Jan. 7, 2025

Social Security Fairness

Social Security Fairness

Social Security Fairness – With the repeal of Social Security’s Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and the Government Pension Offset (GPO), Chris Boyd, Jeff Perry, and Russ Ball share this breaking news and what it means to over three million...

Social Security Fairness – With the repeal of Social Security’s Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and the Government Pension Offset (GPO), Chris Boyd, Jeff Perry, and Russ Ball share this breaking news and what it means to over three million people who will see an increase in benefits.  The discussion starts off with a review of the 30+ year history of these provisions.  Jeff outlines the average benefit increases while Chris provides his commentary on the long-term outlook and need for overall reform to the Social Security system.  


For more information or to reach Chris Boyd, Russ Ball or Jeff Perry, click the following link:  https://www.wealthenhancement.com/s/advisor-teams/amr

 

Transcript
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Welcome to something more with Chris Boyd.

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Chris Boyd is a certified financial planner, practitioner,

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and senior vice president, financial advisor at Wealth

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Enhancement Group, one of the nation's largest registered

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investment advisors.

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We call it something more because we'd like

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to talk not only about those important dollar

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and cents issues, but also the quality of

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life issues that make the money matters matter.

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Here he is, your fulfillment facilitator, your partner

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in prosperity, advising clients on Cape Cod and

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across the country.

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Here's your host, Jay Christopher Boyd.

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Welcome everybody to another episode of something more

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with Chris Boyd.

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I'm glad to have you with us.

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We are having a special episode today because

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there's been some significant legislation that was recently

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passed and signed into law, it's called the

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Social Security Fairness Act.

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And we wanted to have an opportunity to

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share some of the implications of this with

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you.

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I'm joined by Jeff Perry and Russ Ball,

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both of whom are part of our AMR

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team here at Wealth Enhancement Group.

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And we appreciate you listening and hope you

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get a lot out of this.

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This is something that, Jeff, you've been tracking

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for months now.

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This is not the first time there's been

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legislative rules.

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Yeah.

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I've been saying for years I've been tracking

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this.

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And with a lot of skepticism along the

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way, will it pass?

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Oh, we're down to the last few days.

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Is it going to make it through?

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And maybe this is the big one you've

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been waiting for, for this repeal.

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Let's tell everyone a little bit about what

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this legislation, the Social Security Fairness Act does,

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and then we can talk a little bit

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about some of the particulars.

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Okay.

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Let's go back in history a little bit.

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In 1983, when Congress passed some Social Security

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form, which increased the retirement age, which was

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the headline of that bill, they included-

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And the tax structure, right?

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Correct.

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And as I said previously, Social Security benefits

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had been untaxed.

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That's right.

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They became taxable income in varying degrees.

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And then there was also the change in

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the age as to full retirement age.

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Increasing it, yeah.

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Yeah.

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But there was also this impact.

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So it was a goal by President Reagan

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and the Congress at that time to strengthen

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the Social Security system, right?

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To make it more- It's solvency.

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That's right.

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So, you know, generally a good idea.

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Well, I'm sure we'll go back to this

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subject in a minute.

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And they included a windfall elimination provision in

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that bill, which basically was designed to prevent

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or mitigate individuals who had a government pension,

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civil servants, state and local employees who were

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not paying into Social Security, but to decrease

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the amount of their Social Security if they

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had earned the necessary credits otherwise.

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So they were eligible for Social Security in

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the process, but were they perceived to be

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double dipping in a sense, you know, getting

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benefit from their Social Security benefits and public

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pension?

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That's right.

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That's right.

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And it, just a side note, in 1977,

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there was a provision called the government.

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Why can't I remember the name of this?

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Government pension offset.

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I forget it earlier.

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Which has to do with spousal benefits, how

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much they could receive.

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So that was already on the books.

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Similar idea that as we know, a long

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time ago when Social Security was created or

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revised, they wanted to incentivize in that time

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mothers to stay home.

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Right.

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And be able to be penalized for not

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working essentially.

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I could argue either side, right.

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Incentivized to stay home or penalized for not

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working.

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And they were able to collect 50%

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of their spouse's Social Security benefits.

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In the creation of the Social Security, you

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know, at its origins, there were just a

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lot more people who, women who were, you

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know, stay at home moms who weren't part

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of the workforce that also needed some consideration

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in retirement.

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The goal of Social Security was to provide

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an element of Social Security, a retirement stability

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for people that they wouldn't be on welfare

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in retirement.

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So this was like a base income.

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So this was, it was part of the

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rationale based on the social structure at that

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time.

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That's right.

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That's a well said Chris.

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And also as part of that GPO, there's

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surviving spouse benefits.

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So if the spouse died, that 50%

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would go up to a hundred percent.

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However, when the windfall elimination provision was enacted,

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they also included the individuals, the spouses or

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the surviving spouses into that where that benefit,

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if that was, if they had a private,

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if they had a government pension in that

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mix as well, then that Social Security benefit,

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either one, either spouses or a survivor could

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be eliminated as well.

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So both of these have been on the

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books for a very long time.

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And it doesn't necessarily work identically.

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The government offset and the windfall elimination provision,

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but the conceptually, so since we don't have

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to go into the details on this anymore,

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the conceptually both would discount the Social Security

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benefit in differing ways, in different degrees, but

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for people who either as a surviving spouse

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benefited from that public pension while receiving Social

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Security benefits or for the worker, depending on

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which part of this we're talking about.

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And we won't get into the details, but

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I just want to add some commentary is

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it seemed like the most harshest treatment was

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to the surviving spouse, which, you know, why

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probably unintentional, right?

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But still, yeah, it's, it's kind of surprising.

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The big hit came to the surviving spouse

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twice, right?

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They lose somebody and then what they expect

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to get as a survivor benefit.

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Got reduced substantially.

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Their, their Social Security spousal benefit perhaps, and

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was reduced because of this pension that they

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got the percentage of certainly was right.

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So since then, right.

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So since 1983, this has been an issue

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and it was an issue for some state

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and local employees whose states decided not to

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opt into the Social Security system.

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Massachusetts was one of them.

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Not all state and local governments made that

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decision back then.

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Some said, okay, well, this is the way

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it's going to be.

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We're going to opt into Social Security and

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government employees were paying both.

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And so that did not affect them.

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Just the ones that those states said, no,

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we're just going to stay with our pension

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system and we understand Social Security would be

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reduced.

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So, so it's kind of not a one,

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one size fits all.

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Yeah.

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It's important to recognize that there are many

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other jurisdictions where the public, they may even

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have a, a public pension in the state,

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but they may also be participating in the

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Social Security system.

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So it's, it's a, which would make it

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more like a private pension in many respects

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in that scenario.

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In our case in Massachusetts, other jurisdictions that

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not all, but many there is this separate,

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you don't participate in Social Security, but you're

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participating in the public pension paying nine to

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12% of your salary into the public

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pension system.

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Not unlike what you would do in the

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Social Security.

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And if you were doing FICA taxes or

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something like that.

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So it's a slightly different, but parallel perhaps.

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And so now this is most relevant for

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people who qualify for both, right?

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This is where it's like, what happened when

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you had your 40 quarters of, of eligibility

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for Social Security benefits, you, you participated sufficiently

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to receive Social Security.

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But you also had the benefit of working

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in the public sector where you got a

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public pension, where you'd get some benefit there

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as in retirement.

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The challenge for this, this windfall elimination provision

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would, would limit how much your Social Security

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benefit would, it would be deducted.

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It'd be reduced essentially.

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So under the old formula, just to, I

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know nobody needs to know it, but just

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a point of reference.

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If you had your quarters, your 40 quarters,

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and you had less than 18 years of

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substantial earnings, you would get the maximum reduction

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to your Social Security, which was changed every

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year, but around $550 in the latest year,

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that would be the maximum windfall elimination provision.

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If you had between 18 and 30 quarters,

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18 and 30 years of substantial earnings, your

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reduction would be on a sliding scale.

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The closer you get to 30, the less

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percentage of the reduction.

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And if you hit 30 years of Social

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Security contributions at substantial earnings, which really weren't

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that hard to meet substantial earnings, you would

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not have any reduction.

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So people, there's no one, once again, no,

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there's no single answer for everybody.

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It really depended on where you were.

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I'll just share with, I've shared it before.

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I'm one of those people.

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I had like 18 years of private sector

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employment and 26 years of public sector employment.

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So I am eligible for a pension in

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the pension system in Massachusetts, and I'm not

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collecting Social Security, but when I was going

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to collect Social Security, I was probably going

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to lose four or $500, you know, roughly

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a month because of where I was in

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the number of years I had in the

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private sector.

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Well, and you mentioned having talked with another,

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a client of ours, who's benefiting, going to

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see maybe about a $500 difference in their

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retirement income as a consequence of that.

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I had a meeting this morning with, with

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someone who works for a city in Massachusetts,

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and he hadn't heard about this yet, but

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he was very happy to hear about it,

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the argument to repeal these provisions was fairness,

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you know, the title of the bill in

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essence, that if you, for example, if you

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worked in two different pension jobs, private sector,

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say you worked in two companies that had

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pensions and you worked X number of years

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in each ones, you qualified for both pensions.

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One pension wasn't reduced because you had another

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pension.

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It was a matter of fairness.

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I worked my case 18 years in the

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private sector.

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I contributed.

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00:11:23,460 --> 00:11:25,100
I don't have, I have a very low

266
00:11:25,100 --> 00:11:27,420
Social Security benefit because I only worked 18

267
00:11:27,420 --> 00:11:30,840
years in, and so I shouldn't be reduced

268
00:11:30,840 --> 00:11:34,280
or someone shouldn't be reduced because I chose

269
00:11:34,280 --> 00:11:35,940
to work in the public sector as well.

270
00:11:36,040 --> 00:11:37,920
That was the political argument.

271
00:11:39,140 --> 00:11:39,240
Yeah.

272
00:11:39,400 --> 00:11:42,260
I mean, in that scenario, you're saying one

273
00:11:42,260 --> 00:11:45,420
pension isn't affected by the other, but in

274
00:11:45,420 --> 00:11:47,880
both of those instances, those pensions were also

275
00:11:47,880 --> 00:11:51,620
paying into the Social Security system, which, uh,

276
00:11:51,840 --> 00:11:55,140
you know, it's apples and oranges for your

277
00:11:55,140 --> 00:11:58,580
analogy here, but you follow my point that

278
00:11:58,580 --> 00:12:01,200
people were still participating in Social Security all

279
00:12:01,200 --> 00:12:01,860
along the way.

280
00:12:02,960 --> 00:12:06,560
Um, and that, that those, those pensions are

281
00:12:06,560 --> 00:12:10,720
irrelevant to the Social Security conversation.

282
00:12:11,380 --> 00:12:13,480
As a matter of fairness, it's a solid

283
00:12:13,480 --> 00:12:15,920
argument that they are irrelevant to each other,

284
00:12:15,920 --> 00:12:16,200
right?

285
00:12:16,600 --> 00:12:19,540
Now there's other issues that are always involved

286
00:12:19,540 --> 00:12:22,420
with these, these decisions that Congress had to

287
00:12:22,420 --> 00:12:24,140
make, but I think, I think it passed

288
00:12:24,140 --> 00:12:27,180
because it's a compelling argument because a lot

289
00:12:27,180 --> 00:12:29,540
of other reasons, political reasons, I think it

290
00:12:29,540 --> 00:12:29,880
passed.

291
00:12:30,040 --> 00:12:32,940
There's, you know, roughly 3 million people who

292
00:12:32,940 --> 00:12:35,780
are affected by this repeal who will benefit

293
00:12:35,780 --> 00:12:36,820
from this repeal.

294
00:12:37,600 --> 00:12:41,060
Arguably there are 3 million government employees.

295
00:12:41,320 --> 00:12:43,140
So in that 3 million, there's a lot

296
00:12:43,140 --> 00:12:47,560
of individuals who are connected to members of

297
00:12:47,560 --> 00:12:50,660
Congress, connected to the political system just by

298
00:12:50,660 --> 00:12:55,020
being in the government And so there's some,

299
00:12:55,020 --> 00:12:57,460
uh, lobbying, right?

300
00:12:57,860 --> 00:13:01,340
There's some lobbying, all the, uh, retirement associations

301
00:13:01,340 --> 00:13:04,040
in the given states were pushing for it

302
00:13:04,040 --> 00:13:04,760
for decades.

303
00:13:04,880 --> 00:13:05,840
It was a lot of momentum.

304
00:13:06,120 --> 00:13:08,540
In fact, there were more sponsors in the

305
00:13:08,540 --> 00:13:11,740
House and the Senate of, of the bill.

306
00:13:11,900 --> 00:13:13,860
This was HR 42, the name of the

307
00:13:13,860 --> 00:13:16,720
bill, but there were more sponsors every session

308
00:13:16,720 --> 00:13:19,200
than they were required to pass it.

309
00:13:19,200 --> 00:13:22,820
I mean, because the constituents who were affected

310
00:13:22,820 --> 00:13:25,820
by this were knocking on those legislators' doors,

311
00:13:26,420 --> 00:13:29,380
talking to members of Congress all the time.

312
00:13:29,500 --> 00:13:31,300
So the support was always there.

313
00:13:31,420 --> 00:13:36,120
The argument wasn't, the argument was never that

314
00:13:36,120 --> 00:13:37,900
this is, this is fair.

315
00:13:38,000 --> 00:13:40,480
This is just, Congress would never make that

316
00:13:40,480 --> 00:13:41,380
argument publicly.

317
00:13:42,420 --> 00:13:44,340
Um, the argument was it costs too much

318
00:13:44,340 --> 00:13:45,020
money, right?

319
00:13:45,360 --> 00:13:47,140
We'd like to do it, but it's too

320
00:13:47,140 --> 00:13:47,620
expensive.

321
00:13:47,620 --> 00:13:51,600
The Congressional Budget Office puts a price tag,

322
00:13:51,720 --> 00:13:56,620
um, from this repeal at $195 billion over

323
00:13:56,620 --> 00:13:57,680
a 10 year period.

324
00:13:58,360 --> 00:14:02,200
Um, and what's, uh, interesting that, uh, of

325
00:14:02,200 --> 00:14:05,640
the 51 million retired workers who receive social

326
00:14:05,640 --> 00:14:06,160
security.

327
00:14:06,720 --> 00:14:09,980
Uh, probably about 3 million are the number

328
00:14:09,980 --> 00:14:12,720
that's, that's less than 6% are affected

329
00:14:12,720 --> 00:14:15,640
by, uh, this, the impact of this.

330
00:14:16,170 --> 00:14:17,780
Well, you know, I, as I, you know,

331
00:14:17,800 --> 00:14:18,980
I was alluding to it.

332
00:14:19,020 --> 00:14:21,320
I have seen articles about, Oh, is the

333
00:14:21,320 --> 00:14:23,280
fairness, the social security fairness act fair?

334
00:14:23,800 --> 00:14:26,320
You know, I, I think, you know, you've

335
00:14:26,320 --> 00:14:27,820
made the case for why it is.

336
00:14:28,360 --> 00:14:31,760
Um, I think the, um, the bigger, you

337
00:14:31,760 --> 00:14:34,180
know, challenge it affects is how does it

338
00:14:34,180 --> 00:14:36,880
affect the solvency of the social security system

339
00:14:36,880 --> 00:14:39,400
overall, you know, as you say, this is,

340
00:14:39,600 --> 00:14:42,500
it has a cost, um, of, uh, you

341
00:14:42,500 --> 00:14:46,960
know, a hundred, nine, 10 billion over 10

342
00:14:46,960 --> 00:14:47,280
years.

343
00:14:47,500 --> 00:14:48,060
Okay.

344
00:14:49,640 --> 00:14:50,920
Roughly 200 billion.

345
00:14:51,400 --> 00:14:51,820
Okay.

346
00:14:51,880 --> 00:14:52,660
200 billion.

347
00:14:52,920 --> 00:14:55,880
So, um, you know, that's, that's, uh, over

348
00:14:55,880 --> 00:14:58,200
a fair amount of time, but we are

349
00:14:58,200 --> 00:15:02,020
also in within that timeframe, you know, 2033,

350
00:15:02,020 --> 00:15:06,140
we have the issue of, um, challenge of

351
00:15:06,140 --> 00:15:09,460
whether social security benefits will be sufficient, uh,

352
00:15:09,460 --> 00:15:11,380
based on who we're taxing at that time

353
00:15:11,380 --> 00:15:14,300
to pay benefits, there's the expectation we'll be

354
00:15:14,300 --> 00:15:16,760
in a position where, uh, we'll be facing

355
00:15:16,760 --> 00:15:20,060
a 21%, uh, or somewhere thereabouts a reduction

356
00:15:20,060 --> 00:15:24,940
in benefits, uh, because unless this is addressed

357
00:15:24,940 --> 00:15:28,580
the, the, from 2033 or whatever the number

358
00:15:28,580 --> 00:15:31,700
was, uh, the CBO, I think, uh, also

359
00:15:31,700 --> 00:15:34,700
indicated this might move that clock up.

360
00:15:34,700 --> 00:15:35,740
Uh, what was it?

361
00:15:35,780 --> 00:15:36,900
Russ six months.

362
00:15:37,120 --> 00:15:37,220
Yeah.

363
00:15:37,240 --> 00:15:37,780
Six months.

364
00:15:38,320 --> 00:15:41,660
And so, um, it does have some consequence

365
00:15:41,660 --> 00:15:44,660
to, you know, all of us who, um,

366
00:15:45,200 --> 00:15:47,160
maybe at, by, I don't know if I'll

367
00:15:47,160 --> 00:15:48,380
be participating at that point.

368
00:15:48,400 --> 00:15:50,000
I, I haven't done the math.

369
00:15:50,060 --> 00:15:50,900
How old will I be then?

370
00:15:51,140 --> 00:15:54,520
But, uh, you know, that notion of, uh,

371
00:15:54,540 --> 00:15:56,180
the people who are affected by social security

372
00:15:56,180 --> 00:15:56,640
benefits.

373
00:15:57,040 --> 00:15:59,400
The big issue is we've got to deal

374
00:15:59,400 --> 00:16:01,880
with this and the longer the runway to

375
00:16:01,880 --> 00:16:04,280
start a better will be.

376
00:16:05,140 --> 00:16:07,840
Uh, but you know, the likelihood is, is

377
00:16:07,840 --> 00:16:10,220
we'll get down to the wire, you know,

378
00:16:10,240 --> 00:16:12,120
over the last several years, Jeff, I've been

379
00:16:12,120 --> 00:16:15,540
saying to clients when they ask about this,

380
00:16:16,120 --> 00:16:18,540
uh, this notion of social security, will it

381
00:16:18,540 --> 00:16:20,960
be, you know, will it pay out, will

382
00:16:20,960 --> 00:16:23,220
we receive benefits as planned?

383
00:16:23,300 --> 00:16:25,840
I've always said, well, you know, I think,

384
00:16:25,880 --> 00:16:27,760
um, there's a lot of people in Congress

385
00:16:27,760 --> 00:16:29,620
who like their jobs, you know, and there's

386
00:16:29,620 --> 00:16:32,320
a lot of voters who are affected by

387
00:16:32,320 --> 00:16:33,000
social security.

388
00:16:33,800 --> 00:16:36,460
Um, but you know, I'm starting to wonder

389
00:16:36,460 --> 00:16:39,660
about the, uh, the plausibility of, you know,

390
00:16:39,660 --> 00:16:42,540
when you look at the fact that, um,

391
00:16:42,860 --> 00:16:45,680
we have these growing debts, um, you know,

392
00:16:45,800 --> 00:16:49,440
uh, what are we almost $2 trillion deficit

393
00:16:49,440 --> 00:16:50,760
last year?

394
00:16:50,960 --> 00:16:52,780
Um, was it 1.9?

395
00:16:52,800 --> 00:16:54,440
I think, uh, something like that.

396
00:16:54,760 --> 00:16:57,620
Um, that's the deficit in the annual budget

397
00:16:57,620 --> 00:17:00,840
and then the debt that's growing and growing

398
00:17:00,840 --> 00:17:04,619
and growing, um, with then you compound that

399
00:17:04,619 --> 00:17:06,900
with the fact that we'd have the social

400
00:17:06,900 --> 00:17:10,599
security issue, uh, in need of addressing, you

401
00:17:10,599 --> 00:17:12,960
know, you could, it's not, uh, unthinkable.

402
00:17:13,160 --> 00:17:14,599
We could be in a position where, you

403
00:17:14,599 --> 00:17:16,099
know, we always worry about, Oh, where's that

404
00:17:16,099 --> 00:17:18,500
tipping point, the debt.

405
00:17:19,119 --> 00:17:23,700
And, um, uh, the notion that it's partly

406
00:17:23,700 --> 00:17:25,920
funded by other people around the world, by

407
00:17:25,920 --> 00:17:29,260
the confidence they have in the debt paying

408
00:17:29,260 --> 00:17:31,240
ability on treasuries.

409
00:17:32,240 --> 00:17:34,680
And, you know, we're, we're up coming this

410
00:17:34,680 --> 00:17:37,480
year with the likelihood of a showdown regarding

411
00:17:37,480 --> 00:17:38,380
the debt ceiling.

412
00:17:38,980 --> 00:17:42,120
And, uh, this is something that could undermine

413
00:17:42,120 --> 00:17:47,140
confidence in people's willingness to own us debt,

414
00:17:47,240 --> 00:17:49,180
if there's not clarity that we're going to

415
00:17:49,180 --> 00:17:49,920
pay our debts.

416
00:17:50,460 --> 00:17:52,980
So, you know, this becomes a political football,

417
00:17:53,040 --> 00:17:54,100
uh, certainly.

418
00:17:54,100 --> 00:17:57,920
And so, um, you know, I guess I,

419
00:17:58,060 --> 00:18:01,140
I've always had the mindset, Congress is going

420
00:18:01,140 --> 00:18:03,900
to deal with it, but you, you could

421
00:18:03,900 --> 00:18:05,940
get to a point where the question is,

422
00:18:06,480 --> 00:18:10,720
uh, is there still confidence from investors around

423
00:18:10,720 --> 00:18:12,420
the world in us debt?

424
00:18:12,860 --> 00:18:16,540
Does that undermine the ability, the cost of

425
00:18:16,540 --> 00:18:18,640
financing our debts?

426
00:18:18,840 --> 00:18:22,640
Could that envision a period of greater austerity?

427
00:18:22,640 --> 00:18:25,240
Like we saw in Europe in the last

428
00:18:25,240 --> 00:18:30,380
decade, uh, where we might not be as

429
00:18:30,380 --> 00:18:33,660
free to simply say, Hey, let's just address

430
00:18:33,660 --> 00:18:37,800
this, um, in, in a way that seems

431
00:18:37,800 --> 00:18:40,340
very attainable and manageable today.

432
00:18:48,290 --> 00:18:51,950
And in, uh, 30, 20, 33 is eight

433
00:18:51,950 --> 00:18:52,810
years from now.

434
00:18:53,130 --> 00:18:53,730
Right.

435
00:18:54,430 --> 00:18:55,390
I don't know.

436
00:18:55,490 --> 00:18:57,330
Uh, I'll just throw that out there.

437
00:18:57,450 --> 00:18:58,950
Uh, what, what are your thoughts?

438
00:18:59,670 --> 00:19:02,450
I actually thought that this issue of the

439
00:19:02,450 --> 00:19:06,070
social security fairness and their repeal of weapon

440
00:19:06,070 --> 00:19:07,950
GPO is going to be handled in a

441
00:19:07,950 --> 00:19:12,870
larger social security reform act, where, you know,

442
00:19:12,890 --> 00:19:14,910
they take all the, this is just one

443
00:19:14,910 --> 00:19:16,410
thing that people say is wrong with social

444
00:19:16,410 --> 00:19:16,810
security.

445
00:19:16,970 --> 00:19:18,850
I mean, we could have, I'm sure we

446
00:19:18,850 --> 00:19:19,050
will.

447
00:19:19,090 --> 00:19:21,970
We'll have a whole episode on what, on

448
00:19:21,970 --> 00:19:23,970
what we think should be done to solve

449
00:19:23,970 --> 00:19:26,110
the financial challenges.

450
00:19:26,470 --> 00:19:26,810
That's right.

451
00:19:26,810 --> 00:19:30,110
Or taxes, uh, later ages, all these kinds

452
00:19:30,110 --> 00:19:30,630
of variables.

453
00:19:32,190 --> 00:19:36,690
Um, they talk about, um, income, uh, I

454
00:19:36,690 --> 00:19:37,950
can't think of the right term for it

455
00:19:37,950 --> 00:19:40,070
where if you make so much, Oh, you

456
00:19:40,070 --> 00:19:42,450
might not be eligible, you know, it means

457
00:19:42,450 --> 00:19:44,130
testing is one of those things.

458
00:19:44,350 --> 00:19:46,350
And it's all these different, it's the cap

459
00:19:46,350 --> 00:19:47,370
on social security.

460
00:19:47,450 --> 00:19:49,810
It's like a tax, uh, where they, why

461
00:19:49,810 --> 00:19:50,610
is there a cap?

462
00:19:50,730 --> 00:19:52,570
Maybe they don't, or maybe there's a donut

463
00:19:52,570 --> 00:19:53,190
hole or something.

464
00:19:53,230 --> 00:19:54,170
There's all these different things.

465
00:19:54,170 --> 00:19:54,430
Right.

466
00:19:54,570 --> 00:19:54,850
Right.

467
00:19:55,190 --> 00:19:55,450
Right.

468
00:19:55,450 --> 00:19:59,450
So there's, I, I really sincerely thought if

469
00:19:59,450 --> 00:20:00,910
I was a betting person, I would have

470
00:20:00,910 --> 00:20:02,790
bet that this would be handled someday.

471
00:20:03,350 --> 00:20:03,750
Yeah.

472
00:20:03,810 --> 00:20:04,910
I don't know what would have happened.

473
00:20:05,130 --> 00:20:06,470
You know, I didn't have really a feeling

474
00:20:06,470 --> 00:20:07,010
about it.

475
00:20:07,090 --> 00:20:08,110
Uh, this was a surprise.

476
00:20:08,110 --> 00:20:10,070
If you read the, if you read the

477
00:20:10,070 --> 00:20:13,410
commentary from the various retiree and employee association

478
00:20:13,410 --> 00:20:14,090
groups.

479
00:20:14,210 --> 00:20:14,610
Yeah.

480
00:20:14,930 --> 00:20:16,750
Kind of snuck up on everyone from the

481
00:20:16,750 --> 00:20:17,690
Massachusetts folks.

482
00:20:17,950 --> 00:20:20,730
Um, they acknowledged that they've been working on

483
00:20:20,730 --> 00:20:23,090
this for 30 years and same thing happened

484
00:20:23,090 --> 00:20:24,570
in Congress, you know, it gets through committee

485
00:20:24,570 --> 00:20:25,030
and everything.

486
00:20:25,030 --> 00:20:26,590
And it doesn't go anywhere.

487
00:20:26,890 --> 00:20:28,990
Uh, they had knowledge that they were surprised

488
00:20:28,990 --> 00:20:31,550
and they didn't really feel confident that it

489
00:20:31,550 --> 00:20:34,930
was going to happen until actually president Biden

490
00:20:34,930 --> 00:20:36,070
signed it.

491
00:20:36,230 --> 00:20:38,050
I talked to, um, I mean, I'm off

492
00:20:38,050 --> 00:20:39,710
topic a little bit, but I talked with

493
00:20:39,710 --> 00:20:41,730
someone who's a congressional staffer, who's an old

494
00:20:41,730 --> 00:20:44,090
friend of mine, uh, he works in the

495
00:20:44,090 --> 00:20:48,830
house and he's not sure, obviously, you know,

496
00:20:48,830 --> 00:20:49,870
he's not going to give me like.

497
00:20:50,150 --> 00:20:53,230
This is exactly what happened, but sometimes one

498
00:20:53,230 --> 00:20:55,470
branch of government passes something to get the,

499
00:20:55,490 --> 00:20:57,170
uh, pressure off their back.

500
00:20:57,490 --> 00:20:57,890
Yeah.

501
00:20:57,970 --> 00:20:59,390
If you, if you remember how it went,

502
00:20:59,550 --> 00:21:00,990
uh, the house passed it.

503
00:21:01,170 --> 00:21:04,330
And then Schumer, uh, who was, who is

504
00:21:04,330 --> 00:21:05,970
the leader of the Senate for the Democrats,

505
00:21:05,970 --> 00:21:10,730
um, was approached, if you will, cornered perhaps

506
00:21:10,730 --> 00:21:13,730
at a union event and said, you know,

507
00:21:13,730 --> 00:21:14,470
the house passed it.

508
00:21:14,490 --> 00:21:15,670
Why don't you, why don't you?

509
00:21:15,690 --> 00:21:19,530
And he, whether intentionally or because of where

510
00:21:19,530 --> 00:21:21,110
he was said, we're going to get it

511
00:21:21,110 --> 00:21:21,330
out.

512
00:21:21,330 --> 00:21:24,490
And then the momentum started and the, you

513
00:21:24,490 --> 00:21:26,170
know, the hundreds of thousands of phone calls

514
00:21:26,170 --> 00:21:27,150
started to Congress.

515
00:21:27,390 --> 00:21:29,530
And so this could be, this could just

516
00:21:29,530 --> 00:21:31,090
be one of those things that just happened

517
00:21:31,090 --> 00:21:34,170
because of political pressure at the time and

518
00:21:34,170 --> 00:21:35,190
political maneuvering.

519
00:21:35,750 --> 00:21:35,870
Yeah.

520
00:21:36,110 --> 00:21:37,690
Um, it's kind of amazing.

521
00:21:37,690 --> 00:21:38,330
Uh, yeah.

522
00:21:38,330 --> 00:21:41,230
As it kind of crept up unexpectedly, Jeff,

523
00:21:41,450 --> 00:21:43,630
um, tell everyone a little bit about, um,

524
00:21:43,710 --> 00:21:46,130
how, how quickly people will start to feel

525
00:21:46,130 --> 00:21:46,910
the impact of this.

526
00:21:47,110 --> 00:21:48,490
When will benefits change?

527
00:21:48,930 --> 00:21:50,830
Uh, when will people, when does it take

528
00:21:50,830 --> 00:21:52,330
effect in essence?

529
00:21:52,710 --> 00:21:52,850
Sure.

530
00:21:53,270 --> 00:21:56,570
It takes effect January 1st, 2025.

531
00:21:56,710 --> 00:22:00,510
So last week, um, and it is provided

532
00:22:00,510 --> 00:22:01,470
to be retroactive.

533
00:22:01,770 --> 00:22:04,430
So, you know, it's going to take, yeah,

534
00:22:04,510 --> 00:22:06,610
it's going to take social security administration, some

535
00:22:06,610 --> 00:22:09,570
time to figure out how they're going to

536
00:22:09,570 --> 00:22:09,970
do this.

537
00:22:10,070 --> 00:22:11,650
Um, I would think they'd have all the

538
00:22:11,650 --> 00:22:15,150
data because they have calculated the, the offsets.

539
00:22:15,250 --> 00:22:15,490
Right.

540
00:22:15,490 --> 00:22:19,550
So, um, but, so this goes back to

541
00:22:19,550 --> 00:22:23,350
December of 2023 or is it January of

542
00:22:23,350 --> 00:22:23,890
2024?

543
00:22:23,910 --> 00:22:27,010
Like when does, how far back to, is

544
00:22:27,010 --> 00:22:28,030
that retroactive?

545
00:22:28,170 --> 00:22:30,810
I wonder, uh, article I was looking at,

546
00:22:30,890 --> 00:22:32,910
made it sound like it goes back to

547
00:22:32,910 --> 00:22:37,410
last, uh, to 2023 to December or some

548
00:22:37,410 --> 00:22:38,530
of this, but I don't know if that's

549
00:22:38,530 --> 00:22:38,910
accurate.

550
00:22:39,210 --> 00:22:39,690
Yeah.

551
00:22:39,710 --> 00:22:40,830
I don't know if it's accurate either.

552
00:22:40,890 --> 00:22:43,050
I do know it's retroactive, but I'm not

553
00:22:43,050 --> 00:22:44,450
a hundred percent sure on the date.

554
00:22:44,450 --> 00:22:47,550
I read November 23, November 23.

555
00:22:47,810 --> 00:22:47,950
Yeah.

556
00:22:48,030 --> 00:22:49,610
Nailed down what exactly that is.

557
00:22:50,530 --> 00:22:54,650
So, um, anyway, it's a full year plus

558
00:22:54,650 --> 00:22:57,750
that people are, who are affected by this

559
00:22:58,290 --> 00:23:03,490
will recover more benefit that they didn't get

560
00:23:03,490 --> 00:23:04,690
in that period of time.

561
00:23:05,030 --> 00:23:05,170
Right.

562
00:23:05,230 --> 00:23:07,350
And just for a point of reference, the

563
00:23:07,350 --> 00:23:10,730
average increase from the WEP, the windfall elimination

564
00:23:10,730 --> 00:23:15,310
provision is $360 per recipient a month.

565
00:23:17,050 --> 00:23:19,430
And on the government offset pension offset, the

566
00:23:19,430 --> 00:23:25,190
average is $700 increase for, um, 380,000

567
00:23:25,190 --> 00:23:28,890
people who are spouses and the average for

568
00:23:28,890 --> 00:23:30,110
the surviving spouse.

569
00:23:30,290 --> 00:23:33,310
And this 390,000 of them is $1

570
00:23:33,310 --> 00:23:34,410
,190.

571
00:23:36,460 --> 00:23:38,390
Oh, pretty, uh, pretty impactful.

572
00:23:39,050 --> 00:23:39,310
Yeah.

573
00:23:39,310 --> 00:23:41,150
I'll tell you what, this is, um, from

574
00:23:41,150 --> 00:23:42,630
a Kiplinger article.

575
00:23:43,190 --> 00:23:45,610
It says, uh, that the text of the

576
00:23:45,610 --> 00:23:48,890
law indicates that the legislation's effective date will

577
00:23:48,890 --> 00:23:52,770
apply to benefits payable for months after December

578
00:23:52,770 --> 00:23:53,770
2023.

579
00:23:54,090 --> 00:23:56,210
So that'd be the entirety of 2024.

580
00:23:57,190 --> 00:23:57,290
Right.

581
00:23:57,930 --> 00:23:59,690
So by the time they get this done

582
00:23:59,690 --> 00:24:00,990
in a few months, you know, people could

583
00:24:00,990 --> 00:24:03,570
be looking at maybe a year and a

584
00:24:03,570 --> 00:24:04,070
few months.

585
00:24:04,070 --> 00:24:07,290
So it's, uh, if you're at the top

586
00:24:07,290 --> 00:24:10,630
of that amount, you know, $1,100 between

587
00:24:10,630 --> 00:24:16,010
360 and $1,190 could be up to

588
00:24:16,010 --> 00:24:17,610
10,000, maybe a little bit more.

589
00:24:18,850 --> 00:24:23,110
Well, um, so what's the financial planning, uh,

590
00:24:23,110 --> 00:24:23,930
ramifications?

591
00:24:24,210 --> 00:24:24,930
What should we be?

592
00:24:25,130 --> 00:24:27,810
Uh, I think the, the bottom line for

593
00:24:27,810 --> 00:24:30,750
listeners is time to revisit your financial plan

594
00:24:30,750 --> 00:24:31,350
a little bit.

595
00:24:31,350 --> 00:24:33,870
If you think you might be affected by

596
00:24:33,870 --> 00:24:38,490
this, um, let's, let's get into the details

597
00:24:38,490 --> 00:24:40,450
and, uh, if you're coming into a little

598
00:24:40,450 --> 00:24:42,090
bit of money, maybe that's a good opportunity

599
00:24:42,090 --> 00:24:44,010
to think about what should you be doing

600
00:24:44,010 --> 00:24:44,410
with that?

601
00:24:44,470 --> 00:24:46,530
Is that part of your, your reserve, your

602
00:24:46,530 --> 00:24:47,370
liquidity reserve?

603
00:24:47,430 --> 00:24:49,250
Is it part of, uh, you're going to

604
00:24:49,250 --> 00:24:50,490
fund your, your goals?

605
00:24:51,010 --> 00:24:53,310
Uh, what's going to happen with that when

606
00:24:53,310 --> 00:24:55,330
it comes to that change in cashflow?

607
00:24:55,610 --> 00:24:58,730
Does that have a material consequence on, uh,

608
00:24:58,730 --> 00:25:02,230
your financial profile, your financial picture?

609
00:25:02,770 --> 00:25:02,950
I don't know.

610
00:25:02,970 --> 00:25:04,130
Anything you want to add to that, Jeff?

611
00:25:04,770 --> 00:25:06,550
No, I agree a hundred percent.

612
00:25:06,810 --> 00:25:08,650
And it's a good time to re re

613
00:25:08,650 --> 00:25:12,050
revisit your financial plan and update the modeling

614
00:25:12,050 --> 00:25:15,010
of it, update your income, your monthly income.

615
00:25:15,150 --> 00:25:16,370
It may, uh, it's going to make it

616
00:25:16,370 --> 00:25:17,770
look better, whatever it is.

617
00:25:18,410 --> 00:25:21,170
I would just add, um, as we go

618
00:25:21,170 --> 00:25:25,230
to wrap up momentarily, if, uh, you are

619
00:25:25,230 --> 00:25:28,290
someone who, uh, is a municipal employee or

620
00:25:28,290 --> 00:25:31,070
someone who has, uh, is affected by this,

621
00:25:31,610 --> 00:25:34,810
um, Jeff has a lot of expertise on

622
00:25:34,810 --> 00:25:37,830
these issues on understanding the, uh, the way

623
00:25:37,830 --> 00:25:39,570
the public pensions work.

624
00:25:40,130 --> 00:25:41,930
And so if you, um, are kind of

625
00:25:41,930 --> 00:25:43,950
facing some of the decisions you might need

626
00:25:43,950 --> 00:25:46,390
to deal with, uh, we would encourage you

627
00:25:46,390 --> 00:25:47,210
to reach out.

628
00:25:47,350 --> 00:25:49,150
Um, we can, uh, we've got some great

629
00:25:49,150 --> 00:25:52,170
resources here as a team and Jeff, uh,

630
00:25:52,170 --> 00:25:53,650
in his wealth of knowledge can be a

631
00:25:53,650 --> 00:25:54,510
great tool as well.

632
00:25:54,510 --> 00:25:56,610
I think we're going to do some episodes

633
00:25:56,610 --> 00:26:00,970
specifically geared toward, uh, those, uh, listeners who

634
00:26:00,970 --> 00:26:03,290
might be in benefit from that in the

635
00:26:03,290 --> 00:26:03,590
future.

636
00:26:03,870 --> 00:26:07,450
So, uh, if you're a public employee, uh,

637
00:26:07,450 --> 00:26:09,410
stay tuned and let us know if we

638
00:26:09,410 --> 00:26:11,310
can be a resource to you as well.

639
00:26:11,950 --> 00:26:14,710
Um, with that, uh, anything else to add?

640
00:26:14,730 --> 00:26:15,850
Should we call it a day?

641
00:26:16,650 --> 00:26:17,730
Let's call it a day.

642
00:26:17,810 --> 00:26:19,450
It's good news for most of us out

643
00:26:19,450 --> 00:26:19,710
there.

644
00:26:19,990 --> 00:26:20,390
Excellent.

645
00:26:20,530 --> 00:26:20,730
All right.

646
00:26:20,730 --> 00:26:22,090
Well, thanks for listening, everybody.

647
00:26:22,090 --> 00:26:24,530
Until next time, keep striving for something more.

648
00:26:25,590 --> 00:26:27,930
Thank you for listening to something more with

649
00:26:27,930 --> 00:26:28,650
Chris Boyd.

650
00:26:28,930 --> 00:26:31,090
Call us for help, whether it's for financial

651
00:26:31,090 --> 00:26:35,010
planning or portfolio management, insurance concerns, or those

652
00:26:35,010 --> 00:26:37,050
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653
00:26:37,050 --> 00:26:38,170
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654
00:26:38,490 --> 00:26:40,650
Whatever's on your mind, visit us at something

655
00:26:40,650 --> 00:26:43,670
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656
00:26:43,670 --> 00:26:48,650
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657
00:26:48,650 --> 00:26:52,530
Or send us your questions to amr-info

658
00:26:52,530 --> 00:26:54,470
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659
00:26:54,650 --> 00:26:56,590
You're listening to something more with Chris Boyd,

660
00:26:56,630 --> 00:26:59,210
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661
00:26:59,210 --> 00:27:01,330
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662
00:27:01,330 --> 00:27:03,910
individual basis to clients only proper advice depends

663
00:27:03,910 --> 00:27:05,690
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664
00:27:05,690 --> 00:27:06,250
circumstances.

665
00:27:06,530 --> 00:27:08,330
The information given on this program is general

666
00:27:08,330 --> 00:27:10,350
financial comments and cannot be relied upon as

667
00:27:10,350 --> 00:27:11,970
pertaining to your specific situation.

668
00:27:12,150 --> 00:27:14,110
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669
00:27:14,110 --> 00:27:16,130
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670
00:27:16,130 --> 00:27:17,250
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671
00:27:17,250 --> 00:27:19,590
Listeners should consult their own financial advisors or

672
00:27:19,590 --> 00:27:21,710
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673
00:27:21,710 --> 00:27:22,470
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