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Social Security Argumentative Essay

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Social Security is one of the many government programs put into action by President Franklin D. Roosevelt because at the time the poverty rate among senior citizens exceeded 50%. The act was put in place to help people get past unforeseen or unprepared dangers in life such as old age, disability, poverty, and many other things. Basically if you fall into one of those categories you are eligible to get money from the government to help you get by. Money to fund the program is taken out of your check along with taxes, currently 6.2% of your check goes towards Social Security. The program needed to be set in place immediately so it does not work the same way a 401k or other retirement plans work. In a regular retirement plan money is saved individually …show more content…

This is the most pressing problem because since 2010, the Social Security Administration has been collecting less money in taxes than it needs in order to operate. This was the first time since 1983 that the they were giving out more money than they were taking out. Because of this, the agency had to begin tapping into its $2.7 trillion trust fund sooner than it had previously expected. The trust fund isn’t expected to be depleted until 2033, after that the agency says tax income under the current system will only cover about three-fourths of benefit payments through 2087. Employees today pay more in Social Security taxes than previous generations did. Aside from that, they’re also likely to get smaller benefits compared to the taxes they paid in when it is their turn to retire. Workers now pay 6.2% in payroll taxes, this is nearly double the 3.6% tax rate workers paid in 1965. Since then, the maximum earnings eligible for taxation has also increased from $4,800 (equivalent to about $35,400 in 2013 dollars) to $113,700 in 2013. As you can see, todays young working americans are paying for way more than they will receive and yet Social Security is still

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