Titanic Facts: The Ship. White Star Line was the company that built the Titanic, and was owned by J.P. Morgan, an American tycoon. The cost to build the RMS Titanic was $7.5 million. RMS stands for Royal Mail Steamer. It took 3,000 men two years to build the Titanic.
Workers and employers pay for Social Security. Workers pay 6.2 percent of their earnings up to a cap, which is $118,500 a year in 2015. (The cap on taxable earnings usually rises each year with average wages.) Employers pay a matching amount for a combined contribution of 12.4 percent of earnings.
And nearly a quarter of married couples and almost half of unmarried retirees rely on Social Security payments for at least 90% of income. With an average monthly Social Security check of around $1,230 per month, seniors are receiving average annual payments that total just $14,760 a year.