2016 Postmortem
In reply to the discussion: Should Dems be thoughtfully considering broaching means testing for Social Security eligibility? [View all]brokechris
(192 posts)Second the idea is that everyone pays in---and everyone gets something out. (provided they live long enough)
Third--people's incomes aren't static. Just because someone is rich today does not mean they will not ever need SS.
One of my friends has parents who are very wealthy liberals in Portland Oregon (owned a lot of property--did a lot of development back when the area was going like gangbusters). When they retired (sometime around 2002) they had an income of around 300K coming in and millions of dollars in net worth. And they felt bad about taking social security--so they went through some process to not get it.
Fast forward a decade---and their investments aren't bringing in enough to live on. They have sold off most of what they own. They are having to support two of their three adult children AND 7 grandchildren who are all in college or approaching college age.
They have been trying for some time to get back on the SS rolls--but apparently once you refuse--it is hard to do.