What about a payroll tax holiday?
Sean Williams of The Motley Fool is highly critical of an idea that President Trump has floated about eliminating the 6.2% payroll tax on employers and employees for the remainder of the year. Congress did pass this very idea in 2010 and 2011 when President Obama was in The White House. Trump views a payroll tax holiday as a simple way to put money directly into the pockets of working Americans for the remainder of the year. If enacted, a person earning $50,000 a year would keep an extra $2,325 if employed by someone else, or $4,650 if self-employed for the final nine months of 2020. But Williams notes that Trump has even talked of making it permanent. Payroll taxes are primary funding source for Social Security benefits. With the program already in trouble, this idea could exacerbate the long term solvency problem at the expense of short term stimulus. Read his full commentary on the idea here.
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 supports a bipartisan compromise, “The Social Security Guarantee Act,” taking portions of bills introduced by former Rep. Johnson (R-TX) and current Rep. Larson (D-CT) and merging them with the Association’s own research. 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 many congressional offices and staff over the past several years. Read AMAC’s plan here.