Social Security solvency
Spotlight on Social Security Tax– 200+ People Have Already Paid Theirs in 2024
Teresa Ghilarducci, a former economics professor, highlights the Social Security wage cap in this Forbes piece. Only the first $168,600 in wages in 2024 are subject to the combined employee and employer 12.4% tax, and many of the uber rich…
An Argument for Better Investment of Social Security Funds
In a post yesterday on marningstar.com, finance writer Brent Arends takes exception to how Social Security’s trust fund reserves have been invested over the years, suggesting that deploying the balance in selected U.S. stocks could have produced a return far…
Social Security’s Rumored Demise
“Social Security benefits will end in about a decade.” This is an ongoing, frequently reported rumor that indicates misunderstanding about how Social Security is financed. The reality is that Social Security’s trust fund reserves have, since 2021, been used to…
Optimistic about the future of Social Security
Despite all the fear-mongering on social media saying Social Security is going bankrupt and will not be able to pay Social Security benefits, over half of the respondents to a recent survey said they expect to receive Social Security benefits.…
Social Security’s Future Continues to Build as a Campaign Subject
As could be expected, the gnawing issue of Social Security’s projected insolvency is becoming a pivotal talking point for the 2024 election year. This week, President Biden addressed the Wisconsin Black Chamber of Commerce in Milwaukee and lashed out at…
Assessing the “Inevitability” of Social Security’s Insolvency
So much of today’s economic and political rhetoric, as well as many studies of Social Security’s steady financial decline, focuses on the predictable consequences of the program’s deficit situation. Many solutions are on the table, and someday they will get…
Op-ed: Raising Social Security Retirement Age Can Help Ease Insolvency issue
Brenton Smith, a policy adviser to the Heartland Institute, explains there is no one solution to fix Social Security’s ills. The program will be unable to pay full benefits in about a decade. Raising the retirement age should be a…
Are higher taxes the only solution to Social Security insolvency?
We are all aware – I hope you are – that the Social Security Trust fund will be depleted by the end of 2033, forcing benefit cuts of 20 percent in 2034 if Congress cannot find a solution. So, what…
The clock is ticking for Congress
According to American writer Jack Kornfield, “The trouble is you think you have time.” The reality is we do not. Congress has until 2033 to come to a bipartisan agreement about Social Security, or there will be an automatic cut…
What the five GOP candidates said about raising the retirement age
During the 3rd Republican candidates’ debate, the third rail of American politics – Social Security- was discussed. The difference in the approach of the five attending candidates in solving the Social Security and Medicare insolvency issue was on display. The…