cawacko
Well-known member
It only solves itself until about 2035. That is about the time the surplus is depleted and revenues will only cover 70% of benefits according to the SS Trustee reports.
I don't think all the baby boomers will be gone by that time. Boomers will retire between 2010-2030.
A person retiring in 2030 at 67 probably has 15-20 more years.
Although boomers may be dying, the number of people over 65 will grow from 58 million today to 82 million by 2050. Problems with SS have largely been caused by the dropping fertility rate. In about 1950 there were 40 workers for each retiree. Today it is 3-1 and will soon be 2-1. Other causes are increasing life expectancy and all the additional benefits added to SS that were not part of the original law which included the worker only.
We too often hear the problem was that the government dipped in the SS fund but that is not true.
Well said. I think a lot of people are ignorant (the dictionary meaning of the term, not the pejorative) to the realities of S.S. because we get our info from politicians who aren’t incentivize to speak truthfully about it.
Hitting on your points. Lifespans were much shorter at the programs inception when 65 was the retirement age. We are living longer and the retirement age for S.S. has not kept up. (you now have people getting more benefits than they paid into the program as a result).
We have demographic issues, more retirees than young workers. That’s not sustainable. You hit on that within a decade benefits will have to be sharply reduced.
The facile response is “raise taxes on the rich” because it sounds good. But that alone won’t cover it and whet it does is turn the program into a true entitlement, more of a welfare program.
The reality of simply increasing taxes that they won’t say is it’s a huge tax increase on the younger generation and it will hit the middle class. Those thinking somehow the rich will only pay are going to be in for a big surprise.
The reality is we need more workers if the program is to remain as status quo. It will also entail increased taxes, later retirement age and reduced benefits. No one wants to hear that and of course politicians won’t say it. But that’s the reality. However we choose to keep our head in the sand about it.