4 ms·

Generally, government retirement programs aren't really tied to citizenship. You have to have contributed to social security for a number of years to receive be

by lgbr 13y ago

Generally, government retirement programs aren't really tied to citizenship. You have to have contributed to social security for a number of years to receive benefits. I'm a US citizen, but my income is German, so I will ultimately receive German retirement benefits. Living abroad, there are few benefits I'm actually entitled to. In some third world nations, if I'm arrested, then I could receive help at the embassy's expense. But I live in a first world country. I receive zero benefits from the US government. I can't think of a single service the US government provides me. In fact, they hold a monopoly on many of the services I need. If I simply want to notarize a form, I have to get to a consulate and then pay $50 (something I get for free in the US). And yet I have to file taxes and sometimes PAY taxes. And here's an even worse bit: I get exempted from paying on the first ~$90k of foreign earned income, great. But in order to get that benefit, I'm not allowed to spend more than 30 days in any year in the US. That just means I'm not going to visit my home country at all, because if I visit family for 29 days, and later in the year I need to come back home for a funeral or other emergency, well, that would be a trip that could cost upwards of $20k in US taxes.

cromwellian 13y ago
That seems true in the general case, but not in the specific. One can still obtain SSI if you never worked a day in your life, assuming you can shelter your income to pass the means test, and then return to live in the US. It's not a very likely scenario, because if you have the wherewithal to live abroad and shelter income, the paltry SSI isn't worth the effort. Still, it begs the question if citizens have some obligation to pay some minimum level of taxes, albeit small, for the basic services and protections one would still expect as a citizen: the right to vote, the salaries of your representatives, courts and foreign service, etc.

by lgbr 13y ago

cromwellian 13y ago

That seems true in the general case, but not in the specific. One can still obtain SSI if you never worked a day in your life, assuming you can shelter your income to pass the means test, and then return to live in the US. It's not a very likely scenario, because if you have the wherewithal to live abroad and shelter income, the paltry SSI isn't worth the effort. Still, it begs the question if citizens have some obligation to pay some minimum level of taxes, albeit small, for the basic services and protections one would still expect as a citizen: the right to vote, the salaries of your representatives, courts and foreign service, etc.