Retirement Age and Social Security Viability
In a topic so controversial that congressional aides have referred to it as the “third rail of American politics,” it is easy to shirk off the conversation about the sustainability of the American Social Security system (Safire 2007). But all the data suggests that it is sustainable only in the short-term. Without immediate incremental changes made to the full-retirement age, trust fund reserves that help pay for the program will become exhausted in twenty years, and the government will, for the first time since the founding of Social Security in 1935, not be able to pay in full on a timely basis.
But what is Social Security? Apart from being a power word thrown around the political arena, many Americans
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Economics is the study of human behavior, not unlike other academia subjects that claim this same broad definition. Behavioral economics relies on the subfields of economics that integrate within the insight of psychology (Mankiw, 2015).
Although real people are complex and imperfect, they should be viewed not as rational maximizers but satisfiers (Mankiw, 2015). Economists criticize psychological research for its failure to offer a coherent alternative to the rational agent model while producing lists of biases and errors (Kahneman, 2003). Behavior can be objectified; we all have different behaviors we deal with daily, and they can change abruptly for no reason. So while psychology and human behavior is irrational and unpredictable, our wants and desires on an economic level rarely change. In short, money talks.
Psychology and economics maintain a balanced focus based on certainties, facts, and trends but separate when applying mathematical or algorithmic computations. Economist rely more on quantitative based data and frequencies involving changing derivative markets, prediction models, as well as maximizing certain utilities and profits (Kessler
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Any changes to the age of full retirement must therefore be enacted before then.
Many in the SSA Office of Retirement and Disability Policy say the factors driving Social Security to its margins have to do with the United States’ changing population dynamic. As the population gets older and retires, there are fewer workers to pay into the SS/SSI system via payroll taxes. What used to be the viable ratio of 3.33 workers per beneficiary has fallen and will continue to fall until that ratio reaches two workers per beneficiary (2010). What this means is that by 2030, all working persons will need to contribute 33% more in payroll taxes just to keep the system alive as it was intended.
It is crucial for Americans to have a responsible discussion about the future of the SS/SSI programs. In the long term, spending per capita on health care will continue to surpass GDP growth per capita (Jacobs 2013). This is an unsustainable trend; therefore, one must consider the option of continuing to raise the full retirement age to 70
In “The Social Security Problem”, Max Moore discusses the fearful reality of Social Security running out of funds. He states that the U.S. Department of the Treasury predicts that Social Security funds will run out by 2041 and action must be taken in order to prevent this (134). In his essay, he explains how the depletion of Social Security funds are a result from a decreasing retirement age, decreasing fertility rate, and shrinking work force. These things contribute to an increased population relying on Social Security, an increased population of the elderly, and a decreased ratio of workers paying for those beneficiaries (135). Moore explains the proposal of George W. Bush to make Social Security partially privatized; allowing young workers to invest their retirement savings into their own account. This would result in people putting their retirement on the line in
Current problems with the Social Security fund exist, and are the reasons why Social Security is in the need of reform. According to Forbes Magazine, the fund is expected to run out by 2033 (Teal 2013). At this point, money will still be coming in, but will not pay out the full benefits to recipients. The worker to retiree ratio is continuously declining, being approximately three workers to every
According to a USA Today article from last year, nearly sixty percent of Americans have more than $25,000 put away for retirement. Thirty-six percent of Americans have less than $1000 saved for later in life. This means that as more people, especially the baby boomer generation, retire, there will be more strain on program such as Social Security and Medicare, and ultimately the federal budget that is responsible for these programs. If steps are taken now to close this gap, we will insure the continued longevity of these programs by raising the tax contributions flowing into both Social Security and Medicare.
Currently, the United States is contemplating at a forthcoming Social Security crisis. If changes are not forged, the Social Security system will not be able to keep up with the demanded payouts and is estimated to empty the trust fund around the year 2037. In this paper I will review a brief history of the Social Security program, touch upon the eligibility requirements, discuss what economists believe about the future of the Social Security Program, and finally state the Pros and Cons to the proposed raising of the age requirement for minimum payout.
For many years the social security program has been operating successfully. In recent times however, it is becoming apparent to some that social security is in need of reform. Their argument is that with the amount of people getting older in the next couple of decades, there will not be enough money left in the social security reserves to pay for everyone who needs it. That is why the idea of separating social security up into private funds has been brought to the attention of the American citizens. This idea of reform has been around for quite a long time; however it has been pushed on by pro reform supporters more in recent times because they think it is necessary for the
Notably, the elderly populace is growing rapidly, and will reach 3.4 million or 12.8% of the population. Eventually, in the next thirty years older adults will comprise of 20% of the total population due to the aging of 76 million baby boomers (Olson, 2001). Seeing that, entitlement programs and means-tested benefits, are presented, in order to bolster this increment of older adults. Accordingly, around 96% of the American workforce is secured by Social Security and it is likewise estimated that 58 million American will receive a total of $816 billion in Social Security benefits (Moody and Sasser, 2015). In fact, today 56 million or 17% of the population is enlisted in Medicare (Leonard, 2015). Therefore, this has presented an open deliberation about the eventual fate of Medicare and Social Security and regardless of whether changing Medicare and Social Security to means-tested benefits, instead of entitlement programs can resolve the policy issues.
From 1759 to 1797, Wollstonecraft was a political rationalist who investigated the confusion of ladies in late culture who maintains an abundant of its extraordinary fanaticism. This unique purpose behind her declarations on issues remaining to be empowering, is because her statements over the female sexual orientation remained as some portion of an endeavor to start to a total comprehension of human relations inside an improvement continuously administrated by greed and utilization. Her first distribution was on the training of little girls. Where she went ahead to expound on legislative issues, history and various parts of theory in some assorted classifications that contained genuine investigations, transformations, leaflets, and books.
After its passage on August 14, 1935, Franklin Delano Roosevelt regarded the Social Security Act as “a cornerstone in a structure which is being built but is by no means completed” but whose purpose is to “take care of human needs and at the same time provide for the United States an economic structure of vastly greater soundness.” The very opposite of soundness, however, was achieved. Today, looming deficits and abuse of the program have left it the focus of many debates. At their conclusion, the discussions generally only point toward making it more difficult to receive the money you put in, back, and raising taxes drastically on those still working to provide benefits for the disproportionate amount of retirees. Its problems are vast, but a permanent solution has yet to be decided. Far less discussed, however, is if the program itself is worth saving. Because of
The Social Security Act of 1935 was passed in order to provide for elderly citizens who could not provide for themselves. Through this system, working citizens would pay into the system to provide for citizens aged 65 and older, and then when they reached the age of 65 they would be cared for as well. This system continues today, but as the life expectancy of citizens increases, many wonder if the Social Security cut off age should be raised to 70. It should. The fact of the matter is that the average 65 year old does not need their social security check in the way they did in 1935, so the system shouldn’t be wasting its finite resources caring for them.
There are many problems with Social Security today; however, the most prominent problem stands out as the baby boomers. The term baby boomers refer to the massive generation born after World War 2, and since they are all retiring now America’s Social Security is beginning to drain. Chuck Hagel, author for USA Today Magazine, states that in 1950 for each retiree, there were 16.9 people in the workforce; today there are much bigger numbers: for each retiree there are nearly 3.3 people in the workforce (“Saving” 12). Hagel suggests that Americans under 45 should be able to have options when it comes down to how their money is being spent in Social Security: either they can use the traditional Social Security tax rate, or they can use 4% of their Social Security payments to invest the funds that currently make up Federal Thrift Savings Plan (“Saving” 12). In doing so Americans will be able to limit and control where their Social Security money goes. However, many people disagree with changing Social Security. David Cay Johnston, author of several award-winning books, argues that Social Security does not need a revision because of the large surpluses in past years: $2.7 trillion in 2011 (“Social Security is Not”). This is true, Social Security does have a large surplus every year; however, the government ends up spending it which
There is much-heated debate on the issues of Social Security today. The Social Security system is the largest government program of income distribution in the United States. People are concerned that they won't see a dime of what they worked so hard to contribute into the Social Security system for so many years. Social Security provides benefits to about forty-three million Americans. Not only to retired workers, but also to their spouses and dependents of the workers who die prematurely. It also provides benefits to disabled workers and their dependents. Social Security appears to most people like a simple retirement saving’s account. After all, you generally
The Social Security System is in need of a new reform; our current system was not designed for the age stratification we have at this time. The U.S. Social Security Administration Office of Policy states, “The original Social Security Act, signed into law on August 14, 1935, grew out of the work of the Committee on Economic Security, a cabinet-level group appointed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt just one year earlier. The Act created several programs that, even today, form the basis for the government's role in providing income security, specifically, the old-age insurance, unemployment insurance, and Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) programs.” Social Security was modeled to aid the elderly citizens, however during the
The Export-Import Bank of the United States just lapsed for the first time in over 80 years on June 30, 2015. The primary activity of the Export-Import Bank is to provide export subsidies to buyers and sellers of U.S. exports. Its ultimate goal is to shift global market share to U.S.-based corporations and away from corporations headquartered in other countries so as to boost the U.S. economy as a player on the global scale. The purpose of this paper is to determine the economic effectiveness and impact of the Bank and to discuss the implications for the global, national and local economy should the Bank fail to be reauthorized by Congress and permanently expire.
One of the very first topics that I will elaborate on is the economic aspects of my later life. As of November 13, 2016, I have had an account opened for my retirement fund. Its pertinent that I, personally have this account. I have this account to be my cushion to “fall back on” if any of my other plans for aging do not fall through. “Currently, the full benefit age is 66 years and 2 months for people born in 1955, and it will gradually rise to 67 for those born in 1960 or later.” (National Academy of Social Insurance, 2017)
Planning for retirement should not be based on Social Security alone, but rather by saving portions of personal earned wages and putting finances into long-term investments. Depending on Social Security as the only income after retiring is an unsafe and undependable way to prepare for retirement. People who contribute to Social Security are mandatorily putting money into the Social Security Reserve; this money is used for older generations that will file for these benefits before the younger people working, in the early 21 century, ever receive a chance. Money controlled by other’s hands will never be a guarantee for a secure future, yet money saved by an individual to put toward personal goals will reward greatly. By taking the time to