The Clinton chronicle. (Clinton, S.C.) 1901-current, July 12, 1951, Image 1
THE CHRONICLE
Strives To Be A Cleon
Newspaper, Complete
Newsy and ReHoble
She Clinton
If You Don't Read
IHE CHRONICLE '
You Don't Get the News
Volume LII
Clinton, S. C., Thursday, July 12, 1951
Number 29
A Regular Chronicle Feature
SOCIAL SECURITY BENEFITS'
NOT TAXABLE, BABSON SAYS
y\
Much Insurance and
Other Benefits Being
Paid for With Cheap
Dollar.
By ROGER BABSON
Babson Park, Mass., July 10.—To
day, July 10, is my bithday and my
trusted accountant has given me
a very nice birthday present He
calls to my attention that in view
ot my age and now being off
payroll, I can receive old-age in
surance of $80.00 per month.
How Old Are You?
He further states that persons
who are 75 or over can continue
to work and draw
old-age benefits. I,
like other em
ployed persons,
have had money
deducted from my
pay check since
1037, but I gave
this no attention,
believing that the
amount received
would be insig
nificant. But con
sidering how quickly the months
speed by as we get older, $80.00
coming so often looks pretty good
But the above is not the best of
it. This $80.00 per month which an
eligible person receives is non-tax-
abla. If he happens to be in the
50% tax bracket, this is
lent to a check every month of
$160.00, which certainly is not to
be sneezed at. When the deduction
from our pay checks was increased
January 1, 1950, we were kind of
sore about it. We forgot that So
-JL I
eial Security benefits were likewise
increased. Under last year’s amend- means for discussing an end to the
lations speech, that now as always we
held the door open for peace in Ko
rea, providing it was a real settle
ment, calling for an end to aggres
sion and restoring peace and secur
ity in the area and to the Korean
people. First reaction from the state
department was contained in a brief
statement which said: 'Tf Mr. Malik’s
broadcast means that the communists
are now willing to end the aggression
tire, as we nave arwajs
been, ready to play our part in bring
ing an end to hostilities and in as
suring against their resumption. But
the tenor at (Mr. Malik’s speech again
raises the question as to whether this
is more than propaganda. If it is
more than propaganda, aedquate
EVER LAND A
MC ONE?
When yon fish, hunt, golf
or engage in any outdoor
sport, yon risk injuring
someone, and claims for
damages. No need to risk
loss,—ask about oar Com
prehensive Personal Lia
bility Insurance.
S. W. Sumerel
AETNA-IZER
Jacobs Bldg.
Tele. 80
40’SfenJ
AND
ments a family can receive as much
as $1,800.00 per year as opposed to
the old maximum of $1,020.00.
Inflation May Not Be Too Bad
Some of the pessimists who are
always knocking Truman and talk
ing about inflation say that the
purchasing power of your old-age
insurance benefits in the years
ahead won’t be much use to you
on account of inflation. lhi» could
be a serious affair if we now paid
for these benefits in one lump sum.
Readers, however, will net be do
ing this. If your Social Security
benefits when they are paid will
be in depreciated d .•liars, then the
payments which are deducted from
your pay check will also be In de-
pieciated dollars, at least so far as
the average is concerned.
I use this same argument to cheer
up life insurance salesmen who are
troubled as to what the value of
the dollar will be twenty years
hence. I assuie them that though
the dollar may he much mere de-
pi eclated at that time, yet, if the
premiums arc pud in installments
from now un* 1 ! then, they also will
be paid to a large extent with de
preciated dollars. Furthermore, re
member that your increase in sal
ary is largely due to the declining
value of the dollar. Hence, consid
ering all things, you wm not suf-!
ter so much as you think you may!
and perhaps not at all.
Speaking of Taxation
In giving this column to my ac
countant friend to read over, he |
suggested tl.aL I adu “When a per
son roaches 65 and become*; eligible
for old-age insurance benefits, his
i wife is also entitled to One-half his
i benefits provided she is also 65 or
over and is nat cnlith d to higher
benefits based on her own earn
ings.” This is something worth
looking up; also the taxable fea-
j ture of life insurance. For instance,
when I took out, as a young man,
$40,000 worth of life insurance, the
agent told me that this first $40,-
000.00 was exempt from taxation.
I now find that if I pay tne prem-!
ium and own the policies romplete-
1 ly, my life insurance money will
be subject to the Federal Estate
Tax the same as stocks or bonds.
The Revenue Act of 1948 does
make an exemption for a niarrud
man to this extent: If the proceeds
of the insurance is payable to your
wife (or to a trustee under certain
conditions) within 13 months of
your death, it is not taxable. The
mpney in such a case, however,
must be subject to her sole con
trol. The above means that my
readers should immediately talk
their insurance over with on agent
that knows his stuff. Tnere are
other technicalities which I cannot
coyer in this column. The main
thing to remember is that if you
give your wife the proceeds of your
; insurance to do as she wishes with.
!4t will probably be exempt up to
| $40,000; but if you try to be too
specific and state how the money |
is to be used, or give it to other
beneficiaries, it may be subject to
taxation.
(These opinions of Roger W. Bab
son are published in The Chronicle
every Thursday.)
conflict are available.”
A so-called
come over Congress. But from the
vantage point of old observers here
tion, and are “piddling” in ccwnpari-'
son to the over-alhspending picture.:
For instance great stress has been;
I laid on firing some government,
'chauffers, cutting annual leave of
I government workers, in slashing
some personnel from government
i payrolls, particularly in some of the
(publicity and information esetions of
agencies and other like action, . . .
all of which will amount to a very
few million dollars when the slashes,
if they are economically sound,
should be made in the billions. An
other one of those blanket cuts, which
penalize the economical government
agencies and places a premium on
extravagance in others, has been
voted in the Senate—a ten per ent
cut. In commenting on this tax meth
od of cutting expenditures. Senator
Hem J. Ellender, Louisiana, said:
I am unconvinced as to the wisdom
of blanket over-all cuts in appro
priations ... a department which has
expenses to the minimum . . . will
be penalized, while anoher depart-
the run of the floor in both honse
and senate, smears and character as-
these economy cuts are more or less
“tactical” and for public consump- conscientiously pared its operating
ment whose budget estimates are sassinations from the floor of both
purposefully high will still have, in bodies, nndne influence of members
spite of the cut, ample funds.” of congress with government agen-
These observers declare this meth- cies, such as the RFC; inflnence of
od of slashing appropriations forces pressure groups on congress ... all
all agencies to pad their budgets and were pointed to by Jckes as part of
penalize those actually trying to do the blame for leak of ethics in gov-
a good job. j eminent. “In all my experience,”
Congress and the Senate particu-, Ickes said, “I never heard of a gov-
larly was again given a chastisement jemment official bribing himself "
from three sources during the past
week. Harold Ickes, former Secre
tary of Interior, was the old cur
mudgeon himself, having lost none
of his colorful flair for expression
when he was called before Senator
Douglas’ committee on ethics in gov
ernment, Ickes blamed congress for
much of the so-called laxness in gov
ernment and tor any laek jof confi-
dence in government by the people.
Payroll kickbacks by some congress
men. lobbying by former congress
men. and Senators, who even have
Dr. Fred E. Holcombe
Office Hours 9:M to l:S«
200 South Broad St
OPTOMETRIST
Offices at
Phone 658
artyleiMTs lev
way fane waaa a
aaviaf aa aay trip—
aatf yaa lava aa ax-
tra 10% aaeh way aa
a roNid-trlp Nakatt
Rd. •
One
Trip
Way
Greenville -
. $IJ0
$1.00
Columbia —
... 2.65
1.45
Charleston
... 7.30
4.05
Atlanta
... 7.95
4.40
Knoxville
... 8.49
4.65
Myrtle Beach
... 8J5
4.90
Wilmington, N. C. ..
...10.55
5.85
Jacksonville, Fla. .
...13.80
7.65
Washington, D. C. .
...18.85
10.45
New York, N.Y,
26.55
14.95
New Orleans, La. ...
23.15
12.85
Fayetteville, N. C-
... 8.55
4.75
Pins U. S.
Tax
CLINTON BUS
STATION
East Carolina Ave.
Phone
59
G R E Y H O U N D
As Washington Sees It...
IHE NATI0NA1 SCENE
Special to The Chronicle.
Washington, July 10.—Amid a ten
sion of peac rumors in Korea, the
log-jammed 82nd Congress passed
the end of the fiscal year without any
appropriation measures reaching the
desk of President Truman. As the
deadline neared President Truman
called administration leaders on Cap
itol Hill to the White House and in
cluded ^‘among them was Senator
Walter George, chairman of the Sen
ate Finance committee which is now
considering the house-passed tax
bill. Senator George has indicated he
would pass over the tax bill for the
time being until after a long look at
government appropriations. The
President, however, seeks fast action
before any recess or adjournment!
Also as the deadline neared, it ap
peared extension of the present De
fense Act for a Jew weeks was like
ly, with such changes as the Congress
might make coming later on.
The peace proposal made by the
Russian delegate to the United Na
tions was viewed warily by official
W ashington. President Truman
promptly replied from Tullahoma,
Tenn., where he made a foreign re-
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