Social Security upside down in 2016 – hello is it finally time to do something?
So, according to the May 12th report of the Social Security Board of Trustees, the social security fund will be upside down in seven years, barring tough action. They didn’t say that, of course. They reported that the projected point at which social security tax revenues will fall below program costs will come in 2016.
They also said that the projected point at which the Trust funds will be exhausted is 2037. And that over a 75-year period the Trust Funds would require additional revenue of $5.3 trillion in today’s dollars to pay all scheduled benefits.
Commisioner of Social Security Michael Astrue said “we should be neither casual nor hysterical about the revised insolvency dates. … However the sooner we get on with the task of reforming the system, the easier it will be to make the tough choices that we all know we need to make.” The Trustees Report Summary on the Social Security website states that “Social Security could be brought into acturial balance over the next 75 years with changes equivalent to an immediate 16 percent increase in the payroll tax (from 12.4% to 14.4%), or an immediate reduction in benefits of 13%, or some combination of the two.”
The impending demise of Social Security as we know it – we’ve heard the story before in various ways, and I, for one, have always believed it. Perhaps now is the time for the nation as a whole and the congress in particular to finally make the hard choices. Which for me will likely mean lower take-home pay now, lower retirement income in the future, and a much longer life at work than I had originalyy envisioned. How about you? –nks
Need more information? Perhaps I can help.
