BrainDrain
Registered Users (C)
I am looking for some specific information as to if we get our Social Security money ( tax paid) back if we decide to go back to India in the current scenario ?
Social Security - Do we get the money back ?
- Thread starter BrainDrain
- Start date
No
Social security taxes provide benefit for non-citizen and citizen when they retire or disable and qualified under 40-quarter rule (10 years' of work).
Nonimmigrants are not eligible to get benefit. Once you get GC, you can work for 4 more years (after 6 years of H1) and qualify for benefits. Even Americans don't get benefits if they don't qualify.
There is no concept of REFUND when you pay uncle sam.
You should be thankful to them for not coming behind you asking for 'Relocation Taxes' when you completely relocate to India.
Some states charge extra when residents move to different state within 3-6 months after selling their home. In NJ, if Residents sell their 280K house for 300K and gained 20K, state govt is OK, if they stay in their state for 6months after sale. But they move out of state before, state wants some share in residents profit. You cann't just take money and escape.
Now you tell me, how long it will take for uncle Sam to make a new law for "Relocation Taxes"..
If Sona Shah sees this, she might help senators to draft some law demanding 'Relocation Taxes'. But she will fight for you "To walk in to any consulates outside USA and drop the check without any appointments".
Social security taxes provide benefit for non-citizen and citizen when they retire or disable and qualified under 40-quarter rule (10 years' of work).
Nonimmigrants are not eligible to get benefit. Once you get GC, you can work for 4 more years (after 6 years of H1) and qualify for benefits. Even Americans don't get benefits if they don't qualify.
There is no concept of REFUND when you pay uncle sam.
You should be thankful to them for not coming behind you asking for 'Relocation Taxes' when you completely relocate to India.
Some states charge extra when residents move to different state within 3-6 months after selling their home. In NJ, if Residents sell their 280K house for 300K and gained 20K, state govt is OK, if they stay in their state for 6months after sale. But they move out of state before, state wants some share in residents profit. You cann't just take money and escape.
Now you tell me, how long it will take for uncle Sam to make a new law for "Relocation Taxes"..
If Sona Shah sees this, she might help senators to draft some law demanding 'Relocation Taxes'. But she will fight for you "To walk in to any consulates outside USA and drop the check without any appointments".
BrainDrain said:
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TheRealCanadian
Volunteer Moderator
BrainDrain said:
No, never, because the money you pay was never yours after you gave it to the government.
dl1cd........its not exactly the truth that the social security will be totally bankrupt........as of today it is still in surplus.....and its just a projection that it will not be enough.....and it is supposed to start going inot deficit only after 15-20 years or so...
and if we manage to get the funds in the next 5 years.....we will get the full amount transferred to our next home country..
and if we manage to get the funds in the next 5 years.....we will get the full amount transferred to our next home country..
Please consult your SS benefits letter
Over the last couple years, I have actually gone through my SS Benefit letters and I do remember seeing the bankruptcy date pulled up by a couple of years. If I remember approximately, it is around 2035 - 2040 (no, I do not remember the exact year).
This is a known fact - SS is going down and pretty soon (30 years?) it will be out. So, the lawmakers have the task cut out for them - how to plug this sinking boat.
Now, by demanding that folks who leave US also get a slice of the pie, the holes are being made larger - not smaller. Would the lawmakers relent? Fat chance! That is all I am saying.
Over the last couple years, I have actually gone through my SS Benefit letters and I do remember seeing the bankruptcy date pulled up by a couple of years. If I remember approximately, it is around 2035 - 2040 (no, I do not remember the exact year).
This is a known fact - SS is going down and pretty soon (30 years?) it will be out. So, the lawmakers have the task cut out for them - how to plug this sinking boat.
Now, by demanding that folks who leave US also get a slice of the pie, the holes are being made larger - not smaller. Would the lawmakers relent? Fat chance! That is all I am saying.
TheRealCanadian
Volunteer Moderator
techy2468 said:
I have no idea where you get this idea from.
The United States has "totalization agreements" with some nations, whereby contributions in one count as contributions in the other. Canada is a good example. I contributed to CPP for 10 quarters before I moved to the US, and those contributions count towards SS eligibility.
But there's a catch.
They're counted as "0 contribution" quarters, which means that they count towards the 40-quarter minimum to be eligible for SS, they don't count towards raising my benefit and once I have 40 quarters of SS contributions, they will be of no use to me.
This notion of "transferring money" implies that you have an account with SSA, where the money is somehow yours and you can do with it as you wish. Nothing could be farther from the truth.
TheRealCanadian
Volunteer Moderator
dl1cd said:
SS will not be bankrupt then; it merely will only be able to pay out benefits based on the amount of money coming in, or around 75% of current levels.
BrainDrain
Registered Users (C)
What a coincidence !
I was thinking about SS and started this thread.. when I checked my mailbox in the evening I had a statement from Social Security that we receive once a year or so I guess
Yes the chance to get some money back seems bleak .. but I wish there was some provision .. it is money we are paying for which we will have no benefit..
especially when we are facing this mess in immigration.
I know we are here by our own choice .. but it seems we are being exploited on all counts .. employer , immigration / govt... I am soon visiting home and have plans to look out for some options.
I was thinking about SS and started this thread.. when I checked my mailbox in the evening I had a statement from Social Security that we receive once a year or so I guess
Yes the chance to get some money back seems bleak .. but I wish there was some provision .. it is money we are paying for which we will have no benefit..
especially when we are facing this mess in immigration.
I know we are here by our own choice .. but it seems we are being exploited on all counts .. employer , immigration / govt... I am soon visiting home and have plans to look out for some options.
I know for sure in the PENCE proposal for illegals, there was a provision for the guys to return back after 12 years with their Social Security too. I think this is definetely worth exploring more....
BrainDrain said:I was thinking about SS and started this thread.. when I checked my mailbox in the evening I had a statement from Social Security that we receive once a year or so I guess
Yes the chance to get some money back seems bleak .. but I wish there was some provision .. it is money we are paying for which we will have no benefit..
especially when we are facing this mess in immigration.
I know we are here by our own choice .. but it seems we are being exploited on all counts .. employer , immigration / govt... I am soon visiting home and have plans to look out for some options.
BrainDrain.......SS is a tax paid by citizens.....we are able to see it seperate because over here they say that its for a said purpose.........but i am not sure thats true in india.....................what i mean is that all taxes belong to government..........and they usually keep liberty to use as they wish........i am sure all of social security must be in US bonds....funding the deficit....
only way we can get that money is if india starts a SS scheme........otherwise i do not have much hope...
only way we can get that money is if india starts a SS scheme........otherwise i do not have much hope...
"Exhausted" .. is the term used
I had to check the letter .. it states "Without changes, by 2042 the Social Security Trust Fund will be exhausted" ... (this is in the 2004 letter, later one pulled up the year to some earlier year than 2042. It goes on to state:
"There would be about 73 cents for each dollar of scheduled benefits"
Yes, so, we will get something if we hang around until then, but not 100%.
Unless, there is another discovery that the earlier calculations were wrong and it is 37 cents to a dollar
TheRealCanadian said:
I had to check the letter .. it states "Without changes, by 2042 the Social Security Trust Fund will be exhausted" ... (this is in the 2004 letter, later one pulled up the year to some earlier year than 2042. It goes on to state:
"There would be about 73 cents for each dollar of scheduled benefits"
Yes, so, we will get something if we hang around until then, but not 100%.
Unless, there is another discovery that the earlier calculations were wrong and it is 37 cents to a dollar
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texancanadian
Registered Users (C)
I work in a closely related area so I have some better knowledge on this.
Basically what currently happens is that currently the Age you can start social security depends on your year of birth. For most of us that Age is 68 for an unreduced benefit. You can however start early retirement as early as age 62 with a reduced bft. So lets say if you were to start at Age 68 with $ 1,000 a motn you can instead start at $ 400 per month at Age 62 (payments are lower to make up for the additional time for payment plus based on mortality tables because the chances of you living the 6 years from Ag e62-68 is higher thatn you living the additional 6 yrs from 69-74, and so on.
Basically to make the system survive they may have to increase the start AGe to 70 or 72 and the unreduced age to 65. However no one in Govt wants to take the hard decisions like cutting benefits on increasing age requirements. You have the seniors and bay boomer vote bank and heavy lobbying from AARP etc. But today or tomorow someone will have to tackle it ( ie reduce benefits, or increase taxes or increase the age at which you can receive benefits).
But my understanding was that in theory Indian nationals (even non PR of USA) who have completed 40 quarters of employment in US can claim benefits even if they are sitting in India. If they pass away their widows can also claim benefits. But the 40 quarters rule is a must.
Basically what currently happens is that currently the Age you can start social security depends on your year of birth. For most of us that Age is 68 for an unreduced benefit. You can however start early retirement as early as age 62 with a reduced bft. So lets say if you were to start at Age 68 with $ 1,000 a motn you can instead start at $ 400 per month at Age 62 (payments are lower to make up for the additional time for payment plus based on mortality tables because the chances of you living the 6 years from Ag e62-68 is higher thatn you living the additional 6 yrs from 69-74, and so on.
Basically to make the system survive they may have to increase the start AGe to 70 or 72 and the unreduced age to 65. However no one in Govt wants to take the hard decisions like cutting benefits on increasing age requirements. You have the seniors and bay boomer vote bank and heavy lobbying from AARP etc. But today or tomorow someone will have to tackle it ( ie reduce benefits, or increase taxes or increase the age at which you can receive benefits).
But my understanding was that in theory Indian nationals (even non PR of USA) who have completed 40 quarters of employment in US can claim benefits even if they are sitting in India. If they pass away their widows can also claim benefits. But the 40 quarters rule is a must.