Question on Social Security Reform

[King]

Are there any other solutions than private accounts?  The only people that seem to be talking about it are the Republicans and Libertarians which both have equal ideas on the issue.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

The way Social Security will be fixed will most likely include both a change to the COLA to reflect price inflation instead of wage inflation and a futher phsed-in increase on the age at which one gets full benefits from age 67 to age 70.

[The Duke]

I don't think the benefit cuts and tax increases are a fix.  Its just another time politicians say we should pay more and get less.

[A18]

Fund it out of the general income tax, so then it'll become welfare and we can pass another 'welfare reform' bill.

[Citizen James]

Let's see...

Raise the retirement age - When this was first enacted few people lived much past 65.  Now most people are quite capible of being productive for several years longer.  People can pay a little more in, get a slighly higher monthly payment, but take less out of it in the long term.

Raise the cap so that the maximum to pay in increases.  Right now as stands the SS tax is somewhat regressive (and the dirty little secret is that the many of the various line item taxes on your paycheck are capped - thus allowing people with moderate income to pay a larger proportion of thier income in line item taxes than the well-to-do).

Fix the bleeding economy.  More people with better paying jobs means more tax revenue - especially if you can bring more of the poor up into the middle classes.

Remind people that Social Security is a safety net, not a retirement plan.  People can already have private retirement accounts - there are many form's available - 401K, 403, various types of IRA's.   The difference between these plans and the social security 'reform' is that if you die early these plans will give the cash to your next of kin, the 'reform' would keep the extra money for the government.  Let me make sure this is really clear - all you need to get a private retirement account is to go down to the bank and open an IRA.  If you don't have that you can open a savings account and add to it until you do have enough for an IRA.  If you can't even do that, you either need to work harder or at least make some noise about a 'livable' minimun wage.

And my favorite - ballance the damn budget.  We'll have trouble facing any crisis, social security or otherwise,  if we're up to our ears an arrears.  Where did all the fiscal conservatives run off to?  Did they get scared off by Bush's rampant borrow and spend policies?  Did they jump ship to the Clinton Democrats like I did?   Paying down the debt will ease the amount of public funds needed just to pay the interest, allow the capital that would be invested in the treasury bills to be invested in more productive ventures, and generally encourage confidence in the public economy.   For starters, we need to slash out the pork - all of it - being labeled as 'millitary' doesn't make pork like 'star wars' any more kosher.   We need to keep a close eye on the public pursestrings, not just the major direction of funds, the various line items which add up and may not all be nessisary.

[A18]

So you agree with me, then. Just abolish the payroll tax and fund it out of the general income tax while making major slashes in benefits and just allowing poor people to live off it. That way people have the extra money to invest on their own anyway.

[The Duke]

jfern,

If you raise the retirement age but then increase benefits, you don't fix solvency, you get wind up back at square one.

I'm sure small businesses will love paying more in matching for FICA taxes.

Since benefits are indexed to wages, a better economy doesn't make things better for SS, it leaves them unchanged.  Higher wages means higher benefits.

Social Security is not a welfare program, its an entitlement.

A balanced budget doesn't fix things, since the problem is based on demographics, not balancing the general revenue fund.  A balanced budget only delays the inevitable.

[A18]

We should make it a welfare program, and drastically cut benefits for people who don't need it so it costs a lot less. Then people can control their own retirement.

In fact, abolish the 'normal' income tax, remove the cap on the payroll tax, and just impose a flat rate of about 15 percent on all wages.

Then future generations will be freed from the system, and funding older retirees will fall primarily on the wealthy.

[A18]

I should point out that when I say drastically cut benefits, I don't mean for current retirees (just the wealthy for them).