preview

Benefits Of Social Security

Good Essays

The Social Security Program is a federal insurance program that provides benefits to retired people and those who are unemployed or disabled. Social Security Tax is The tax levied on both employers and employees used to fund the Social Security program. The Social Security tax pays for the retirement and disability benefits received by millions of Americans each year.
Over the last few years, the program has been losing money. This is because Social Security was designed to provide income support to a relatively small percentage of the population: those who lived beyond the average life expectancy were therefore less likely to be able to work or have sufficient savings. (Heritage) Life expectancy in the United States has increased by 17 years …show more content…

This would create balance for Social Security Program for the next 75 years. It will also help pay for improvement in Social Security. Eliminating the payroll tax cap would reduce 74 percent of Social Security’s shortfall, NASI found.This change is supported by most Americans, with 80 percent of survey respondents favoring gradually eliminating the taxable earnings cap, including 76 percent of people with family incomes of over $100,000. By eliminating the tax cap, the Social Security Program will benefit by giving money to those who need it or are entitled to collect. With inflation and goods costing more, such as the cost of medical, people, mostly of the elderly, need assistance for this. People with disabilities, need assistance with living and medical expenses because they are unable to work. The Social Security Program is also used for those who have lost a loved one and need assistance, whether this be permanent or …show more content…

So far, a retiree’s Social Security benefits have always been based on the career earnings on which he or she has paid Social Security taxes. Dropping that principle would open the door to other substantial changes in Social Security. Average benefits could remain at roughly the current level if wealthier Americans paid taxes on their entire salaries, but their benefits remain the same as they are now. Essentially, they would be getting nothing in return for the additional taxes that they would pay. Such a move has been proposed in the past. David John is a Senior Research Fellow at The Heritage Foundation. Paying more taxes for a little return may not sound fair. Take into consideration the huge difference in the payroll tax rates Americans now pay. But the wealthy get one more benefit from paying higher taxes, argues Virginia Reno, vice president for income security at the National Academy of Social Insurance. "We support Social Security because they hope to get benefits someday, but also because we want to live in a society where everyone has basic security in retirement. High-income people have the ability to pay proportionately, and to live in a society where everyone has basic protection.”

Get Access