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Are We Approaching Social Security Reform the Wrong Way? - AEI
According to one Social Security pundit, we are approaching U.S. Social Security reform all wrong. In this article by Andrew G. Biggs of the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), the author contends that all policy discussions about Social Security reform center on restoring solvency to the existing program. But, he suggests, that is the wrong way to address the problem, instead suggesting that discussions on Social Security focus more on the program’s purpose – provide an adequate standard of retirement living, considering the resources available to sustain that standard. In other words, focus on what that means in today’s terms rather than the original conditions which existed in the 1930s when U.S. Social Security was first founded. The article is an interesting twist on Social Security reform and how we are approaching it, in light of the program facing insolvency (but not bankruptcy) in less than a decade. Click here to read more.
As an example of the leading thoughts on reforming Social Security, the Association of Mature American Citizens (AMAC, Inc.) believes Social Security must be preserved and modernized to meet the demands of 21st-century economics. AMAC’s position is that this can be achieved without payroll tax increases via relatively slight program modifications, including cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) process changes and modifications to the formulas for calculation of payments to higher-income beneficiaries. Changes to the age for maximizing benefits are included in AMAC’s position, along with (1) an increase in the thresholds where benefits are subject to income tax; (2) indexing of these thresholds annually to account for inflation; (3) improved survivor benefits, (4) eliminating the reduction in benefits for those choosing to work before full retirement age; and (5) improved savings tools for future retirees, including a savings account that builds estate value. AMAC is resolute in its mission that Social Security be preserved for current and successive generations and has gotten the attention of lawmakers in D.C., meeting with many congressional offices and staff over the past decade.