I fear for my retirement (US)..

[Pornfan99]

OMFG.. So, I went to the supermarket over the weekend, and grabbed some markdown merchandise (Pumpkin Spice K-cups; candy corn). This is *normally* a store that does *not* require you to "be a member" to get sale prices. I get home, and check my receipt: orange juice - at sale price; bagged caesar bacon salad - at sale price. Yet .. BOTH markdown items were at FULL price?!

So, I spend some time on my lunch break, and visit the store's Customer Service desk. I HAVE MY RECEIPT, which I hand to him. I tell him the coffee was 50% off (rang at $8.99), and the candy corn was $0.99 (rang at $2.49). HE TAKES OUT HIS CELL PHONE, to use the calculator, to see what the difference is between $2.49 and $0.99??

He doesn't even bother to attempt to calculate 50% off of $8.99; he just credits me $4.99.

This is SIMPLE MATH. And, the (likely more Senior) guy working the Customer Service desk could NOT calculate the amounts.

In the US, the Social Security system is basically funded by the younger folks paying into a system, which is drawn by the older folks. If today's youth don't even have basic math skills .. I worry if they have (any??) enough earning power to help me in my golden years..

 

[John_8581]

It's not the workers who fund social security. It's the employers. You don't want to deal with an Internal Revenue Service audit of a company's payroll taxes. (carter, handler of garbage). They can spend three to four years looking for money that's owed. And it all started with a disgruntled worker who was paid off the books, got fired, and took the complaint to his state's department of labor. They investigated first. Then the state's department of taxation came in. And then the Treasury Department were the last to come in. That case went to Federal Court in Brooklyn. The owner? Well he ended up with eighteen months in the FCI Morgantown WV, got probation for twenty-four months and still had an amount owed of over $245,000.00 in unpaid social security, medicare and federal withholding taxes plus penalties plus interest which he is still paying back today. He got off easy. Plus he lost us, as the company I worked for, as his accounting firm.

 

[Pornfan99]

John: we're both right. Employees pay half, employERS pay half. But, if workers have no skills - does it matter??

 

[Mr. Daystar]

You know what else is really fucked up? Velcro tennis shoes, digital watches, and front wheel drive cars. Kids today wear loafers, can't tell time, and have no concept of how to drive in bad weather. Although there is no real way of proving it, I could have done all that math in my head, and gotten it right. I say that because unless you SEE me do it, you don't really know I am doing it

 

[Duke Klingenpooper]

Guys, I'm a big "get off my lawn or I'll kidnap you and sell your organs", old crank bitching and moaning enthusiast, but I have to differ with the op - if history has taught us anything, it's that the thing can go from republic to empire to vassal to reich, etc., in a snap. Worry about your retirement, yes - like, always. Make lots of offspring, do it the old-fashioned way. You'll be taken care of, no matter what the winds. That's why I always poke holes in my condoms.

 

[tvstrip]

OMFG..
This is SIMPLE MATH. And, the (likely more Senior) guy working the Customer Service desk could NOT calculate the amounts.

I also frequent the discount bin, as well as sale & promo deals, and I can give you so many stories of when things didn't add up.

Like when I bought a $20 item discounted by 50%, and the final tax-in price came to $15. The clerk said "Oh, that's just the tax". I'm like "When did the tax rate hit 50%?"

 

[John_8581]

... But, if workers have no skills - does it matter??

Agree. So very true.

OMFG.. So, I went to the supermarket over the weekend, and grabbed some markdown merchandise (Pumpkin Spice K-cups; candy corn). This is *normally* a store that does *not* require you to "be a member" to get sale prices. I get home, and check my receipt: orange juice - at sale price; bagged caesar bacon salad - at sale price. Yet .. BOTH markdown items were at FULL price?!

So, I spend some time on my lunch break, and visit the store's Customer Service desk. I HAVE MY RECEIPT, which I hand to him. I tell him the coffee was 50% off (rang at $8.99), and the candy corn was $0.99 (rang at $2.49). HE TAKES OUT HIS CELL PHONE, to use the calculator, to see what the difference is between $2.49 and $0.99??

He doesn't even bother to attempt to calculate 50% off of $8.99; he just credits me $4.99.

This is SIMPLE MATH. And, the (likely more Senior) guy working the Customer Service desk could NOT calculate the amounts.

In the US, the Social Security system is basically funded by the younger folks paying into a system, which is drawn by the older folks. If today's youth don't even have basic math skills .. I worry if they have (any??) enough earning power to help me in my golden years..

When he pulled out his cell phone with the calculator, that's when you had him. Look him directly in the face and say, "Really? Can't figure that out, huh?" He should turn bright red with embarrassment. Then you should have called the store manager over.

A young customer service guy from Probiller (on a Mindgeek owned site, not Brazzers) just proposed that I use cryptocurrency when purchasing videos on another site they run. The website stopped using Visa and Mastercard in 2020.

Once you answer and put a "yes" to that question ...

... The Internal Revenue Service will want to know if I'm "inventorying" that virtual currency. And when I started. That, my friends, will put you in deep (badly) with the Service. I guess I won't be buying anymore videos from that website.

 

[Pornfan99]

John: yeah .. I saw that "addition" to the 1040 Form for FY 2020. *I* am not big on crypto, as I'm not keen on owning an "asset" that exists only in hyperspace, that can be hacked and then I have N-O recourse..

 

[John_8581]

John: yeah .. I saw that "addition" to the 1040 Form for FY 2020. *I* am not big on crypto, as I'm not keen on owning an "asset" that exists only in hyperspace, that can be hacked and then I have N-O recourse..

They've been moving it around. In 2019, it was on Schedule 1 of Form 1040. If you sell it or exchange, or even transfer it. Then it triggers a Form 8949 transaction on Schedule D of the Form 1040.

IRS Revenue Officer: When did you first buy cryptocurrency?
Taxpayer: Ummm, 2014 ....
IRS Revenue Officer: So you've had it since then?
Taxpayer: Yes.
IRS Revenue Officer: Have you been holding it as an asset all that time?
Taxpayer: Well yes, sort of.
IRS Revenue Officer: What currencies did you have?
Taxpayer: I had Ethereum, then went to Litecoin, and now I have Bitcoin.
IRS Revenue Officer: How many transactions did you fail to report as exchanges, transfers and sales since 2014?
Taxpayer: I don't see the connection or the point.
IRS Revenue Officer: Now let's look at Schedule B. Are you holding any accounts in a foreign country?
Taxpayer: Possibly.
IRS Revenue Officer: I see you failed to report transactions on FinCen Form 114, Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (FBAR) as well.
Taxpayer: Again, I don't see the point.
IRS Revenue Officer: The bottom line is, we got you. Big penalties for those too.

 

[gmase]

In the US, the Social Security system is basically funded by the younger folks paying into a system, which is drawn by the older folks. If today's youth don't even have basic math skills .. I worry if they have (any??) enough earning power to help me in my golden years..

We also need to be concerned with ‘Will there be enough of them?’ US population growth hits an all-time low with only 0.1% growth in 2020.

https://www.politico.com/news/2021/12/21/united-states-population-growth-2021-525832

The expected increase in life expectancy concerns me just as much. As we live longer, we will be straining the Social Security and Medicare systems.

 

[tvstrip]

We also need to be concerned with ‘Will there be enough of them?’ US population growth hits an all-time low with only 0.1% growth in 2020.

https://www.politico.com/news/2021/12/21/united-states-population-growth-2021-525832

The expected increase in life expectancy concerns me just as much. As we live longer, we will be straining the Social Security and Medicare systems.

It's not just the US, where at least it's almost neutral. In Japan, the post-war baby boomers are retiring, combined with Japanese longevity and the decreasing number of couples having kids is leading to a huge population decrease.
https://www.cfr.org/podcasts/japans...0 census recorded a,a story of booming growth.

Japan's 2020 census recorded a population decline of 800,000 people, a year later the percentage of its population under age 14 had fallen to its lowest level ever

What is interesting is that some countries are looking to immigrants to fill in this void. It's no secret that immigrants tend to have large families. The US could fix the population gap instantly if they increased acceptance of green cards, citizens, refugees or god forbid, the undocumented. Whether they want to of course, is another question....