Social Security says system's costs will exceed income this year
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Re: Social Security says system's costs will exceed income this year
#2Why don't we focus on using government bulk and "peace"-time military support to provide some of the services that "social security" (tax the young now to support the retired now) provides; directly, instead of as money or vouchers?
Re: Social Security says system's costs will exceed income this year
#3Why don't we focus on using government bulk and "peace"-time military support to provide some of the services that "social security" (tax the young now to support the retired now) provides; directly, instead of as money or vouchers?
That'd be because a lot of US politicians are ideologically opposed to any welfare program.
Re: Social Security says system's costs will exceed income this year
#4Why don't we focus on using government bulk and "peace"-time military support to provide some of the services that "social security" (tax the young now to support the retired now) provides; directly, instead of as money or vouchers?
Right now Social Security is paid for from it's own special tax. The idea then is that it isn't subject to yearly budget concerns, it just keeps ticking along regardless of congress' priorities.
If we start using the military, whether budget, personnel or infrastructure, then as soon as a war starts up or if we ever get a congress' that has the spine to cut back on military spending then those services get cut and we have to have a giant argument about how to replace them before settling on "do nothing and hope we get elected anyway".
Re: Social Security says system's costs will exceed income this year
#5We've known this was coming for a long time...as a Millennial, I don't expect to ever see a cent of Social Security benefits.
Re: Social Security says system's costs will exceed income this year
#6"This year, like last year, Social Security’s trustees said the program’s two trust funds would be depleted in 2034.
...
It should be stressed that the reports don’t indicate that benefits disappear in those years. After 2034, Social Security’s trustees said tax income would be sufficient to pay about three-quarters of retirees’ benefits." [1]
We can argue about how honest this is, but the claim is that it will still be there for Millennials. It seems feasible because by the time Millennials are 67, the bulge of babyboomers will be gone.
[1]: https://www.marketwatch.com/story/medicares-finances-are-get...
Re: Social Security says system's costs will exceed income this year
#7We've known this was coming for a long time...as a Millennial, I don't expect to ever see a cent of Social Security benefits.
As a millennial, I do. There are just too many easy mitigations here that will extend life several decades:
- Remove the cap and tax income above $120k, just like medicare and income tax
- Increased tax rate, possibly just on payroll not income (the employer-paid portion)
- Limited forms of means-testing (Maybe, attenuated survivor benefits as your estate value clears a certain high mark like $3 million)
- Eliminate "early" retirement ages and force the "full" age
- Extending minimum retirement age to 70 and beyond
Re: Social Security says system's costs will exceed income this year
#8We've known this was coming for a long time...as a Millennial, I don't expect to ever see a cent of Social Security benefits.
As a Millenial who tries to not hot-take, I do expect to receive Social Security benefits. I'm not planning on it being a requirement to survive, but I am expecting it to be there in a nontrivial form. As is widely noted the trust funds will, at current projected rates of usage, be tapped in 2034, but projected income (hence the "further looting" part) covers around 75% of all benefits at that point.
Baby Boomers will be dying off at that point, which should reduce the stress on the system, and there are a number of fairly politically safe ways to improve the financial position of Social Security like removing the caps on income. Don't get me wrong, Social Security is not a great system in a lot of ways, but it's not gonna just disappear and there is a recovery point in there if we should choose to take it.
Re: Social Security says system's costs will exceed income this year
#9Why don't we focus on using government bulk and "peace"-time military support to provide some of the services that "social security" (tax the young now to support the retired now) provides; directly, instead of as money or vouchers?
That'd be because a lot of US politicians are ideologically opposed to any welfare program.
As are the countless people who elect them, even though those same voters as a bloc rely far more on Social Security than those who vote for the other party.
Re: Social Security says system's costs will exceed income this year
#10We've known this was coming for a long time...as a Millennial, I don't expect to ever see a cent of Social Security benefits.
This was also the longtime belief of my parents, who both recently began collecting Social Security benefits. Social Security will only die if we let it be killed.