"Just by way of illustration if you know anyone living on Social Security you know that there are strict income limits placed on recipients. Especially when someone lives in say a nursing home...." I'm living on Social Security and there are no income limits on receiving it. Staying in a nursing home should be part of the first sentence. This should read:
"Just by way of illustration if you know anyone living on Social Security you know that there are strict savings limits placed on recipients when someone whose living in a nursing home is financed by the government..."
If this person has, say, $1,000,000 lor just $10,000 in savings, he is required to use that money to pay for his stay in a nursing home until most of that money is used up. The reason is that a person should pay for his own living expenses if he is financially able to do so. Why should the government pay for this person's stay in a nursing home?
Thank you for your comment and while I take your point. While ideally, people should pay for their own retirement, this is not the system we have. Yes, people are required to first use their savings to pay for their retirement. But once those savings are gone, the income limits of social security can kick in.
When I worked in mental health for example, clients of SSI had strict income limits. The point here is that often (though probably not in your case) even those on a fixed income might acquire excess savings simply by having relatively low expense and living in an institutional setting.
The larger point, however, is that the income transfers that are part of the social safety net contribute (even if unintentionally) in actions that contribute to consumerism.
"Just by way of illustration if you know anyone living on Social Security you know that there are strict income limits placed on recipients. Especially when someone lives in say a nursing home...." I'm living on Social Security and there are no income limits on receiving it. Staying in a nursing home should be part of the first sentence. This should read:
"Just by way of illustration if you know anyone living on Social Security you know that there are strict savings limits placed on recipients when someone whose living in a nursing home is financed by the government..."
If this person has, say, $1,000,000 lor just $10,000 in savings, he is required to use that money to pay for his stay in a nursing home until most of that money is used up. The reason is that a person should pay for his own living expenses if he is financially able to do so. Why should the government pay for this person's stay in a nursing home?
Thank you for your comment and while I take your point. While ideally, people should pay for their own retirement, this is not the system we have. Yes, people are required to first use their savings to pay for their retirement. But once those savings are gone, the income limits of social security can kick in.
When I worked in mental health for example, clients of SSI had strict income limits. The point here is that often (though probably not in your case) even those on a fixed income might acquire excess savings simply by having relatively low expense and living in an institutional setting.
The larger point, however, is that the income transfers that are part of the social safety net contribute (even if unintentionally) in actions that contribute to consumerism.