I agree, that was a striking claim to make. Perhaps the person you responded to puts a lot into their 401k thinking it is social security or thinks income tax is FICA?
Re:Elon Musk's Demolition Crew
by adamtaylor_13 on Thursday February 06, 2025 @10:56PM
(#42969198)
Nope, I’m self-employed, so I pay 15%. I said, “Like 1/4”, indicating roughly.
As another commenter pointed out, social security is basically just income tax. If you combine my actual income tax with social security and Medicare, then I’m way north of 30% which is just ridiculous.
I was not claiming that social security is exactly 1/4 of my income, though I see how it could’ve been misconstrued that way.
If you want to be taken seriously, don't make false claims. It weakens your other arguments. Social Security is 6.2% (12.4% if self-employed since the employer takes care of half) on the first $176,100 of your net income (which for the median US taxpayer is on all their income). Medicare is 1.45% (2.9% if self-employed, same as Social Security).
So if you are self-employed, you pay at most 15.3% of your income below $176,100 in combined Social Security and Medicare. That's a lot, but it's not 25%. If you are not self-employed, you're paying 7.65% on income below $176,100 to both Social Security and Medicare which is very far from 25%.
If you're earning over $176,100 your effective Social Security tax rate will drop.