12 (Sec 1) Statesman, Salem, OreL Sunday, Sept. 28r 1953
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You, too, Can Afford to Retire on Social Security i
Benefits--If You Can Operate a Turpentine Still
(Editor's Note: Can you stretch
75 a month,' plus your social se
curity, into a living these days?
You can if you run a cotton gin,
cr a turpentine still, or go fishing
(except for halibot and salmon) or
hold public office. But for a lot of
ethers, the retirement dream isn't
helped much by present social se
curity rules. That's wny 170 duis
la Congress propose that something
be done about it)
By CLARKE BEACH
' AP Newsfeature Writer
; WASHINGTON ( Congress
may soon do something to help
along that dream of yours about
retiring on your social security
jrhen you're 63.
. You know how the dream goes:
: You'll take your social security
and piece it out by running a tour
ist home in California, or maybe
Florida ...
Or live, the year around at that
waterside resort 'where you spend
your vacations and hire out your
jnotorboat for fishing parties ...
Or maybe do a little farming or
real estate work.
Trouble is that, as of now. you
can't count too much on .Uncle
Sam's cooperation. Under present
law you probably wouldn't be able
to earn any kind of a substantial
Income at the same time you draw
social security chekcs.
Those social security taxes that
are taken out of your pay check
simply are not buying anything
comparable to a private annuity.
If you earn more than $73 a
month in employment "covered" by
social security you can't get any
social security retirement benefits
not until you are 75. Nor can
you get them if you earn more than
$900 a year in self-employment
(that figures out at. $75 a month,
too) except in certain activities.
Coverage Spreads
The trend for years has been to
put more employment and self-employment
under social security. One
of the last things President Eisen
hower did before Congress adjourn
ed was to propose that some 10
million more persons be covered.
Congress probably will go along at
least part way on this.
On the other hand there's a grow
ing movement in Congress to per
mit persons drawing social secur
ity old age benefits to earn as much
as they please in any kind of work.
Twenty-five bills were introduced
in the last session to permit this.
All told. 170 bills dealing with the
Income of the aged are being stud
ied by a House Ways and Means
Subcommittee.
Would Raise Limit
Forty - four of the proposals
would raise the limit on what you
can earn in covered employment
to amounts ranging from $100 to
$230 a month instead of the pres
ent $75. -rn'-et ' '
The Ways and Means Committee
plans to make some recommenda
tions before the next session of Con
gress opens. I was told "the pres
sure is terrific on this people all
over the country are writing their
congressmen," and it seems fairly
certain the ceiling will be raised
to some, extent, " .;-
However, Congress probably will
take a long, hard look at the cost.
Robert Ball, acting director of the
Old Age and Survivors' Insurance
(OASD Bureau, estimates that if
the limit on earnings of the aged
were abolished the cost of retire
ment benefits - would increase by
$1,400,000,000 or 50 per cent a year:
Many Working
"About 1,431,000 persons who
have social security insurance and
are 65 or older are still working,"
he said.
"If they were permitted to draw
retirement benefits and keep on
working, social security taxes would
have to be raised, or benefit pay
ments to widows and children
or the money would have to come
out of general treasury funds.
"The social security cystem was
never designed to enable people to
earn substantially and still draw
benefits. Of course, if the Ameri
can people are willing to pay for
that kind of system, it's up to
them."
So, at present anyway, your re
tirement dream hings in finding a
way to make a suplementary in
come, which is not covered by so
cial security.
To Add Farmers
You might buy a farm , and run
it yourself, since the self-employed
farmer is now exempt from social
security. But this might not last.
The Eisenhower proposals would
blanket farmers into the system.
You could buy and operate a cot
ton gin or a turpentine still. Those
two industries, curiously, were ex
cepted from the coverage of the
act.
You could be a notary public.
That work is excepted, as are all
public appointive or elective offices.
You might become a justice of the
peace, sheriff, marshall, register
of deeds, city councilman, mayor,
governor, member of Congress, ev
en President of the United States.
Employes In the fishing industry
are in general excepted from the
$75 limit. You couldn't use your
own motorboat to take out fishing
parties and earn over $900 a year,
but if you could get some other
boat owner to hire you, you could
earn as much as he d pay you.
Jobs Covered
But don't get a job fishing for
salmon or halibut, and don't work
on craft of more than 10 tons. Those
jobs are covered.
You might get Work with a for
eign government, either in this
country or abroad. Or with the
United Nations or some other in
ternational organization. They are
all excepted.
Most employes in charitable and
religious organizations are now ex
cepted. The clergy and other pro
fessions are, too, but could, you
suddenly become a doctor, minis
ter or lawyer at 65?
Here's one tip that might save
you a lot of money:
If you work after retirement,
you lose your monthly social secur
ity check only for the months in
which you make over $75.
Suppose you are drawing $85 a
month in OASI benefits, the maxi-
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mum for one person, and you write
a book or a play or a song, or
invent a gadget of some kind in
three months. ;,
You send it to your agent and dd
no more work, ever.- You can col
lect royalties or fees for years aft
erwards but social security still
will dock you for only three months
-$255.
Changed After 75
Another bright spot in the pic
ture: You can still work when
you're 75, it makes no difference
to Uncle Sam how much you earn
or where you work. No ; matter
what you do, your OASI checks
will be mailed you the rest of your
life.
The truth about social security
is that it is primarily disaster in
surance. The maximum family ben
efit of $168.75 a month could be
a godsend to your wife, and chil
dren if you died before reaching
65. If you become incapacitated
for work in the uncertain tomor-
row, it might be a blessing to yoo
in your old age; .
For persons who have earned-$3,-600
a year or less, the retirement
benefit could offer a relatively ade
quate income perhaps from $i,
000 to $2,025 a. yeari depending on
the worker's average earnings and
number of dependents.
But the maximum payment of $2.
025 wouldn't be acceptable to a
person in the upper middle income
bracket, say above $7,500 a year.
To retire comfortably, he would
have to supplement his OASI ben
efits with substantial earnings or
have other income, such as a pri
vate pension or returns from invest
merits. The law puts no limit on
these.
Percentage Computed
Milton A. Ellis, assistant vice
president of the Metropolitan life
Insurance Co., told me bis organ
ization reckons an adequate retire
ment income at 40 per cent of a
man's salary.
r -
"Under present income tax and
social security laws," he said, "a
pension of 40 per cent of final pay
would result in something- like 50
tO 60 per cent of take home pay,
and even a higher; percentage if
costs of commuting, clothing, lun
ches and so forth are considered.
SucITnestimates help to explain
some significant statistics Which
the OASI bureau has compiled:
1. In a survey of persons draw
ing OASI checks, it was learned
that only 4 per -cent retired volun
tarily in good health. Nearly all
the others either lost their jobs or
were physically unable to work.
2. Of the 525.000 insured workers
who reached 65 in 1952, only 230.
000 considerably less than half
retired and applied for OASI ben
efits. That would seem to recognize that
in these days, $75 a month isn't
much.
Now if there were only more tur
pentine stills ...
Mitchell Rites On Tuesflay
DALLAS - Graveside services
for Fred Mitchell, 73, resident
of, the Dallas area for 25 years
who died in a Salem hospital
Thursday, will be held Tuesday
at 2 p.m. ! in the Dallas Ceme
tery.: . ; '.. .- . f i. '.
He was born July 3," 1877 in
Red Bluff, Calif and married
Edith, Williams in 1903 in Rose
burg. Survivors include a daugh
ter, Ethel Martin; 10 grandchil
dren and 10 great-grandchildren.
Services are under direction of
the Bollman Funeral Home.
SUBSTANDARD HOUSES
NEW ORLEANS 0P The
Commission Council planned to
establish minimum, housing stan
dards after a survey showed that
43 per cent of the city's 173,000
houses were sub-standard.
jf- The1 average ; depth of . the
world's oceans is about two miles.
Driver Dies
Behind Wheel!
PORTLAND un An automo
bile crashed Into a pole here Sat
urday. Police fround David R. Kel
ly, 25. Portland, dead inside. His
wife, suffering from shock, was inW
able to tell police what caused the
car to hit the pole.
Police said the possibility ef a
heart attack would be investigat
ed, f . .
Oregon Seasonal Employment
Lagging Below That oP515 '52
Seasonal employes in Oregon in
September this year total approxi
mately the same number as in
September a year ago, but the
figure is slightly below the all
time top registered a month ear
lier, records of the State Unem
ployment Compensation Commis
sion here disclosed Saturday.
Both the number of job seekers
and insurance claimants contin
ued considerably above recent
summers but were lower than in
1946 or 1949. Unfilled job open
ings reported by State Employ
ment Offices were highest this
year except for June but were
below similar post-war periods
with the single exception of 1949.
Employment in Oregon's main
seasonal activities lumber, con
struction, agriculture and food
processing is lagging somewhat
below similar figures for either
1951 or 1952. Lateness of 1953
crops may serve to increase ear
lier job reports in some lines but
construction operations were not
expected to equal the peaks of
30,000 in each of the most recent
summers, officials said. Nor will
the entire lumber and logging
industry attain the 90,000-plus
figures reported in every year
since the Korean action started.
Steady gains in lesser trade,
services and manufacturing lines
have offset partly losses in main
seasonal groups. Merchants re
ported retail employment fully up
to similar periods in recent years
while some service lines suchas
resorts, amusements and repair
shops showed an uptrend. In
miscellaneous manufacturing, me
tals and machinery were higher
than in other summers but were
balanced by layoffs in furniture
and ship repairing.'
The number of job seekers
dropped 3,000 in August to
21,500, the lowest reported this
year by local employment officers
but about 50 per cent more than
in September, 1950, 1951 and
1952. Nearly 40 per cent of these
were women.
In Portland Area
More than half of those looking
for work were in Multnomah
County while another thousand
were counted at nearby Oregon
City and Hillsboro. Biggest drops
in unemployment during August
came from Western Oregon farm
areas, especially the Salem sec
tion, Hillsboro, Corvaljis, Leba
non and Medford. The Ontario
and Milton-Freewater areas were
busiest Baker, Hood River,
Klamath Falls, La Grande and
Roseburg reported more idle
workers than a month before.
The busy harvest period had lit
tle effect on the number of cov
ered workers asking for compen
sation, the records show.
Claimants from lumber opera
tions are ntarly double those of
last summer while from construc
tion and most smaller manufac
turing groups the uptrend was
from 25 to 50 per cent.
Unemployment payments for
the first eight months of 1953
reached $13,274,191, an increase
of more than 20 per cent over a
year ago and highest for this
period with the exception of 1946
and 1949. With the gain over re
cent years becoming more pro-
cr
2,000 Minin
Men Due at
Convention
SEATTLE t Nearly 2,000
North American mining men and
US. and State government offi
cials will gather in Seattle Monday
for the I opening of the 1953 Metal
and Noumetallic Mining Conven
tion of the American Mining Con
gress. The convention program includes
discussion of U. S. government
mineral policies, public lands, la
bor relations and manpower mat
ters, uranium production and inter
national gold silver and monetary
policies.
Government officials who are
scheduled tox appear before the
convention include Felix E. Worm-,
ser, assistant secretary of the in
terior; Lewis Hoffman of the In
terior Department's Bureau of
Land Management, and represen
tatives of the Atomic Energy Com
mission, the Bureau of Mines and
the U. S. Geological Survey.
The delegates are coming from
nearly every state in the union,
Alaska, Canada and Mexico.
nounced every month officials
said they were preparing for a
big claims load during the coming j
winter.
With unemployment during the
first three months of the year
averaging 150 per cent' higher
than during the third quarter, the
number of idle during the early
part of 1954 may approach the
record of the cold spells in 1949
and 1950.
Paul Gurike, member of
the Unemployment Compensation
Commission, on a recent trip to
Klamath Falls, stressed the labor
situation before a large audience.
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