My son just looked at his first paycheck and lamented everything that was taken out. One of the notable amounts withheld from his paycheck was FICA, or the Federal Insurance Contributions Act.
The Social Security Act was signed into law by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1935 as part of the New Deal. Originally it was 2% of your income was sent to the government to make sure you would not be destitute when you reach old age. By 1966 when they added Medicare, it had risen to 7.7%. Today between employer contributions and withholding for both Social Security and Medicare, 15.3% of your income is put into the program.
There have been several discussions about the inability for Social Security to fulfill its promises sometime around the year 2035 (about the time I would qualify to start drawing from Social Security). This does not mean that Social Security goes away, but it will mean they will either raise taxes (again), reduce benefits, or a combination of the two.
You can see what you are currently promised for Social Security by visiting the Social Security website. This will allow you to see how much you can receive per month if you retire at 62, 67, or 70. It also shows you how much you could receive per month if you were disabled as well as how much your survivors could get if you were to pass away.
We don't know how much you will actually get, but this gives you an idea of what they are currently promising.
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