Taxing-the-Wealthy Theme Highlighted Via Survey - Financial Advisor
As we’ve been suggesting for several months, legislative interest in addressing Social Security’s steadily unraveling financial picture appears to be heating up. That’s understandable, with the clock ticking louder and louder as the 2033 point of trust fund insolvency moves closer and closer and as realization sets in that continued delays will likely make whatever “solutions” finally evolve more severe. Public awareness of Social Security’s plight is also on the upswing as an increasing swath of voters begins to pay attention to the possibility of a substantial benefit cut in just a few years.
The latest Bloomberg News/Morning Consult poll, involving almost 5,000 swing-state voters, demonstrated growing public awareness of the problem and served notice on what this segment of the public feels are the most appropriate pathways to resolution. The poll results indicated a strong preference for tax increases for upper-income Americans, with more than three-quarters of the poll responders signaling support for a “billionaires tax” that would place a 25% levy on households worth more than $100 million. Other keynotes in the poll included reducing benefits for high earners and raising the taxable maximum–the income level subject to the payroll tax.
The Bloomberg poll results also suggest lower levels of support for broader changes, like a setback in the full retirement age, an increase in the payroll tax rate, or reductions in the cost-of-living formula.
Financial Advisor’s Laura Davison, in a post on their website, recaps the poll results and offers commentary on the Social Security problem. Check out her post here.