WE BEEN ROBBED!
No use calling the cops. The gov't is the crook.
SS Tax Rates:
Employer and employess pay equal amounts. The 1% rate, for example means you pay 1% and your employer pays 1%.
ssa.gov
Calendar year SS Tax rates as a percent of taxable earnings
Rate for employees and employers, each Rate for self-employed persons
OASDI HI Total OASDI HI Total
1937-49 1.000 -- 1.000 -- -- --
1950 1.500 -- 1.500 -- -- --
1951-53 1.500 -- 1.500 2.250 -- 2.250
1954-56 2.000 -- 2.000 3.000 -- 3.000
1957-58 2.250 -- 2.250 3.375 -- 3.375
1959 2.500 -- 2.500 3.750 -- 3.750
1960-61 3.000 -- 3.000 4.500 -- 4.500
1962 3.125 -- 3.125 4.700 -- 4.700
1963-65 3.625 -- 3.625 5.400 -- 5.400
1966 3.850 0.350 4.200 5.800 0.350 6.150
1967 3.900 0.500 4.400 5.900 0.500 6.400
1968 3.800 0.600 4.400 5.800 0.600 6.400
1969-70 4.200 0.600 4.800 6.300 0.600 6.900
1971-72 4.600 0.600 5.200 6.900 0.600 7.500
1973 4.850 1.000 5.850 7.000 1.000 8.000
1974-77 4.950 0.900 5.850 7.000 0.900 7.900
1978 5.050 1.000 6.050 7.100 1.000 8.100
1979-80 5.080 1.050 6.130 7.050 1.050 8.100
1981 5.350 1.300 6.650 8.000 1.300 9.300
1982-83 5.400 1.300 6.700 8.050 1.300 9.350
1984 1 5.700 1.300 7.000 11.400 2.600 14.000
1985 1 5.700 1.350 7.050 11.400 2.700 14.100
1986-871 5.700 1.450 7.150 11.400 2.900 14.300
1988-891 6.060 1.450 7.510 12.120 2.900 15.020
1990 and later 6.200 1.450 7.650 12.400 2.900 15.300
Personal income:
infoplease.com
Year Amount
1935 $474
1945 1,223
1950 1,501
1955 1,881
1960 2,219
1965 2,773
1970 $3,893
1975 5,851
1979 8,638
1980 9,910
1981 10,949
1982 11,731
1983 $12,352
1984 13,585
1985 14,427
1986 15,122
1987 15,968
1988 17,052
1989 $18,176
1990 19,188
1991 19,652
1992 20,576
1993 21,231
1994 22,086
1995 $23,562
1996 24,651
1997 25,924
1998 27,203
1999 28,546
2000 29,469
2001 $30,413
2002 30,906
2003 31,632
Now that $31K figure in 2002 looks suspiciously low. I would assume a HS grad starting work at 18 in 1955 and retiring at 65 in 2002.
CIA World Factbook says $40,100 per capita income in 2005. Could be close.
cia.gov
Interest rates:
eh.net.
Year U.S. Long-Term Interest Rate, Contemporary Series (percent per year)
1937 3.26
1938 3.19
1939 3.01
1940 2.84
1941 2.77
1942 2.83
1943 2.73
1944 2.72
1945 2.62
1946 2.53
1947 2.61
1948 2.82
1949 2.66
1950 2.62
1951 2.86
1952 2.96
1953 3.20
1954 2.90
1955 3.06
1956 3.36
1957 3.89
1958 3.79
1959 4.38
1960 4.41
1961 4.35
1962 4.33
1963 4.26
1964 4.40
1965 4.49
1966 5.13
1967 5.51
1968 6.18
1969 7.03
1970 8.04
1971 7.39
1972 7.21
1973 7.44
1974 8.57
1975 8.83
1976 8.43
1977 8.02
1978 8.73
1979 9.63
1980 11.94
1981 14.17
1982 13.79
1983 12.04
1984 12.71
1985 11.37
1986 9.02
1987 9.38
1988 9.71
1989 9.26
1990 9.32
1991 8.77
1992 8.14
1993 7.22
1994 7.97
1995 7.59
1996 7.37
1997 7.27
1998 6.53
1999 7.05
2000 7.62
2001 7.08
Some of those rates look low, but some look high too. Where did you get 7% in 2001?
But working with these numbers, if the gov't simply required you to save twice the rates in the first table (in other words,
the employer didn't withhold the money, but gave it to you) in
an IRA and you got the iterest rates indicated, you could
retire at 65 with about a $300K nest egg. If you are a
professional, presumably you would start at least 4 years later
(for college) but make several times as much and have several
times as large a nest egg, yeilding several times the interest
income- -and several times what you could expect from SS.
