Social Security: Annotated Bibliography

Social Security, referred to as Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance (OASDI), is paid on a scheduled basis to workers who pay taxes and are either retired, disabled, or have passed away. The significant role that this program plays in the U.S economy is clearly evident when the beneficiaries spend their money on different goods and services. According to the Social Security Administration (SSA) about 63.2 million people received benefits in 2013 and 65% of these aged beneficiaries received half of

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

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.

For years, Social Security has provided retired, disabled, as well many other Americans with financial security when they lacked or had little income later in their lives. Now, Social Security is being overwhelmed as the American population continues to grow. The Baby Boomers, or the demographic group born in the post- World War II era, from 1946-1964, have been the main reason for the prevalence of this issue. Millions were born during this era and by 2012 they were eligible for the full benefits of Social Security. Two years after that and for the first time ever, Social Security had to draw from its fund and since then they have not collected a surplus of taxes. Recent predictions show that by “2035, the number of Americans over age 65 will jump from today's 48 million to 79 million,” showing that this is just the start of Social Security’s problems to come. By 2035, I will hopefully be in my mid-30’s, wondering if one I would be able to afford retirement and without this system, I’m a bit unsure.

Through the years doctors’ and pharmaceutical companies have become greedy. Doctors diagnose patients, prescribe medications, and send them to pharmaceutical companies that charge high prices for medications that help maintain their well-being. Although over half of our elderly individuals with Social Security and Medicare benefits are already struggling to accommodate their ends. Therefore a reform of both Social Security and Medicare needs to take place before it is too late. Social Security and Medicare funding will be the most important problem that America will face in the coming decade.

Social Security is a system that is prevailing in several nations for their citizens’ welfare, which was initiated in the US in 1930’s. It is interesting to see how it has transformed in the hands of some of the US presidents. Ever since it was originated, it has been on the ramp getting modified constantly in such a way that it meets the needs of the Americans.

Social Security is facing pressure to lower benefits… due to longer life-spans, an overall population increase …the Baby Boomers beginning to reach retirement age, and the increase in the number of people receiving Social Security and Medicare benefits. If the system continues as-is, the total benefits will eventually surpass the amount of taxes paid into the system by younger workers. If the system is not altered at some point full benefits will not be paid as promised. (13)

Since the very implementation of Social Security in 1935 during the time of the Great Depression to present day, it has been a never-ending source of controversy. As mentioned by Nancy Niles, Social Security was considered “old age insurance” (Niles, 2011, p. 9). It was designed to help older Americans, workers who become disabled, and families in which a spouse or parent dies (Niles, 2011). Not only has Social Security played a very essential role in the lives of many Americans throughout the years, but has also been very important to the economic security of the United States of America.

Social security in the United States is a federal system run by the Social Security Administration to provide monetary benefits, or welfare, to citizens who are retired, unemployed, or disabled. In 1935, President Franklin D. Roosevelt enacted the Social Security Act which limited the dangers of old age, unemployment, disability, and families with dependent children within the United States during the great depression. In order to obtain the funds paid out to current social security recipients payroll taxes called Federal Insurance Contributions Act (FICA) and the Self-Employment Contributions Act (SECA) taxes are collected from the earnings of current workers.1 FICA and SECA

Social Security was established as a promise to the people of continuation of income into retirement. Well the road to hell is often paved with good intentions, because that promise now has the country in economic uncertainty. The guarantee that workers will be taken care of in their old age if they paid their Social Security tax, is no longer guaranteed. If we don’t come to a unanimous decision as to a plan of reform; financially our country is doomed.

Social Security was introduced into law by Democratic President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Social Security was a program which would provide financial protection to our most elderly of citizens. The program over the course of time has evolved and added new branches of protection such as child, survivor, and dependent benefits. Social Security was never created to be an answer for a comprehensive retirement package for people retiring. However in our current society with plastic cards and increasing debit to income limits, many people do not save for the future. Many citizens live for today and expect the government to take care of them when they are old and cannot fend for themselves. In 2011 the first wave of baby boomers began reaching retirement age and in turn qualifies them to begin drawing from the Social Security System. The baby boom generation makes up 25 percent of the total United States population (SSA, 2014). The projected number of people from 2011 to 2030 who will become eligible to receive Old-Age benefits from the Social Security Act will increase by 65 percent (SSA, 2014). This data is crucial in terms of determining the stability of a system that relies on the paying masses to care for the elderly few. Many Presidents in the last two decades have created and formed elaborate panels of specialized individuals to tackle the problem of the long term sustainability of the Social Security System. In order to take care of our most elderly

This report was written on November 20, 2015, by Brittney Bowman, using sources from the VU library website. In this report, I will discuss the presently debated topic of the future of the Social Security program. I will do this by providing information on the history of the program, exploring the current standing of the program and its related uncertainty, and discussing the future of the program. The purpose of this report is to fulfill the business report assignment requirements by exploring the future of Social Security and what events have brought the program to where it is now. The problem with this issue is that due to conflicting information being reported, the current state of the Social Security program is unknown and is rumored to be running out of funds with the program reaching bankruptcy in the very near future. However, this is still debated upon between groups on whether the program is actually going broke. Regardless, the Social Security Program has been a very common source of income for retirees for nearly a hundred years and it will very soon need to be revitalized to accommodate growing need and demand.

By transforming Social-Security from a defined-contribution plan, privatization would disconnect total benefits from life expectancy (Young, 2010). The benefits an individual received would depend on what was paid into the system plus the investment return on those payments. Individuals who begin work earlier, and therefore contribute for additional years, would earn additional benefits as a result of their contributions. If a person were to die with money still in his or her retirement account, that money would become part of the estate to be inherited by that person’s heirs. Under a privatized system, individuals would have a property right to their Social Security

The United States Social Security System is often considered a political football, frequently debated on whether the government should continue to manage it or should it be privatized. Either way, in today’s economy, it’s vital to the welfare of many. The main purpose of the system is to provide benefits to America’s workers and their families for retirement, disability, and early death. (Unknown Social Security ProCon) According to the data collected in the 2000 census, “Social Security is the main source of income for men and women 65 and older.” (Hartmann, Lee Highbeam) This finding proves people have become to depend on the government for this benefit, and for a multitude of reasons are not saving enough money to live on once they

A little over 60 years ago the nation struggled through what was, up to then, the most dramatic crisis since the Civil War. The economy was uprooted after the crash of the stock market and the country's financial stability destroyed. One of the many steps taken to alleviate the burden on the American people was that of the passing of Social Security Act of 1935 and its amendments by Congress and the President, Franklin D. Roosevelt. Under the provisions of the Act, the government would take on the responsibility of taxing the income of all working Americans and returning the money through numerous public benefits and programs. Now the nation faces an economic and political problem with the program