34 minutes ago, EVENKEEL said:

Scary thought.  If I make a substantial withdrawal from 401k, my 1099R's could put a smuck like me in crosshairs.  Or a good majority of retirees. 

I really wouldn't worry about that.

It probably won't happen and even if it does we have no idea what the rules would be or level of wealth they would decide to target.

 

On the other hand a real thing to worry about niow are automatically triggered deep benefit cuts for all unless the government can make reforms in time. 

 

The most likely fix is probably just raising the payroll cap on SS taxes.

 

Something like this although this specific bill is probably more than republicans would ever go for:

 

New Bill Eliminates Cap on Social Security Payroll Taxes

ww.thinkadvisor.com/2025/05/21/new-bill-eliminates-cap-on-social-security-payroll-taxes/

 

New legislation would extend the solvency of Social Security and Medicare by at least 75 years by eliminating the cap on Social Security payroll taxes and increasing the net investment income tax, which supports Medicare, by 1.2% (to 5%) for taxpayers earning over $400,000 a year.

The bill, the Medicare & Social Security Fair Share Act, is sponsored by Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., and Rep. Brendan Boyle, D-Pa.

As U.S. President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans' so-called "Big Beautiful Bill" heads to the Senate, a watchdog group on Tuesday released a report highlighting that dozens of GOP members of Congress worth a total of $2.5 billion are set to benefit from the package, which would cut food and healthcare benefits for millions of working-class Americans.

 

'Nothing beautiful' about it: Outrage as 35 wealthy Republicans set to cash in on GOP bill