“Social Security Insolvency” – Doomsday Scenario or Not?
You may have noticed a flurry of media stories about the impending insolvency of Social Security and resulting benefit cuts. Most of these stories relate the news as a “doomsday scenario” where seniors who depend on Social Security are at significant risk of being callously thrust into poverty. All of this is the result of Social Security’s Trustees issuing their long-awaited report on the financial health of America’s most important retirement program which provides benefits to about 65 million people – Social Security. Frankly, much of what you read is hyperbole, but that hype is based on a truth – the Trustees are now forecasting that the Social Security Old Age and Survivors Insurance (OASI) Trust Fund could run dry in 2033. Starting this year, Social Security income will be less than costs, and the Trust Fund will be needed to make up the shortfall to pay full benefits to all. And even though the SS Trust Funds now hold nearly $3 trillion in assets, those assets could eventually be gone requiring a cut in benefits. And that is, indeed, a crisis on the horizon. None of this, however, is new news. The Trustees have forecasted this same scenario for years, and the reaction of Congress has been largely to ignore it. But time is running out, as described in this Advisor Perspectives article by Gary Halbert of Halbert Wealth Management. Click here to read more.
The Association of Mature American Citizens (AMAC) has been at the forefront trying to strengthen Social Security by developing and proposing its Social Security Guarantee. AMAC has been discussing and continues to discuss this common-sense solution with Congressional Representatives in its efforts to protect America’s senior citizens who rely on Social Security. To review AMAC‘s Social Security Guarantee, click here.