Tag: income taxes

The net benefit of the programs to the middle class dwarfs the $153,000 in average net benefits for retired households in the top fifth of the lifetime earnings distribution, and it also exceeds the $196,000 gain for the bottom fifth. The middle class is defined as the second, third, and fourth of the five earnings…

The federal income tax is generally indexed for inflation. Most particularly, the income brackets to which the marginal tax rates apply are increased in line with the “Chained CPI-U.” While the chained CPI-U has risen somewhat less rapidly than the headline CPI-U or the CPI-W used to adjust Social Security benefits, the adjustment will b…