Original text about American social security system

The American federal government provides two main retirement benefits for retirees, one is "social security pension" and the other is medical insurance, which is called medical insurance. People living in America should know about this system.

Social security tax

According to government regulations, anyone who has a job or business income must pay social security tax, which is divided into pension tax and medical insurance tax. The former accounts for 6.2% of the income, but there is an annual ceiling. This year, it is 6045 yuan, which only accounts for 97% of the income. 500 yuan needs to pay pension tax; The latter, 1.45%, has no upper limit. These taxes are clearly listed on the W-2 form. About two months before your birthday every year, you will receive a report from the Social Security Bureau, which lists the income you have to pay social security tax every year and the work points you have earned.

7.65% paid by employees is only half of the social security tax, and employers have to pay the other half for you, that is, the two taxes * * * are income15.3%; Self-employed individuals have to pay all their own expenses, that is, 15.3% of their net income, which is called "self-employed tax". The upper limit of self-employed tax is the same as that of employees.

working point

After paying social security tax, you can get "points". If you earn $65,438+0,000 yuan, you can get 1 point, and you can only get 4 points at most every year, so you can get 4 points with an annual income of only 4,000 yuan. There is no limit to one point per quarter for the four points, so even if you only work for one month, as long as you earn enough, you can get four points for the whole year in one breath.

General retirement benefits require taxpayers to have 40 points to qualify, so they need to work for ten years, but there are exceptions. The first exception is that even if the taxpayer's spouse has never worked, he can get half of the taxpayer's pension in the future (this half pension is additional and does not affect the taxpayer's own pension); A divorced ex-spouse who has been married for ten years or more is eligible for half of the ex-spouse pension as long as he has not remarried.

In other two special cases, you can get retirement benefits if the score is less than 40: first, the taxpayer dies unfortunately, and even if the score is less than 40, your spouse and children can get benefits; Secondly, taxpayers who are unable to work due to physical disability may be eligible for disability benefits.

Pension amount

The amount of pension mainly depends on the length of working years and the amount of tax paid. The government will use the 35 years of your highest income to calculate the available pension.

How to predict how much pension you can get in the future? Every year, two months before your birthday, the government will issue an annual report listing the past annual income and the estimated amount of future pension. If last year's income is not listed in the annual report, there is no problem, because income is generally listed in the annual report after more than one year. In addition, if it does not reach 40 points, there is no estimated pension amount.

Another way to estimate the pension is to go directly to the website of the Social Security Bureau: www.ssa.gov, and then click on the "Choose a welfare calculator" section. You will find that there are three ways to estimate the future social security pension.

The first estimation method is the simplest. As long as you put in your age and total income this year, the Social Security Bureau will estimate your previous and future income to estimate how much pension you can get in the future. But this method is only a rough estimate.

The second estimation method is to input personal past income and other data online, and then estimate your future income online immediately, and then estimate the amount of pension you can get in the future. This method is the same as the calculation method in the report you receive every year.

The third most accurate method is to download a software from the Internet for calculation.

In addition to waiting for the government to issue the annual report, you can also check it on the website of the Social Security Bureau, just enter your own information, or ask the Social Security Bureau for a SSA7004 form, or download it online.

retiring age

The earliest age to receive a pension is 62, but if you receive it in advance, the amount will be discounted for life, and the proportion depends on the distance from the "full retirement age". The so-called "full retirement age", which used to be 65 years old, has now been raised. Readers over 50 to 6 1 year old can only get a discount when they are 66 years old. Readers in their forties can't "retire completely" until they are 67.

Getting a pension in advance should also take into account that if you continue to work before the "full retirement age", your income may affect the amount of pension. If the work income exceeds 12690 yuan, the pension will be reduced by 1 yuan for each income exceeding 2 yuan.

Friends who have worked for more than ten years are eligible for social security pension at the age of 62, but the amount will be reduced by about 25% for life. Should I receive social security pension earlier?

Personal economic needs are of course the first consideration. Secondly, we should consider the life span, because the longer the life span, the more unfavorable it is to get the pension in advance. However, no one can predict his life expectancy, and he can only estimate it from personal health and even family life expectancy data. The third consideration is whether you will continue to work until you reach the "full retirement age" (usually around 66). Before this age, if the income from work exceeds $65,438+$02,690, it will begin to affect the amount of social security pension. Every time the limit of $2 is exceeded, the pension will be reduced by $65,438 +0. After reaching the "full retirement age", this problem does not exist.

There is a little-known law that if you get the social security pension in advance but regret it when you reach the "full retirement age", you can get the normal pension amount as long as you return the pension you got in advance to the government, and the refunded amount does not include any interest and penalty. Therefore, some friends think that we should take out the pension, then invest the amount and return the principal to the government in the future. But whether this is beneficial depends not only on the investment performance, but also on whether it exceeds the above-mentioned income limit.

Decoding "Social Security Retirement"

In the last issue, I explained the basic knowledge of social security retirement system to you. In this issue, we have studied some special topics, all of which are related to your social security benefits.

Social security retirement annual report

About two months before your birthday every year, you will receive the annual report of the Social Security Bureau. On the right is your salary over the years, and on the left is the "quarterly score" you already have. If you reach 40 "quarters" or more, the Social Security Bureau will list the pension amount for you. The first figure is the amount of pension received in advance at the age of 62, and the other figure is the pension received when reaching the "full retirement age".

Some people mistakenly think that they have earned these pensions, and even if they don't work now, they will still get this amount of pension. Some people think that the pension amount should increase year by year because they continue to work and pay social security, so they will be puzzled to see that the pension amount is lower than last year.

The key point is that these pensions are only estimates, assuming that you have been working until retirement, and your annual income is close to the average income of the past two years. If your income this year is slightly lower than this average income, the pension figure will drop. Of course, if you stop working from now on, your annual pension is estimated to decrease year by year.

Let's go

Get an early pension?

Friends who have worked for more than ten years are eligible for social security pension at the age of 62, but the amount will be reduced by about 25% for life. Should I receive social security pension earlier?

Personal economic needs are of course the first consideration. Secondly, we should consider the life span, because the longer the life span, the more unfavorable it is to get the pension in advance. However, no one can predict his life expectancy, and he can only estimate it from personal health and even family life expectancy data. The third consideration is whether you will continue to work until you reach the "full retirement age" (usually around 66). Before this age, if the income from work exceeds $65,438+$02,690, it will begin to affect the amount of social security pension. Every time the limit of $2 is exceeded, the pension will be reduced by $65,438 +0.

Spouse and social security benefits

Friends with less than 40 credits can get social security benefits together with their spouses with 40 credits, including pension and medical insurance.

As long as you have been married for at least ten years, even after divorce, you can still get half of your ex-spouse's social security pension as long as you don't remarry. Even if the former spouse is still alive, or even if the other spouse has remarried, this benefit is eligible as long as he has not remarried. If your ex-spouse has died, you can get a pension at the age of 60, two years earlier than the average 62-year-old.

As long as one of the spouses meets the requirements, the spouse can also get medical insurance. However, this unqualified spouse must be over 65 years old to get medical insurance. Suppose the eligible spouse is under 65 years old, but the other unqualified spouse is over 65 years old, can this spouse get medical insurance first?

The answer is: not necessarily, it depends on whether the eligible spouse is over 62 years old. If it is under 62 years old, then another unqualified spouse, even if he has reached 65 years old, can't get medical insurance. However, if the eligible spouse is over 62 years old, the unqualified spouse can get medical insurance at the age of 65, including part A hospitalization insurance and part B doctor insurance.

Survivor's Allowance requires nine months' marriage.

In the social security retirement system, there is a "survivor's welfare" project, so that people who have been participating in social security insurance can get social security benefits immediately even if they have not worked for ten years and died unfortunately, including/kloc-monthly cash benefits for children under 8 years old, and cash benefits for spouses who have to take care of their children at home, even if they are dependent on the parents of the deceased, as long as they are over 62 years old.

However, to receive this benefit, couples must be married for at least nine months, unless the cause of death is accidental. Recently, I saw a family. The couple have never been formally married and there are several children in the family. Unfortunately, her husband died of illness, and he went through the marriage formalities only a few months before his death, less than 9 months. Therefore, it is very likely that survivors will not receive "survivor benefits".

If they have been married for less than nine months, there are a few exceptions that can benefit the survivors, that is, if the couple have children of their own. If the children were born from previous marriages, they must go through the formalities and formally adopt each other's children before they can get the "survivor's allowance" within nine months after marriage.

Social security pension tax problem

Is it necessary to pay taxes on social security pensions?

If all or most of your income is social security pension, these pensions are completely tax-free. Even if you have other income besides pension, it doesn't necessarily lead to tax on social security pension. Even if you have to pay taxes, only a part of the pension needs to be taxed as income in the current tax return.

To calculate whether social security pension should be taxed, we must first add half of pension and other income. If the husband and wife file tax returns together, all social security pensions are tax-free if the amount is less than $32,000. If you are single, as long as the amount does not exceed $25,000, you don't have to pay taxes on your pension at all.

If this amount exceeds the above amount, some social security pensions will have to pay income tax. For married taxpayers whose amount exceeds $32,000 but not more than $44,000, half of the maximum social security pension should be taxed according to income. If the amount exceeds $44,000, 85% of the social security pension may be taxed. For a single person, if the amount is more than $34,000, it is possible to tax 85% of the pension.

Thoroughly understand the social security retirement system

The last two issues of this column are all about the social security retirement system for you. Let's continue to explain some data that may be less exposed at ordinary times.

Is the pension guaranteed by assets?

If a retired friend is sued or in debt, or encounters other economic crisis, he may even be declared bankrupt, will the pension be guaranteed? Retirement plans provided by most companies, including 40 1(K) plans, are all within the scope of the Federal Retirement Law (ERISA), and creditors cannot obtain them, that is, they are protected. In the judgments of 1992 and 2004, the Supreme Court of the United States clearly stipulated that pensions are guaranteed and creditors are not easy to obtain in bankruptcy. In recent years, the Supreme Court ruled that IRA is also protected on the grounds that this kind of savings account is related to the debtor's age, and it is unfair to ask the debtor to repay the debt with retirement savings, because the withdrawal account mainly pays the fine before the age of 60.

Is social security pension also guaranteed? SSI is absolutely guaranteed. According to Article 207 of the Social Security Law, social security is also guaranteed and will not be obtained by creditors. However, there are several exceptions to this protection, including: arrears of "child support" or divorce support, taxes owed to the IRS, and debts owed to other federal government departments. Therefore, although social security pensions also have asset protection, the degree of protection is slightly lower than other pensions.

Foreigners and social security tax

People living in the United States, whether working or doing business, most people have to pay social security tax, that is, FICA or self-employed tax. Workers, employers and employees must pay half of the social security tax, while the self-employed pay all the social security tax.

This tax is to save for everyone's future retirement benefits, but people who hold non-immigrant visas and work in the United States will not retire in the United States in the future. In this case, do they need to pay social security tax? If so, can they get back the relevant benefits before leaving the United States in the future?

According to the provisions of Articles 3 10 1 and 311,all people working in the United States are required to pay FICA or self-employed tax, but there are several types of temporary visas, which clearly state that FICA tax is not required. These include international students with F 1 and M 1 visas, exchange scholar J 1, and cultural exchange Q 1. In addition to the above temporary visas, other visa holders such as H 1, L 1 or TN must pay FICA, and will not be able to get back the relevant benefits in the future.

It is also mentioned in the tax law that some foreigners are sent to work in the United States by foreign companies, and if they want to continue to pay taxes similar to FICA in foreign countries, they can prove that they are exempt from FICA tax; But at present, only 18 residents of countries that have agreements with the United States can use this tax example, including Britain and Canada; However, there is no such agreement in China, Hongkong and Taiwan Province Province.

International students are exempt from paying social security tax when they work.

Some readers with international student visas (F- 1 visa) may work under special circumstances, although they can't work at ordinary times, such as internship after graduation, and they will be paid.

For these friends with student visas, although employers usually withhold federal and state income tax in advance, they do not have to pay social security tax (FICA), medical insurance and unemployment insurance tax (FUTA). Because employers are usually not familiar with the tax laws concerning international students. Some companies employ employees with H- 1B visas. Although these employees do not have permanent resident status, their taxes are the same as those of ordinary American taxpayers. Employers may think that all holders of F- 1 visas are the same, so you should take the initiative to remind employers.

If the employer withholds the tax that should not be withheld for international students, how can it be recovered? Employers or employees can fill in IRS Form No.843, together with visa documents and W-2 documents, to prove that FICA and FUTA taxes have been deducted, and then send it to the IRS to get the tax back.

The above-mentioned provisions on tax exemption from FICA and FUTA apply not only to international students with F- 1 visas, but also to international students with J- 1, M- 1 or Q- 1 visas.

Overseas life and social security pension

If you decide to move abroad after retirement, such as Hongkong or China, assuming you have at least 40 quarters of points, can you continue to receive social security pension abroad?

If you are an American citizen, as long as you have not settled in Cuba or North Korea, even if you live overseas for a long time, you can ask the government to send your pension to a foreign address every month. If the bank account is located in Hong Kong or Japan, the government can even transfer the pension to the account through automatic transfer, while bank accounts located in other Asian countries cannot transfer automatically.

If you are not an American citizen, you may not be able to get a social security pension overseas. There are some exceptions to this rule. Citizens of some countries who have lived overseas for a long time can also receive social security pensions, but they do not include citizens of Chinese mainland, Hongkong, Macau and Taiwan Province Province. Therefore, citizens of China, Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan Province Province who have worked in the United States for more than ten years will stop paying their social security pensions after leaving the United States for more than six months, even if they have permanent residency (green card). In fact, as long as you leave the United States for 30 days in a row, you have already left the United States. In the future, you must live in the United States for at least 30 days before you can return to the United States.

Is the social security system safe?

We will explain the social security retirement system for you three times in a row. There may be a question in your heart, that is, will the social security system still be alive after you retire?

You may often see the news that the social system is going bankrupt. This is not a completely wrong statement. Because Americans live longer and longer, the number of retirees has been increasing, but the number of the next generation of workers has not increased. Therefore, the expenditure of social retirement funds is far greater than taxes, so the government has been trying to deal with it. President Bush once proposed to privatize social security pensions, in part to allow people to invest their money. Unfortunately, there are too many opposing voices, which shows that thorough reform is extremely difficult.

However, because many Americans depend on this retirement benefit, no politician dares to propose to ban it or even make a change quietly. At present, the government has gradually raised the age of "complete retirement". Young people who are 30 years old this year will not be able to achieve "complete retirement" until they are 67 years old. I believe this age will be pushed up to 70 years old in the future.

National conditions vary from country to country. Buy your own old-age insurance, and your life will be better in the future.