Perspectives on the Social Security Solvency Issue - eurasiareview.com
Economist Max B. Sawicky, in a post today on eurasiareview.com, delves into myriad facets of the 2021 Annual Report of the Board of Trustees of the Federal Old-Age and Survivors Insurance and Federal Disability Insurance Trust Funds (Trustees Report) issued August 31, analyzing the implications of the statistics and projections set forth in the 276-page report. Sawicky begins his detailed comments with a summary of the report’s key takeaways, noting that:
- There is no possibility – there never was – that Social Security won’t “be there” for economic reasons
- There need be no threatening shortfall in revenues available to finance all the benefits promised by law
- There is no difficulty implied by the increasing number of retirees, relative to the size of the nation’s workforce
- The pandemic and 2020 recession make no appreciable difference to the program’s long-term outlook
Sawicky’s analysis covers, among many related points, the Social Security System’s cash flow, both historically and for the reporting period, the ratio of workers to beneficiaries, Social Security relative to the Federal Budget picture, and the implications and impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. His remarks conclude with thoughts on Social Security expansion, a theme that has surfaced frequently in congressional proposals in recent years.
Read Sawicky’s post here; then, take a look at the Association of Mature American Citizen’s (AMAC) thoughts on preserving and modernizing Social Security contained in the organization’s Social Security Guarantee proposal found here. 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 research. One component is Social Security PLUS, a voluntary plan to allow all earners to have more income 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.
This posting is presented for informational purposes only and does not represent legal or financial guidance. Any opinions or interpretations presented are either those of the original author or, in the case of articles authored by the AMAC Foundation, are the opinions of AMAC Foundation staff, originally trained and accredited by the National Social Security Association (NSSA) and certified via the AMAC Foundation. Any links included in the article are valid on the posted date; socialsecurityreport.org cannot guarantee the duration of the links’ validity. NSSA and the AMAC Foundation and its staff are not affiliated with or endorsed by the Social Security Administration or any other governmental entity. To submit a question, visit our website (https://amacfoundation.org/services/) or email us at ssadvisor@amacfoundation.org. Because we are a non-profit organization, there is no charge for these services.