How do we fix Social Security?

Question

Social Security falls under the category of "mandatory programs" that make up 2/3 of our spending each year! So how do you fix a system where the people receiving benefits are being funded by the people paying into the system today? Do you really think there will be money when you retire in 10-20-30 years? And if we privatize it (which I support) what happens to all the people currently on it?

Answer 1

Social Security would be in much better shape if the politicians would leave the funds alone instead of using them to pay for their pet projects. Another problem is that the retirement funds that people have been paying to their whole lives are also going to the disability claims (some of which are bogus).

Answer 2

First, you eliminate things that don't fix the system.



Raising The Cap : This solution diverts taxes away from debt control to Social Security. This solution is no different than putting your 401K contribution on your child's credit card.



Means testing : Social Security has been means tested since 1984 with a test that now affects up to 1/3rd of retirees and only produced 24 billion in revenue for 2011.



In the words of Sherlock Holmes : “When you have eliminated the truly stupid ideas, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.”

Answer 3

im a liberal so im sure my ideas dont match others on your side or even my side. first we raise the tax ceiling . currently the top amount subject to the ss tax is a little over 100k. if we raised it to a 250 k ceiling we had add decades. if there were no ceiling even more time added. but i think the system has been changed into something it wasnt designed for. the original intention was for this to pay for retirement in peoples last few years. the life expectancy wasnt much higher than the retirement age. now we have people living on it for twenty or more years. so retirement age should be raised to reflect the greater life expectancy. if we had been privatized during the lesser depression we would have millions of aged in poverty. as it is now the aged population was lesser affected by the economic downturn.

Answer 4

Unfortunately there is really no easy solution to the social security problem. What costs more to maintain is Medicare and Medicaid benefits. Social Security and Defense spending are equal. However, I am more in favor in cutting defense more than social security. We don't need to show the whole world that we're powerful. We have between 56,000 and 72,000 troops in Germany and about the same amount in Russia - why do we need so many in a country that is now our ally? It makes no sense. We also have to stop using social security monies to fund other projects.

Answer 5

"So how do you fix a system where the people receiving benefits are being funded by the people paying into the system today?"



You collect sufficient taxes from the people paying into the system to cover the expenses.



"And if we privatize it (which I support) what happens to all the people currently on it?"



If you don't know the answer to that question why do you support privatizing it?

Answer 6

Social Security will never be fixed unless more people are employed. Unemployment not only usurps the Government coffers by paying out unemployment benefits and shouldering health care costs, it never gets built up and replaced if people aren't working, so the problem only intensifies and worsens without people being gainfully employed and paying into the Social Security fund.

Answer 7

It is unfix-able. The only real way out of the National Debt, Social Security, etc is massive inflation.

In 1967 Alan Greenspan was a groupie of Ayn Rand. He wrote an article in which he stated that paper money was a fraud whose inevitable destiny was to be inflated out of existence. And then he went on to head the Federal Reserve for many years. He must have really bad dreams.

Answer 8

If it's privatized the people will lose and the investors will win.



If the cap on the income that we pay into it were higher, more money will be added, and if there were a means test established for those that are drawing out the money all would be fine.



Do we really need billionaires drawing from the fund?

Answer 9

Raise the maximum taxable earnings amount for SS taxes from $110,000 to $200,000.



Many people are unaware that the upper income people do not pay any Social Security taxes after $110,000 income.



@TARGET: The government has not "stolen" from the Social Security Trust Fund.

Answer 10

Return it to solvency by stopping the shifting of SSI resources to the General Fund, refocus on its original intended purpose, and by instituting 'means testing' of future recipients. BTW; these are exactly the policies Mitt Romney has proposed.

Answer 11

Stop taking money out of it for starters and keep it separate from the general fund.

Answer 12

Start with removing the salary cap on taxable income. Second, stop congress from raiding it.

Answer 13

Stop the government from stealing the funds and replace what they have already stolen, it would be solvent and stay that way.

Answer 14

By establishing socialism.

Answer 15

Eliminate it, worst socialist program ever.