December 20
12/20/24
How to save Social Security and make it FAIR!
The maximum amount of earnings subject to Social Security tax is $176,100 in 2025. That's up from $168,600 in 2024. The Social Security tax rate is 6.2%. This means that employees and employers each pay 6.2% on wages up to $176,100, or a total of $10, 918.20 each (i.e. $176,100 x 6.2% = $10,918.20 for this of you who aren't good at math).
That means that wage earners who make more than $176,100 pay no Social Security tax whatsoever on the amount earned in excess of $176,100 — that includes millionaires and billionaires.
Let's make this simple. If you make less than $176,100, you pay the 6.2% Social Security tax on a full 100% of your entire income. If you're a billionaire, you pay the 6.2% Social Security tax only on the first $176,100 of your billion dollar income, or only 0.01761% of your income, but you get all the same benefits as those who pay the tax on 100% of their income!
If the fat cat billionaires, who can most afford it, had to pay the 6.2% Social Security tax on 100% of their billion dollars, they'd be paying $62 million instead of $10,918.20. The billionaires (and anyone making in excess of $176,100) are getting a free ride on the backs of those who are paying the tax on 100% of their income.
It would be very easy to make the system fair: remove the $176,100 cap on Social Security tax and have everyone without exception pay 6.2% on their entire income. That would also make the Social Security system solvent forever, and would eliminate the need for legislators to even address the issue of forcing people to work into their 70's before retiring.