Category: Sober living

Can the employees ask you to stop withholding Social Security tax once they reach the wage base threshold? Each employer must withhold Social Security taxes from an employee’s wages, even if the combined withholding exceeds the maximum amount that can be imposed for the year. Fortunately, the employees will get a credit on their tax returns for any excess withheld. As mentioned above, employers and employees split the total amount owed in FICA taxes each pay period. The current FICA tax rate is 15.3% of an employee’s gross wages, but only half (7.65%) is paid by the employee, and the other half by the employer.

SSA’s database

• Unborn households face the largest losses, ranging from $11,700 to $22,000 for those born 20 years in the future, while those born today experience slightly smaller losses between $9,200 and $14,100.
• Married employees who file jointly while earning over $250,000 annually or file separately while earning over $125,000 annually are also subject to this additional tax.
• The revenues from this tax finance the nation’s Social Security program and Medicare program.
• Each side contributes half of the overall amount sent to the federal government, though there are some exceptions.
• An earlier Office of the Inspector General audit by the SSA, published in March 2015, looked into individuals above the age of 112 with no death information recorded in the Numident and found 6.5 million people matching this description.
• FICA is a payroll tax, and it’s short for the Federal Insurance Contributions Act.

The Federal Insurance Contributions Act (FICA) imposes two taxes on employers, employees and self-employed workers. One is for Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance, which is commonly known as the Social Security tax, and the other is for Hospital Insurance, which is commonly known as the Medicare tax. However, for most workers, reducing or avoiding the FICA tax is not possible. The tax is an essential part of the U.S. social protection programs and is required by law for the vast majority of employees. Self-employed workers have a unique situation, as they are required to pay both the employee’s and the employer’s share of the tax, totaling 15.3%. Employers have to withhold taxes — including FICA taxes — from employee paychecks because taxes are a pay-as-you-go arrangement in the United States.

Need Help Calculating FICA Tax?

Together, these deductions add up to 7.65% of your gross income. Employers match this contribution, so the total FICA tax contribution is 15.3% of your salary. The tax collected for both programs could show up on your paystub as two separate line items, one for Social Security and another for Medicare. Join thousands of businesses and households who trust SurePayroll for their payroll and HR needs.

Social Security & Medicare Tax Rates

A positive equivalent variation means that the person would be better off under the policy reform; a negative equivalent variation means that the person would be worse off under the policy reform. For example, as shown in Table 4, a person aged 60 at the time of the policy change and with a gross income in the highest 20th percent of the income distribution receives $43,600 of value from this policy bundle. Put differently, this household is indifferent between the adoption of this policy bundle and receiving a one-time payment of $43,600 without this bundle. However, a household aged 30 in the bottom 20th percentile loses the equivalent of $3,400, as shown by the negative value.

• The self-employed pay both the employee and the employer share of SECA.
• Employers match the 1.45 percent FICA tax for Medicare but not the additional tax — that is only paid by employees.
• A positive equivalent variation means that the person would be better off under the policy reform; a negative equivalent variation means that the person would be worse off under the policy reform.
• If you’re in the 22% tax bracket, you’d owe $6,600 on the $30,000 you received in benefits that year versus owing $25,500 if your benefits were taxed at 85%.
• The limit changes each year based on the National Average Wage Index.
• More than 60 percent of currently living households and over 95 percent of retirees would benefit from implementing this policy bundle.

As no further details have been provided, we estimate this policy change as a full removal of benefits taxation starting in 2025 (retroactively applied) and permanent. For example, West Virginia enacted a law to begin phasing out the state income tax on Social Security over three years for individuals making under $50,000 and joint filers making under $100,000. For the 2024 tax year, 35% of Social Security benefits were exempt from the tax.

Rates and Limits

Yet, individuals under age 30 — and particularly people who have not yet been born — may face the largest losses as the federal debt increases and incentives to work and save for retirement decline, it found. Table 3 illustrates the conventional distributional effects of the proposed policy change for households across the entire income distribution. The largest tax reductions go to the top income quintile, with annual gains ranging from $1,625 to $2,450 in 2026 and increasing to $4,075 to $5,080 social security fica by 2054. However, the greatest relative gains—measured as a percentage of income after taxes and transfers—are received by households in the fourth income quintile, ranging from 1.1 percent in 2026 to 1.6 percent in 2054. Those in the second and third quintiles receive between $15 and $340 in 2026 and between $275 and $1,730 in 2054, equivalent to a relative income increase of 0 to 0.5 percent in 2026 and 0.3 to 1.3 percent in 2054. This means if an employee earns $180,000, FICA taxes will only be applied to the first $176,100 of those total wages.

What is withholding?

Your $30,000 in benefits won’t be taxed at 85%, but 85% of your benefits ($25,500) would be added to your other income and then taxed at your regular income tax rate. If you’re currently receiving or soon will be receiving Social Security retirement benefits, here is what you should know about which states may subject you to taxes and how Uncle Sam deals with it on the federal level. This means that in total, 15.3% of your wages are paid in to the Social Security and Medicare programs in order to fund the benefits going out to current recipients.

Tax season is upon us, but the road ahead doesn’t have to feel daunting. We’re breaking down the terms, forms and deadlines you need to know to responsibly file your taxes in 2024 – starting with FICA. In 1935, the United States Congress passed the Federal Insurance Contributions Act, known as FICA.

Federal Insurance Contributions Act

Office of Retirement and Disability Policy , July 2009, /policy/docs/ssb/v69n2/v69n2p55.html. If you’re worried about how all of this will affect your retirement accounts, remember that investing for retirement is a long-term game.

The amount your employer sets aside for FICA is based on percentages set by the federal government. As for federal, state and local income taxes, the amount your employer withholds will usually depend upon the information you provided when filling out your W-4 Form or a similar state or local form. There are some limited cases, such as a successor-predecessor employer transfer, in which the payments that have already been withheld can be counted toward the year-to-date total. FICA refers to the 1935 U.S. law and later the 1965 law that mandated that payroll taxes be paid by workers and employers to fund the nation’s Social Security and Medicare programs. Social Security has been paying out more than it collects through payroll taxes since 2021.

Mindy Yu, director of investing at Betterment, believes that investing for retirement is especially important given the uncertain futures of both Social Security and Medicare. In early 2024, the US Securities and Exchange Commission approved the first bitcoin exchange traded-fund, broadening access to cryptocurrency in retirement accounts. So far, though, crypto makes up less than 1% of retirement access. Eliminating the Social Security tax would benefit current retirees, letting them keep more money.

Even though popcorn buds are smaller, they’re just as easy to smoke as premium flower. Simply grind them and load them into your favorite device—a bong, pipe, one-hitter, or roll them into a joint. While they might not have the same visual appeal as larger buds, popcorn flower still delivers a smooth and satisfying experience. Plus, their smaller size makes them easier to break down, so they’re super convenient for quick sessions or on-the-go consumption. Whether you’re lighting up solo or sharing with friends, popcorn flower offers great value without compromising on quality. One of the most basic ways you could smoke your cannabis filled rocks is to roll them in a joint.

Learn How to Smoke Moon Rocks — Easily

• In order to make Moon Rocks (or Moonrock weed), you’ll need cannabis buds, concentrates, and kief.
• The process of creating a version of your own isn’t difficult.
• Therefore, if you search well, you might be able to find moon rocks as good as sun rocks.
• In addition to their eye-catching appearance, moon rocks live up to their name because they have enough power to take you on a journey to the moon and back.
• The main difference is that the GSC strain is used to make the original moon rocks, but the concentrate and kief can be from other strains.

The teeth will shred the flower into smaller, uniform pieces as you grind. Keep twisting until the motion feels smooth and the flower reaches your desired consistency. Over-grinding can make the flower too fine, so check periodically to ensure the perfect texture for your preferred method of cannabis consumption. The mesh screen sifts and separates kief—the fine, powdery trichomes—from the ground flower, allowing you to collect this potent substance for later use. This feature ensures that no part of your cannabis goes to waste. Vape pens require little to no upkeep, making them a low-maintenance option.

Use Glassware To Smoke Moon Rocks

Moon rocks are recommended for experiences cannabis consumers as they pack a powerful punch. Here’s some advice on how to prepare for your moon rocks experience. For example, it requires you to hold the light longer than you would with a dry flower in your bowl. Moreover, you should use hemp wick to maintain the burn, so you do not email a lighter’s butane. Better yet, you can save yourself the time and effort by purchasing Kaviar Moon Rocks that are already made. However, you decide to enjoy your moon rocks, come visit us to stock up, or contact us today if you have any questions.

With Jointly, you can shop your top-rated products, and save lists of your favorites to share and bring to your local dispensary to help guide your shopping experience. If you’re ready to discover new products and reach your goals, download the Jointly app today on the App Store or Google Play, or shop your matches on the Jointly website. Stepping into the cannabis industry in Florida can seem like a thrilling adventure. With the state’s growing interest in medical marijuana, opening… Moon rocks pack a powerful punch due to their high THC content.

How To Smoke Moon Rocks – Final Thoughts

Sometimes you will find this product called “caviar weed” or “weed caviar”, although these terms can also refer to cannabis flower soaked in hash oil, but not rolled in kief. While the origins of this decadent cannabis product are uncertain, in 2017 the rapper Kurupt teamed up with the cannabis brand Dr. Zodiak and popularized moonrock weed. Although the most practical way to smoke moon rocks is usually in a glass pipe or bong, rolling them is entirely possible and not nearly as complicated as it might seem. However, it is better to roll your moon rock joint in a certain way to ensure a uniform burning and not end up with an un-smokable joint. As we mentioned before, moon rocks are easiest to smoke out of a glass piece, like a bong, bubbler, or pipe.

What are Cannabis Moon Rocks?

Therefore, if you search well, you might be able to find moon rocks as good as sun rocks. Or, if you want, you could make yourself a version of moon rock at par with sun rocks. If you are still here, we presume you already know a little about moon rocks.

Moon rocks are more expensive than a gram of traditional flower, but they’re still an affordable option given the high they provide and all the products they contain. I once smoked a gram of moon rocks at 5pm, and when I woke up the next morning at 7 am, I was still on Mars waiting for the train back to Earth. The Moon Rocks potency will take places many people, including first-time users, cannot handle.

What Do Moonrocks Look Like?

When you light them, they produce the densest and most therapeutic-potent clouds of smoke that you will see in the cannabis universe. No cannabis strain can compare or match the power of moon rocks by itself. Since they are coated in wax and rolled in kief you can find moon rocks from anywhere between $20 a gram to $60 a gram. If you try to smoke your moon rock before it’s completely dry, it will likely be too wet to light properly. Depending on the size of your nug and how much oil you used, this step can take anywhere from a few hours to several days. You’ll need a good amount of kief saved up for this step.

• But that stickiness keeps you from using Moon Rocks in rolling papers or standard pipes.
• Dabbing, on the other hand, is better suited for experienced users because it requires tools and knowledge.
• You can always smoke more, but you can’t undo it if you get higher than you want to be.
• Moon Rocks that have been smoked will produce a lot of flavors, especially when they are smoked through clean glassware.
• Over-grinding can make the flower too fine, so check periodically to ensure the perfect texture for your preferred method of cannabis consumption.
• Like any cannabis product, popcorn flower has its pros and cons.

What Are Moon Rocks & How to Smoke Them (2025 Guide)

Step 3Immediately after the second step, use your tongs or tweezers and roll your buds in your kief (buds should be nice and sticky from the concentrate). If your kief is still in the base of the grinder you might need to sprinkle it over the bud so you don’t get all the concentrate stuck in the base. If you do decide to sprinkle by hand, put a piece of paper under your bud as you sprinkle so you don’t lose any of your precious kief. Popcorn flower might not have the flashy appeal how to break up moon rock weed of premium marijuana buds, but you shouldn’t underestimate its potential. These smaller, more affordable cannabis nuggets are perfect for budget-conscious cannabis enthusiasts.

Once heated, wax or concentrate will be melted and the flower will start burning. Inhale slowly and evenly, and make sure you wait a few minutes between every hit. In general, that will be easier than trying to break up moonrock weed and roll it up. Then there’s the weed concentrate or hash oil, which is a product made from processing buds of weed to form a concentrated liquid high in both cannabinoids and terpenes.

Scientifically speaking, regular cannabis averages out at about 20% THC concentration. In other words, one hit of moon rocks is about as strong as two and a half hits of regular weed. Even though you can use a joint or bowl, their sticky, dense, and greasy consistency works best when they are used with either of the two first options. Additionally, the flowers can be placed over a hemp flower to ensure they stay lit for the duration of a smoking session. The combination of flower concentrates, and kief delivers a massive amount of cannabinoids and terpenes that are sure to delight just about any cannabis connoisseur.

It’s pretty safe to say that moon rocks can be pretty powerful. The following are some important factors you should consider if you are going to give these things a try. Girl Scout Cookie is the most popular for making moon rocks, but the choices are pretty endless, especially if you are making your own. You can coat your bud with whatever you want as long as it is sticky and full of cannabinoids.

It includes recipes for zero-proof cocktails for all seasons and has tips for navigating the dating scene while completely sober. If you’re feeling down about “missing out” on life if you cut back on alcohol or got sober, read this book. Ward and Libaire show you how to get intoxicated, but with life instead of alcohol. Finally, at the behest of his coworkers and boss, he ends up in a rehab that specifically caters to gay and lesbian patients.

Why did I love this book?

• The 20 best books about substance abuse offer valuable insights, personal stories, and practical strategies for understanding and addressing this challenging issue.
• Although the first two volumes aren’t overtly about Karr’s addiction, they show its makings in her traumatic home life and a lost adolescence.
• Finding that her creativity didn’t come from a bottle, she gets sober and finds a life she didn’t know she wanted.
• Burroughs’ story is one of triumph and loss, professional success and personal failure, finding your way to sobriety, falling into relapse, and starting all over again.
• The result is a definitive treatment of the American recovery movement—a memoir in the subgenre like no other.

My guess is that most addiction memoirs involve some kind of compromise between the author’s aesthetic and ethical impulses. This ethical dimension (or an aesthetic impurity) is a distinctive aspect of addiction memoir as a literary form. Whether you’re just beginning your recovery journey, started reading addiction memoirs for inspiration, or are seeking ways to maintain your sobriety, these books provide guidance, understanding, and support. Remember, recovery is not just about physical sobriety; it’s about finding yourself, healing your past, and creating a future filled with hope and resilience. Although she makes faltering progress in building a simulacrum of grown-up life, her relationship with alcohol—“I had an appetite for drink, a taste for it, a talent”—steadily overtakes everything. By the Substance abuse end of her drinking she is reduced to crouching on a stairwell outside her apartment, glugging whisky with her one-year-old son and failing marriage inside.

• Whether you are struggling with drug addiction, alcohol use disorder, or simply seeking to improve your mental health, books can be a powerful tool on your journey to recovery.
• Louise Foxcroft chooses her best books on the history of medicine and addiction, looking at medical practices of the past, from treatment of madness and non-existent diseases, to drug use and the origins of hypochondria.
• Part memoir and part how-to, many former drinkers credit Alcohol Lied to Me with helping them to finally beat the bottle.
• The long awaited sequel to the beloved and bestselling ‘The Liars’ Club’ and ‘Cherry’ – a memoir about a self-professed ‘blackbelt sinner’s’ descent into the inferno of alcoholism and madness, and her astonishing resurrection.

“Drinking: A Love Story” by Caroline Knapp

She is a Christian, as am I, and I often battled in my head with being a Christian and being an alcoholic. Eventually my faith brought me to my knees and I began my journey of sobriety after https://ecosoberhouse.com/article/10-best-alcohol-addiction-recovery-books/ having a spiritual experience. I did many things I am deeply ashamed of, and reading her book taught me that I am not alone.

The books I picked & why

• Stephanie Gillespie is a dedicated professional who has made a significant impact in the fields of developmental psychology, Autism, and Addiction Treatment.
• If you’re looking to break free of the social pressure of cocktails and bar hopping, this is the book for you.
• In it, Annie talks about her own experiences with addiction while keeping things deeply relatable to anyone who’s questioned alcohol’s role in their life.
• They encourage you to embrace the sober “Irish exit,” leaving the party early to enjoy a starlit stroll home.

We use to get rid of the pain, the shame, the anxiety/depression, whatever ails us. We find reprieve through our addictions, but find best alcohol recovery books a loving life in recovery. I loved her first two memoirs and was excited when this one came out. I like to think of my own memoir as a thank you to my daughter, who I believe came to help me get sober.

The ‘sober curious‘ movement has spawned non-alcoholic bars in cities as different as Nashville and New York, zero-proof liquors and a whole lot of memoirs written by addicts in recovery. This was the first book I read on this subject, and I instantly could relate to her feelings. She made a huge impact on me and is someone I will always be grateful to. Ultimately, books about addiction serve as a bridge, connecting people in recovery with the wisdom, empathy, and insights of those who have walked the same path. They are a source of strength, empowerment, and understanding, providing the knowledge that recovery is not just possible but a pathway to a more fulfilling and joyful life. Recovery isn’t just about quitting a substance; it’s also about reconnecting with oneself.

When she’s hooked on Demetrol, we perceive events through the distorted viewpoint of an addict. This is the kind of myopic or unreliable narrator we encounter frequently in novels – conspicuously naïve or self-delusive, and unchaperoned by a consolingly wise authorial presence—but almost never in memoir. Told in the present tense (another rarity in autobiography), the result is a stunningly immersive and intimate story. We seem to experience Ditlevsen’s life with her, moment by vivid moment. They encourage you to embrace the sober “Irish exit,” leaving the party early to enjoy a starlit stroll home.

Best Quit Lit Books and Sobriety Memoirs to Inspire Your Recovery

Once his 30 days are up, he has to figure out how to return to his New York City lifestyle sans alcohol. Burroughs’ story is one of triumph and loss, professional success and personal failure, finding your way to sobriety, falling into relapse, and starting all over again. The acclaimed author of Prozac Nation goes from depression to addiction with this equally devastating personal account.

I read this book before I became a parent and was floored, but have thought about it even more since. It is the heartbreaking and astute account of Sheff’s experience of his son, Nic’s, addiction and eventual recovery. He viscerally paints the picture of the hope-tainted despair, anguish, and havoc that addiction wreaks on an entire family. Drugs and alcohol aren’t essential to life, but we need food to survive. This is what makes food addiction such a difficult thing to understand and overcome.

Diary of an Alcoholic Housewife by Brenda Wilhelmson

We were inundated with recommendations, encompassing everything from reflections on war, grief, sexuality and religion, to insider accounts of Hollywood life, political conspiracy, even philosophical sporting legends. I once heard a sober alcoholic say that drinking never made him happy, but it made him feel like he was going to be happy in about fifteen minutes. That was exactly it, and I couldn’t understand why the happiness never came, couldn’t see the flaw in my thinking, couldn’t see that alcohol kept me trapped in a world of illusion, procrastination, paralysis. Next time I drank it would be different, next time it would make me feel good again. And all my efforts were doomed, because already drinking hadn’t made me feel good in years. Ruta grew up with a drug addicted mom; in a turn of events that probably won’t be surprising, she eventually developed her own addiction issues.

In this post, we’ve put together nine of the best addiction memoirs and quit lit books for you to check out. From painfully honest stories to science-based tips, there’s a title on this list that’s sure to inspire and motivate you or someone in your life. The second major problem for anyone writing an addiction memoir—and it’s often connected to the first—is how to conclude it. Only in rare cases—as when the subject of a biography dies—is the answer simple. In other kinds, as in novels, endings are artifices of form, and the trick is not to let this feel true for the reader. But the challenge is particularly acute when the story is about a life that, as the reader well knows, has simply gone on and on beyond the final page.