AMAC Foundation
Social Security Customer Service: Improving, but slowly.
Since being appointed as the new Commissioner of Social Security, Frank Bisignano is spearheading an intense drive to improve the agency’s customer service. In fact, according to the SSA, service levels have, indeed, improved year-to-year in spite of 70% higher…
Should “means testing” exist for Social Security and Medicare?
In this somewhat unconventional opinion piece, the author opines that both the Social Security and Medicare programs are suffering financial difficulties, largely because many who receive benefits do not actually need them. The author, himself a fairly affluent businessman, contends…
What you should know about Medicare
Medicare is the nation’s most important healthcare program. In fact, over 68 million people are now enrolled in this important program, enacted in 1965 by President Lyndon Johnson. But as encompassing and important as Medicare is, it doesn’t cover all…
Social Security Myths and Misunderstandings
Social Security Myths are Pervasive In my efforts to explain Social Security to those who ask questions, it is often necessary to provide information contrary to the questioner’s understanding of how Social Security works. Some folks who write us possess…
The Role of Life Expectancy in Retirement Decisions
When contemplating your retirement it is crucial to focus on an important question – “When should I take my Social Security benefits?” While there are a number of factors to consider when making that decision, don’t overlook the role of…
What Would a 23% Cut in Social Security Mean?
The Trustees of Social Security have warned Congress: There will be a 23% cut in everyone’s Social Security benefit in 2033, unless Congress reforms the program. Hopefully, Congress will act soon to prevent cuts from happening – but what if…
Social Security: Once upon a time – and Today
Once upon a time, there was no real social security in the United States of America. Oh, there were a few early 19th century attempts at public programs to limit poverty, especially for the elderly. However, all of these early…
Definition Time: “Wage Indexing” and How it Works
Yesterday’s headline post on this site discussed a paper by AEI senior fellow Andy Biggs identifying “wage indexing” as a key culprit in Social Security’s long-term funding problem. As our post pointed out, wage indexing is the process of using…
Paper checks slated to cease in a few months
The roughly half million Social Security beneficiaries still receiving paper checks will be required to convert to an alternative by September 30 to comply with President Trump’s Executive Order (EO) 14247. The Executive Order, titled “Modernizing Payments To and From…
Social Security Insolvency and the Math Behnd It
A few weeks ago, the Social Security Board of Trustees issued its annual report on the program’s financial status at the end of 2024. As expected, it wasn’t good news. It signaled the loss of another year before the program’s…