Wonder how well a typical American can live on Social Security payments? They are only $1,830.66 or $21,967.92 a year, on average. And that sum is taxed. (This is what it costs to retire comfortably in each state.)
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The average means tens of millions of people are paid less. Without any other financial help, many of those people live below the poverty line. That poverty line currently sits at $19,720 for a family. With any luck, recipients are married, which means two payments.

Taxes and Medicare payments probably take $1,830.66 to $1,400. It is a wonder the government thinks taxation of these amounts makes sense, given how many people it drives to the edge of being able to afford food, clothing, housing and transportation.

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What do people on Social Security do if they have no other income? Walk into a McDonald’s, Starbucks or Walmart. Aside from a modest number of young and middle-aged people are those over 65. Some are much older. People can work indefinitely at some of these retailers. Starbucks, for example, has no age requirement. McDonald’s partnered with AARP at one point to find older Americans jobs.

The challenge for older Americans is that, at some point, many will not be able to work at retail establishments. That means their employment options may disappear.

Working at McDonald’s, Starbucks and Walmart usually offers extremely low compensation. The base salary at Starbucks is $17 an hour.

This means that many Americans will work into their 70s or 80s. That really isn’t retirement.

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