Don't cry for me Jonathon Stickland.

Texas State Representative Johnathon Stickland has read the writing on the wall. He can see the Blue Tsunami coming for him in November and has the dogs nipping at his heals. So like the coward he is he has decided to run. Away. He will not seek another term for the Texas State House.

But, don't cry for Stickland. For his 8 years of doing the "Lord's work", part-time at that, he will receive a hefty $23,000 pension per year starting at the age of 60. A Texas teacher making $50,000/year must work 20 full time years to receive the exact same amount.

For his 8 years of accomplishing very little, sitting on his fat ass, passing a bill allowing gun nuts to carry loaded assault weapons in the street, and killing a bill that would ban chaining of dogs in the hot sun, Stickland will be receiving almost $2000/month for the rest of his fat life.

May the dogs hound you for the rest of your fat fucking life.

Is Social Security going broke? No.

AARP magazine wrote a great article on "Social Security The Real Facts". If you have a moment read the article so you can talk intelligently about it especially before you say something ignorant like "SS is going broke" or "SS will not be around when I am old". Click on the summary below to view a larger version.

Some of the interesting points:
Social Security is not going bankrupt. It has a $2.89 Trillion reserve. If no adjustments are made this reserve will be depleted in 2034. SS will be able to pay benefits but at a reduced level of 79%.

Congress can easily fix this. 95% of American workers pay into Social Security every paycheck. 5% of American workers pay into Social Security till they reach the cap of $133,000. Then they stop contributing. If Congress would move this cap to $250,000 the fund could pay full benefits for another 50 years. This change would affect just 5% of American workers.

Fun facts. Social Security Administration has a budget of $12.5 Billion. 63,000 Federal employees. 16,000 state employees. 1245 field offices.

You can start collecting at 62. You can start collecting social security benefits at 62 but at a reduced rate. Do the math and see if this is right for you.

Social Security should not be your sole source of income at retirement. Couple this with a pension and savings and you will do just fine. Unfortunately most Americans do not have a pension so savings at a very early age into a retirement fund is a must.

You can visit https://www.ssa.gov to view your specific information such as how much you have made each year you have been working, your projected benefit at various ages and more!