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Social Security Underperforms Other Investments
Brett Arends of MarketWatch reports the Social Security Trust fund earned only 2.5% on each dollar invested last year, compared with a stellar year in financial markets where the S&P 500 index rocketed 29%, international stocks 11%, real estate trusts 32%, and commodities 26%. The fund’s returns were also less than half the rate of inflation, meaning that in real, purchasing power terms workers lost 4% of their money. Arends explains the 20% plus cuts due to begin in a decade, but also notes that if the trust fund had been invested in a regular mixture of stocks and bonds throughout its history, like every other pension plan, there would be no funding crisis. Read full piece here.
The Association of Mature American Citizens (AMAC) believes Social Security must be preserved and modernized. This can be achieved with no tax increases by changing cost of living adjustments, the retirement age, and delayed credits. 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. Read AMAC’s plan here.