10 Ways COVID-19 Will Affect Social Security - AMAC & The Motley Fool
The current pandemic is more than just a physical threat to public health. It is a financial threat to the nation’s most important public program–Social Security. Sean Williams notes ten ways that the crisis will hurt the program. Most notably, the loss of revenue from each of its three income sources will hasten the date of insolvency, perhaps to early as 2029, six years closer than last predicted. Income to Social Security comes from payroll taxes, interest income from its reserves, and taxation of higher earners’ benefits. All three income sources are seeing declines in collections. Other ways that Corona-virus will impact Social Security include these: a reduced cost of living adjustment (COLA) in 2021, or perhaps no COLA at all; a higher mortality rate; reduced net legal immigration; continued record-low birth rates. Read the full article here for more detail on each point.
The Association of Mature American Citizens (AMAC) believes Social Security must be preserved and modernized. This can be achieved by making modest changes in cost of living adjustments and the retirement age, with no additional taxes on workers. AMAC advocates for a bipartisan compromise, “The Social Security Guarantee Act,” taking selected portions of bills introduced by former Rep. Johnson (R-TX) and current Rep. Larson (D-CT) and merging them with the Association’s own well researched ideas. One component is Social Security PLUS, a new, voluntary plan that would allow all earners to have more income available at retirement. This component is intended to appeal especially to younger workers. AMAC is resolute in its mission that Social Security be preserved and modernized and has gotten the attention of lawmakers in DC, meeting with a great many congressional offices and their staffs over the past several years. Read AMAC’s plan here.