How to Fund Social Security for 75 to 150 years
Bernice Napach’s article here in ThinkAdvisor summarizes new research from the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College that declares any proposal to close Social Security’s financing gap should consider the creation of a trust fund capable of earning enough interest to keep the program running for the next 75-150 years. Among the chief findings is this: lawmakers can raise taxes permanently if they want to maintain current benefit levels or they could increase taxes temporarily until a large enough trust fund is built up to fully fund the program for 75 to 150 years. As Napach notes, even the latter will require both hefty payroll and income tax increases as well as scrapping the current Social Security wage cap. Read the full article here, which includes a link to the full seven page report.
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.