Social Security

Social Security

Social Security is a system that taxes Americans in order to insure that they have money for their retirement. It is returned at retirement or when the person is disabled, or given to the family if the person dies, providing a comfortable lifestyle to those of old age or disability.

Currently, social security faces a crisis, and is a hotly debated topic. The continuing decline of social security can be attributed to two leading factors: The poor condition of today’s economy; and the retirement of the baby boom generation. When combined, these two factors pose a significant threat to the present and future strength of the social security system.

The baby boom generation is made up of of Americans born during the late forties and to early fifties. All of these people are nearing retirement, and will cause the costs of social security to increase from $48 million to $89 million by the year 2035. Experts also predict that the social security trust fund will run out by the year 2042, and only 73 percent of the benefits will remain for retirees. As a result, future Americans will not receive the benefits of their tax dollars.

Proposals such as privatization, fast action and careful distribution of finances are all ideas suggested to stop accumulated debt and the overall downfall of social security. Commissioner of Social Security, Robert M. Ball, gives a more detailed plan to stop the crisis. The first step is to increase and restore the maximum earnings base to 90 percent. Ball explains that this will “maintain an invested reserve that can help meet future costs,” but must be done at a steady rate in order to avoid an exponential tax increase. The second step is to use the estate tax for social security. This will help stop the large deficit increase. Lastly, Ball suggests investing in equities, which will help the trust funds from which social security is drawn.

As previously mentioned, privatizing social security is an approach rallied by many...