Where’s help for those on Social Security?

Published 1:30 am Tuesday, February 16, 2021

I am 67 years old. I worked and paid into Social Security for 51 years. I retired in 2019 and like most Americans on far less than when I was employed. When the first stimulus checks went out I was surprised not to receive one. Each call I made to help understand why was met with the same answer; you made too much money in 2018 so you don’t qualify. When the second stimulus check went out I again was left out based on my 2019 wages. So even though my 2020 wages qualified me that didn’t matter.

My young neighbors behind me have two children. The parents are 27 and 25. She is a stay-at-home mom and the young man works at Boeing. A wonderful young family. The young man told me he made $118,000 in 2018 and $115,000 in 2019. He was surprised to have received a stimulus check for $3,400 the first time and $2,400 the second go-round. And now it appears they will receive another $5,600. Yes, $11,400 nontaxable money.

But being fair I do have to say I received two wonderful raises from Social Security. One for 2.2 percent and the 2nd for 1.3 percent. For most folks on Social Security that was a total of about $40 per month. So once again thank you to all the wonderful politicians on both sides of the aisle for not caring one bit about the folks on Social Security. I am sure I am not the only one who paid into this wonderful system for 50 years. For sure folks making $100,000 per year need a little extra money more than folks on Social Security.

Dean Zevenbergen

Marysville