Government spending is more out of control than a middle-class mom in Target (without her kids)! A big part of the problem is the exploding cost of social programs like Social Security. So what do we do about it? Well, let’s ask the Social Security Trust Fund trustees.
Here are Five Fast Facts on saving Social Security:
- ℹ️ The Context - Social Security was created in 1937. Since then, millions of Americans have depended on it for their retirement benefits. Along with a gold watch (just kidding).
- 📉The Cause - The Baby Boomer generation has now hit retirement in force, so there are fewer workers paying taxes while supporting more retirees than ever. Due to this shift in our population, Social Security is projected to run out of money (pay out more in benefits than it takes in from taxes) in 2035. WTF, Congress?! It’s not like we didn’t see this coming…
- 📈 💸 The Choices - There are two main choices: increase payroll taxes to collect more money (which will be painful for workers) or cut the benefits paid out (which will be painful for retirees). If Congress waits until 2035 to act, the needed payroll tax rates will roughly triple to cover the shortage, meaning every worker in the country effectively takes a huge pay cut. No matter what, it’s safe to assume they’ll blame someone else.
- ⏳The Stall - As is sadly normal, Congress isn’t making any progress on a resolution. There are lots of ideas floating around, but none that are viable and have momentum. If only there was a spine in Washington DC! That would help a lot right about now.
- 🥫🦶The Result - It seems likely that Congress will just kick the can down the road and pay “out of pocket” later for any shortage that happens. While this seems like the easy path now, we’re already in crisis over the budget and deficits, and this will only make things worse. Pretty much any way you slice it, American taxpayers are going to bear the brunt of their failures.
🔥Bottom line: Congress has been irresponsible for decades, but the time for avoiding hard conversations is over. We need REAL solutions FAST, which means we need reasonable, responsible reps in office. They may tell us things we don’t want to hear, but we need to adult up, too, and do this for our kids (and grandkids, and their kids, and so on).
What do you think is the solution for Social Security?
Guess what? The President does impact how Social Security gets implemented...but your local & state government reps contribute (and provide checks and balances), too! Here’s three small things you can do that make a BIG impact:
