Social Security ??

mckayleesmom wrote: Do you guys pay into it? I didn't know till recently that you could opt not to pay into it. I heard alot of people don't because it probably won't be there when we need it.

We still do pay into it...just in case. But dh says that everytime he passes the post office he thinks about stopping in and filling out the forms to stop it.

Kaitlin'smom replied: I had no clue you could opt out of it.......I woudl be interested in more info on this.

My2Beauties replied: I'm in payroll and had absolutely no idea you could stop it????

coasterqueen replied: I have never heard of being able to adopt out of it and I do the payroll for our office. I'd like to know more about it too. I'm all for having my own savings account for this type of thing. I thought this was something the Dem's didn't want, though, so that's why Bush couldn't get it to go through.

My2Beauties replied:
To add to that, honestly I would think that at least someone out of the almost 4000 people that work here would opt out and we'd have a form on file for someone but I have nothing. I know you can only pay a certain amount into SS, last year it was $6045, once you reached that you no longer had SS withheld. SS withholds 6.2% from your paycheck, I always thought it was mandatory. Now I know you can opt out to have Federal taken out by claiming exempt but normally people who do that just pay quarterly or at the end of each year.

mckayleesmom replied: Ok..I will have to run this by my husband again when he gets home because I can't find any information on stopping it.....I just googled it and couldn't find anything. He was told by someone that there is a way to stop it and there is a paper at the post office you have to fill out and mail in. But I can't find anything.

So lets just turn this into a hypothetical question for now......Would you stop paying?

mckayleesmom replied: I did find this
http://www.livetaxfree.com/stop.htm

Kaitlin'smom replied: honestly if it is was an option YES I would. I have my own personal life insuance to cover DH and Kaitlin quite well if somethign were to happen to me. what little they woudl possibly even get from SS in NOT worth all the money I have dumped into it. I would rather take what I am putting in now into my own retiremant plan. It woudl be worth far more that anything they can do with it.

mckayleesmom replied:
Thats what I would do too....Heck...I would hide some under my mattress too.

luvmykids replied:
That's an interesting thought, I wouldn't mind a refund of what I"ve paid in But the fact that they tell you how to do things without your ssn (get hired, open a bank account, etc) makes me wonder where they get their info and how reliable it is......there are lots of ppl who think taxes are illegal and refuse to pay them...the IRS doesn't agree

My3LilMonkeys replied:
I'm in the same boat here - been doing payroll for 4 years and our company has over 2000 employees - I take 95% of the payroll calls and not one person has ever called or sent a form to ask about this....



I googled it and found nothing saying that you can, but no 'official' sites saying that you can't either - mostly forums and blogs.

redchief replied:
Before you go buying his books, you should read this. Irwin Schiff, the owner of Freedom Books, is currently involved in a tax evasion case with the government. He's not in jail... yet.

My3LilMonkeys replied:
Especially when you consider they want you to pay them to tell you how to do it...if it was legal you probably wouldn't have to pay to get the info....

redchief replied: Social Security tax is not an option. Employers are required by law to pay into the SSI system. We are also required by the SSI act to pay into SS the percentage of our pay that they determine.

grandma replied:
Wow, I'm in HR also and I've never heard of this or anyone doing it. I'm gonna run this past husband, but I don't know about that 200 page 'how to' book.

lovemy2 replied: The only people who can opt out of SS are certain religious leaders - but by doing so they give up any use of ANY public assistance - Medicaid, Medicare, etc. The average joe CANNOT opt out of SS......

julesmom replied: From the Dept of SS website:

Question
Can I opt out of Social Security?

Can I withdraw taxes that I have paid for Social Security coverage?


Answer
No. Social Security coverage is mandatory. But consider this: unlike your private plan, Social Security provides disability and survivors coverage in addition to retirement benefits. And Social Security generally offers greater protection for family members than private pensions.

The law also does not permit a refund of Social Security taxes. The authority for the collection of taxes, including Social Security taxes, is found in the Internal Revenue Code, not the Social Security Act. (See sections 3101(a) and 3102(a) of the Code.)

Am I required to participate in the Social Security program?

Answer
Participation in the Social Security program is mandatory with respect to the payment of Social Security taxes. Unless specifically exempt by law, everyone working in the United States is required to pay Social Security taxes on earnings from employment. These earnings are subject to Social Security tax without regard to the citizenship or place of residence of either the employer or the employee.

Hillbilly Housewife replied:
Brianne, unless I'm mistaken, you don't work, right? then so yu don't have to pay social security taxes.

I don't know about the laws there... but here you can make spousal transfers for stuff like rrsps, benefits etc... and so we get around a lot of tax payments that way. we max out our rrsps, our resps, and anything we can put money into we do, to "lower our income".... we pay out just over 100$ a month to World Vision, for one... seems like a lot...and it is... but we get back an extra 400$ a year from our return, and on more than one occasion it has put us under the higher bracket so we only ahd to pay out 21% in taxes.

msoulz replied:
I had a friend "live tax free" for a few years - she is now reconciling with the IRS to repay all of the tax she didn't pay back then . It has something to do with declaring yourself a resident alien, or some nonsense. But that was income tax, I don't know if they also did not pay social security.

lovemy2 replied: If you don't pay in you don't get back - so say for instance you NEVER work a day in your life for whatever reason - you have never paid into the system therefore you don't get back - however as a spouse you would be entitled to your spouse's benefits if he/she were to die.

As I said with religious leaders - priests, etc. they can opt out but there would never be a widows benefit or benefits for your children, etc. if you were to die early. Believe me - even with the fear that SS will "not be there" (which I don't buy - I do buy that it could be less than we thought but as a matter of public policy it HAS to be there) it is worth paying into it - my SIL's first husband is disabled - she has gotten over $1000 a month for her two kids since he became disabled - without that money she would have been sunk...........If my DH were to die god forbid the $ I would get as a widow and for my children would definately go a long way in keeping us afloat so that I didn't lose my house and everything else.....