But some had another question: what sort of social security net forces an 89-year-old man to have to run around delivering pizza in his old age just so he can make rent? Newey can’t be the only one: Americans who are his age and make the average US yearly income of $35,977, can expect to receive about $1,579 a month in social security payments; barely enough to make the average rent – or roughly the same amount as what Donald Trump pays in taxes across two years.
Someone making $35k with another $19 k in social security on top is regarded as doing pretty well in the US.
Yes, we know what you mean. That someone who paid social security taxes on $35k a year while working would receive $19k a year in retirement from social security. But don’t you people have editors over there at The Guardian any more?
BTW, a state pension of 50% of working income sounds pretty good actually. How much should it be?
And had best part of 89 years to prepare for old age. And perhaps he likes a job to keep active.
How high are rents in the US?! $1,579 is £1,226; you could rent a small flat in a decent part of Zone 2 for that much.
I tried looking that up and FRED (normally excellent Federal Reserve chart database of econ stats) is never very good at detailing the source. Something like median urban apartment I think.
Why a pensioner living in a mobile home park (which he is) would be paying median urban apartment rent I don’t know.
The heartless US system has got him to 89, so it can’t be that bad.
$1,500 is the sort of rent you’d pay for a one bed in a large US city, although it wouldn’t get you far on the East or West coast.
“How much should it be?”
As always, the answer is:
Moar!
There’s another trick: at 65 and retirement, deductions from income drop sharply. His income is 50% higher than it appears.
Several states also exempt you from property tax if you (or your spouse) is over 65. Interestingly, they also continue the exemption if the over-65 spouse dies. Marrying somebody on their deathbed could be worthwhile if you have an expensive property.
But when the Valdez family’s followers started asking why a man of his age was still delivering pizzas, they got an unsavory answer: Derlin’s social security payment wasn’t enough to cover his bills.
There’s nothing “unsavory” about it. Derlin didn’t save enough money in his working lifetime to ensure he could retire comfortably. He’s paying rent because he didn’t bother to buy and pay off a home. Had he done so, he’d be on the hook for some property taxes and not much else. And finally, Social Security isn’t designed to provide enough money to fund retirement; it is designed to supplement savings used for retirement… That’s Retirement 101 type stuff.
I’d like to know where in the fuck Derlin lives in Utah that he has to spend $1,600 on rent. I spent a God-awful summer in Salt Lake City once, and can’t imagine you’d have to pay NYC/LA prices anywhere in Utah for a one bedroom apartment.
It’s The Guardian with numbers. You don’t need to read the article to know all figures will be several orders of magnitude out. Personally I don’t understand why anyone with a modicum of intelligence continues to read a paper that is so consistently innumerate. But then no one with a modicum of intelligence actually does read The Guardian.
Also I like what it reveals about the columnist that they think $1,600 is genuinely what people pay in rent. Too long living off daddy’s trustfund money.
When we lived in NZ we were told that some people got a pay rise when they retired and drew the state pension.
Mind you, by first world standards NZ pay rates were rather low, we were told.
Maybe be should move someplace else. My mortgage/insurance/property tax payment is less than that – with no down payment – on a 3 bedroom, 1600ft2 house on 2.5 acres.
Obviously more like UK where it’s ~£175pw (£9,100pa} – less than the £320pd + expenses retired Lord Useless receives to sleep in library until nurse takes him home
Parents name child “Poppy” child becomes a fragile flower to gaze at, not listen to
A few years ago, FEE said that recipients fell off the welfare cliff at about $40k a year. It might be a bit more now. How much does Newey actually want? He’s already a one percenter.
Mal Reynolds I hazard that Our Tim reads the Guardian. Nobody with a modicum of intelligence reads it, but how about those with more than a modicum?
My boss once told me, “You’re the only one around here with a little bit of brains. Everyone else has got a lot.”