Quote:
Originally Posted by 540iSUP
https://www.cnbc.com/2021/07/06/many...nt-happen.html
I think what people are afraid of is the reports that SS will dry up by 2034. According to this article, SS funds are drying up, but they won't be gone forever. It looks like they will do a combination of raising taxes and pulling benefits in order for it to stay afloat.
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Well, yeah. But that has nothing to do with "raiding" it, which has been a GOP talking point ever since Carter did the mundane thing of including its accounting in the omnibus budget.
What they were able to do is borrow against the surplus but they had to pay it back WITH INTEREST. Basically they could just use the surplus as petty cash until EoY. The program has actually generated income for the trust and will likely be one of the things that extends its life, even if for only 18 months.
But changes absolutely have to be made to it as they have repeatedly because times change. When it was developed people had more children to generate more income for the program and they died earlier. As our society has evolved people had fewer children, meaning less income coming in per recipient AND they were living longer, taking more money out.
So its pretty simple math that is killing the program. Back when it was formed the life expectancy for men was just under 60 and women 65. Up to an average of 79 years pre-covid, and more people are reaching that age as well, so considerably more benefits being paid out.
It was never meant to be a retirement replacement. For those who think capitalism is the answer remember WHY it was created in the first place. It was put in place as a sort of ponzi scheme (it always relied on the next generation to fund the current, from inception) because capitalism failed retirees, people who had left the workforce lost everything in the crash.
It was supposed to keep them from freezing to death and living off cat food. And honestly Im fine with it going back to being that. I likely would never need it, Ive already qualified for benefits but even maxxed out if I work later in life its going ot be once of those "oh hey, nice a check!" things. But Im perfectly fine paying into knowing for some people it means they wont be homeless and eating cat food in old age.