# Ha! Got my first SS check yesterday.



## Floridatennisplayer (May 16, 2019)

Retired in January and turned 64 in March. Funny, I remember my grandparents and uncles talking about their SS checks many years ago and thinking how old they are. Now it’s me! Keep them coming!


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## hollydolly (May 16, 2019)

We don't get anything here until we're 66 if we were born after 1954. so I've got a while to go yet!!!


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## Falcon (May 16, 2019)

Congrats  FTP.  They're almost as good as a chocolate  icecream cone.


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## Aunt Bea (May 16, 2019)

Congratulations!


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## wvnewbie (May 16, 2019)

My SS just about covers beer & cigs


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## SeaBreeze (May 16, 2019)

Congratulations FTP!  My husband recently applied online and should get his first check deposited directly into our bank account sometime in June.


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## RadishRose (May 16, 2019)




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## Capt Lightning (May 17, 2019)

Do you get an actual cheque, or is it paid directly into your bank account?  Here in the UK, my State Pension (Social Security has a different meaning ) is paid every 4th Monday into my bank account.  We only get notification if it changes. The day on which it is paid depends on your national insurance number, so Mrs. L's is paid on a Wednesday!  I wish it was paid monthly, like my occupational pensions. (of course, one month a year you get two pensions!)  I expect that it's a hangover from the days when it was paid weekly. 

In the past, pensioners received a 'pension book' which they would take to the post office every week on the specified day, and be paid in cash.


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## hollydolly (May 17, 2019)

wvnewbie said:


> My SS just about covers beer & cigs



well if cigarettes cost as much there as they do here you must be getting quite a lot.... :dollar:


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## hollydolly (May 17, 2019)

Congrats to your husband too SB....


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## Floridatennisplayer (May 17, 2019)

Capt Lightning said:


> Do you get an actual cheque, or is it paid directly into your bank account?  Here in the UK, my State Pension (Social Security has a different meaning ) is paid every 4th Monday into my bank account.  We only get notification if it changes. The day on which it is paid depends on your national insurance number, so Mrs. L's is paid on a Wednesday!  I wish it was paid monthly, like my occupational pensions. (of course, one month a year you get two pensions!)  I expect that it's a hangover from the days when it was paid weekly.
> 
> In the past, pensioners received a 'pension book' which they would take to the post office every week on the specified day, and be paid in cash.



direct deposits


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## johndoe (May 17, 2019)

Congratulations. You worked for it and played by the rules, so it's time to kick back and relax.


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## Manatee (May 17, 2019)

I have never _seen _a Social Security check.  Mine has been direct deposit since I retired in 1997.


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## Trade (May 17, 2019)

It's awesome isn't it? 

I love seeing those direct deposits showing up.


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## norman (May 17, 2019)

I believe they now call it ''FEDERAL BENEFIT PAYMENT'',  no more social security checks,  this is money you paid in 100%,  it is not a ''federal benefit check,''   or government money it  is our money..  The government has been taking our retirement money and using it as if it was their money for years, maybe by changing the name to ''Federal Benefit  Payment'' they can now give it to thoses who have never paid any money into it or give themselves a raise.  Why did they change the name???   .QUOTE=Trade;1039656]It's awesome isn't it? 

I love seeing those direct deposits showing up. 



[/QUOTE]


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## Knight (May 17, 2019)

wvnewbie said:


> My SS just about covers beer & cigs



Don't drink beer prefer Jameson triple distilled Irish Whiskey. As for cigs I understand why a SS check would go up in smoke when a pack can cost $7.50. I quit smoking while still in the Navy. The reason I quit I when the base exchange increased the price from 80 cents a carton to $1.20 a carton I thought that was outrageous


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## Trade (May 17, 2019)

norman said:


> I believe they now call it ''FEDERAL BENEFIT PAYMENT'',  no more social security checks,  this is money you paid in 100%,  it is not a ''federal benefit check,''   or government money it  is our money..  The government has been taking our retirement money and using it as if it was their money for years, maybe by changing the name to ''Federal Benefit  Payment'' they can now give it to thoses who have never paid any money into it or give themselves a raise.  Why did they change the name???



All I see is: "External Deposit SSA TREAS 310 / - XXSOC SEC" when I look at my credit union statement online. And I don't get hard copies of my statements anymore. 

What really gets me riled up is when these political types refer to them as "entitlements". Every time i hear someone refer to Social Security or Medicare as "entitlements" I feel like slapping them.

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## Manatee (May 17, 2019)

wvnewbie said:


> My SS just about covers beer & cigs




I quit smoking 57 years ago.  A collapsed lung is big time painful.    The doctor would spank us if we drank any booze.


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## JimW (May 17, 2019)

norman said:


> I believe they now call it ''FEDERAL BENEFIT PAYMENT'',  no more social security checks,  this is money you paid in 100%,  it is not a ''federal benefit check,''   or government money it  is our money..  The government has been taking our retirement money and using it as if it was their money for years, maybe by changing the name to ''Federal Benefit  Payment'' they can now give it to thoses who have never paid any money into it or give themselves a raise.  Why did they change the name???   .QUOTE=Trade;1039656]It's awesome isn't it?



I think people tend to get too caught up in the wording of things sometimes. The term "Federal Benefit Payment" has been used by the SSA since the 1930's when the program was first introduced. The word "benefit" doesn't have a negative connotation to it unless you apply it that way.



> The term “Federal Benefit Payment” was originally coined by the Social  Security Administration (SSA) and elected leaders in the 1930’s, when  the government program was first introduced.
> https://www.truthorfiction.com/federal-benefit-payment/
> 
> The word “benefits” has been applied to Social Security retirement payments  since the Social Security program was enacted in the 1930s. The  terminology is also not unique to Social Security, as the phrase  “federal benefit payments” applies to a broad class of payments made to  (or on behalf of) individuals under federal government programs —  everything from Social Security Disability Insurance to Medicare to farm  subsidies are considered “federal benefit payments.” The fact that  workers themselves contribute much of the money that goes into the  Social Security retirement fund doesn’t affect its classification as a benefit.
> https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/federal-benefit-payments/


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## norman (May 17, 2019)

Well said, but the word benefit is encompassing welfare as well.  I see it as a negative as do those who worked their entire ilfe paying from wages earned.  As the fly said as he walked across the mirror, ''Thats another way of looking at it''.  Could it be a conditioning of our mind for the future.    





JimW said:


> I think people tend to get too caught up in the wording of things sometimes. The term "Federal Benefit Payment" has been used by the SSA since the 1930's when the program was first introduced. The word "benefit" doesn't have a negative connotation to it unless you apply it that way.


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## JimW (May 17, 2019)

norman said:


> Well said, but the word benefit is encompassing welfare as well.  I see it as a negative as do those who worked their entire ilfe paying from wages earned.  As the fly said as he walked across the mirror, ''Thats another way of looking at it''.  *Could it be a conditioning of our mind for the future.*



Seeing that wording started in the 1930's, I doubt it. But it is the Federal Gov't so I wouldn't rule it out.


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## norman (May 17, 2019)

Time will answer that question, maybe. Reminds me of a sign at he end of the road and it read, ONE WAY, it did not have an arrow pointing which way was  one way. 





JimW said:


> Seeing that wording started in the 1930's, I doubt it. But it is the Federal Gov't so I wouldn't rule it out.


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## Capt Lightning (May 18, 2019)

Norman, I know what you mean.  In the UK we have an inverse investment system - the more you contribute, the less you benefit.  Unless of course that is you've never done a days work in your life and then you get things handed to you on a plate.  It's a very sore point here - especially amongst honest hard working taxpayers.


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## GeorgiaXplant (May 18, 2019)

Never mind what it's called by the banks, the gov't, or anybody else. It's actually RCM...Rocking Chair Money. Mine's deposited on the third Wednesday every month. My ATT pension is deposited on the first day of the month. It's what tides me over until RCM Day


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## norman (May 19, 2019)

It is all good and you worked to join the club.  I read that 10,000 baby boomers are signing up for RCM every day.  Can that be possible?     





GeorgiaXplant said:


> Never mind what it's called by the banks, the gov't, or anybody else. It's actually RCM...Rocking Chair Money. Mine's deposited on the third Wednesday every month. My ATT pension is deposited on the first day of the month. It's what tides me over until RCM Day


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## Lethe200 (May 19, 2019)

>>this is money you paid in 100%, it is not a ''federal benefit check,'' or government money it is our money.. The government has been taking our retirement money and using it as if it was their money for years,>>

This is a common misconception. SocSec was always "pay as we go" - that was how, when the program first began, the seniors who had never paid into SS, became eligible to receive a SS check (or FBC, if you prefer) to begin with.

*Current workers* are paying into the SS Trust Fund which pays out benefits to eligible seniors. 

If you are retired, the 6.5% SS deduction (your employer paid the remaining 6.5%) from your previous paychecks went to pay for *benefits paid out to then-current retirees.*

That is why a low birthrate is so concerning to any pension/annuity actuary - you need those *future workers to be paying into the system for today's 'just-started' retirees.

*One reason that the periodic calls for SS "privatization" are so concerning, is that the SS Trust Fund is a separately-funded government entity. When politicians talk about removing "entitlements", it is incorrect to lump SS and Medicare in, because those are funded NOT by government budget, but by worker taxes.

*IF* SS and Medicare were "privatized" 100% - the chances for which I would hope, are doubtful - the money in those two separate trust funds would, in such case, be added to the Federal budget - but _*ONLY *_if that happens.


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