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Easy fixes for Social Security – if you aren’t a politician
To get elected or to stay in office usually means steering clear of Social Security’s problems. Some politicians offer vague statements like “protecting the program,” but few advocate for serious solutions for a program headed for partial insolvency in just over a decade. Eric Brotman of Forbes favors increasing the full retirement age, given our longer lifespans and also advocates for a unique idea called “age adjustments”. Here’s how it would work: adjust the percentage of income paid into Social Security based on age (the older you are, the more you pay) to lessen the risk of a crisis and create more fairness in the system. Under this system, younger workers would contribute less as a percentage of their income, but for more years than their parents and grandparents did. This would help young people gain financial independence earlier in their careers and would place more responsibility on those workers in their peak earning years and approaching retirement age. But Brotman adamantly opposes means-testing, calling it the forfeiture of earned benefits, which is criminal. [Editor’s note: current recipients get back every dime ever paid into Social Security plus a nominal rate of interest in about 5-6 years.] Read full piece in Forbes 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 advocates for a bipartisan compromise, “The Social Security Guarantee Act,” taking selected portions of bills introduced by former Rep. Johnson (R-TX) and Rep. Larson (D-CT) and merging them with the Association’s own well researched ideas. One component is Social Security PLUS, a new yet voluntary early retirement 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 legislative staffs over the past several years. Read AMAC’s plan here.