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Another Call to Action for Congress - Yahoo!Finance; The Motley Fool; AMAC
“Key decisions can’t be put off any longer.” That’s the rallying cry in a post by The Motley Fool’s Maurie Backman today on Yahoo!Finance. A valiant message, for sure, but as noted in Tuesday’s headline post on this website, perhaps not in sync with the reality of 2026’s congressional priorities.
A Trifecta of Key Considerations
Nevertheless, Ms. Bachman’s post focuses on three of the most commonly cited actions Congress could take in the short run to forestall the financial calamity facing Social Security in a few years: (1) changing or eliminating the taxable maximum, (2) raising the payroll tax rate, and (3) raising the full retirement age.
The concluding paragraph of Ms. Backman’s post notes, “With any luck, lawmakers will find a way to avoid Social Security cuts while causing the public as little financial harm as possible.” While the three prominent changes noted in her post are open for debate, it’s important to remember that Social Security has grown somewhat out of sync with 21st-century economics, making it perhaps more important to consider other structural changes that would do more than simply fit the numbers.
Thoughts on Social Security for the Longer Term
And speaking of structural solutions, the Association of Mature American Citizens (AMAC, Inc.) has developed its Social Security Guarantee to address the insolvency problem on a broad scale. AMAC’s position is that resolution can be achieved without payroll tax increases through relatively minor program modifications, including changes to the cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) process and modifications to the formulas for calculating initial benefits for 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) changing the taxable maximum formula to address the unintended loss of revenue; (4) improving survivor benefits, (5) eliminating the reduction in benefits for those choosing to work before full retirement age; and (6) improving savings tools for future retirees, including a savings account that builds estate value. AMAC is resolute in its mission to preserve Social Security for current and future generations and has drawn the attention of lawmakers in D.C., meeting with many congressional offices and staff over the past decade. See AMAC’s proposal for Social Security reform here.