (established by law in1960) that SSA uses to set the interest rate for Special issue bonds. The formula sets the rate applicable in a given month to the average market yield on marketable interest-bearing securities of the Federal government which are not due or callable until after 4 years from the last business day of the prior month (the day when the rate is determined). The average yield must then be rounded to the nearest eighth of 1 percent. Link: https://www.ssa.gov/oact/progdata/intrateformula.html The federal government must sell other interest bearing securities that have higher rates than T-bills. It sounds like the SSA bond interest rate is defined to be competitive to the average rate the federal government pays.

The federal government's borrowing from the SS trust fund is at the same rate that it would have to pay any other lender (T-bill purchaser). So the added cost to the US taxpayer is zero at worst and may very well save the taxpayer on interest expense. Selling additional T-bills at auction will have small additional transaction costs. Small costs at high volumes do become significant. Additional volume of T-bills may also reduce their price which in effect increases the actual interest rate the federal government will end up paying. Did you get the $75.7B figure from here? If so, your figure is off by 10X. The actual overhead comes to .5%. https://www.ssa.gov/oact/STATS/admin.html

Thanks, but I already know how to deal with the non-clickable links. I noticed that other posts had working links so I thought I was doing something wrong.

A guy called Glenn Reeves publishes a spreadsheet that will basically do your US taxes. He updates his spreadsheet every year and it is ready for tax time every year (so far). It is donation ware. I find it very convenient when at year end I want to set my IRA withdrawal to the max while remaining in the zero tax rate bracket. Of course.... it's an excel sheet. https://sites.google.com/view/incometaxspreadsheet/home?authuser=0 P.S. - does anybody know why the links I post end up just being unclickable as ordinary text?

I agree that Congress needs to change the SS funding laws... but lately bipartisan agreement rarely happens. I think the most reasonable solutions that have been offered only attempt to increase the SS revenue without cutting benefits.

There aren't a lot of AN users that have shipped goods internationally. Additionally some of their experiences will be very dated. Your best path forward is to do an online search using a phrase like "international mover" or several keywords like international+container+shipping+household. Send several of them an exploratory email and go from there.

Canada does pay regular OAS benefits to non-residents. It will be prorated based on how long they lived in Canada. Your statement only applies to the Guaranteed Income Supplement (GIS) and to the rare extra benefits such as the one issued during COVID. Technically, the Canadian GIS is a separate benefit from the Old Age Supplement. Unlike the OAS, the GIS is not taxable.

No... that cannot be said. Simple facts show that your notion is incorrect. Only the empoyer's and employee's FICA taxes are supporting SS benefits. It's been that way by law since the inception of SS. By current law, the revenue from federal income taxes cannot now or in the future be used to prop up the SS trust fund. That's why the current projections warn that SS benefits will need to be reduced when the SS trust fund is exhausted. At that point SSA will only be able to pay out as much as it takes in.

I'm only familiar with the use of ITINs in the gambling world. Foreigners having gambling income in the US may have some percentage of their win withheld. They can file US taxes (using an ITIN) as a non-resident alien and may end up paying less tax than was withheld. Usually they do end up giving Uncle Sam a cut.

The government gets NONE of the social security taxes paid by illegal aliens. All money collected by employment taxes goes into the SS trust fund. It is the people receiving SS benefits that are being rewarded in that the SS trust fund will last somewhat longer than it would without illegal aliens contributions. Illegal aliens pay into the SS trust fund but will not be able to collect unless they become permanent residents or citizens.

Currently no income taxes(except the tax on SS benefits) go towards social security benefits. I am not positive about the benefits in the early years of SS but for decades already the benefits are funded completely by those who contributed. There is no "topping up" by taxpayers and there is no "excess" that SS recipients are spending. There is no transfer of income tax dollars to SS and also no transfer of SS funds to general federal government revenue streams. Before the boomers started retiring, the SS trust fund grew every year. It was earning interest at the same rate as the Treasury bills that are sold to investors.

It's good low brow entertainment.

Hopefully his attempts will wake up the MAGA minions to the threats posed by Trump/Musk.