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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]SS, in its current form, is projected to run dry by 2034. (And while some people are talking about increasing benefits, it's obvious we need to cut.) From what I understand, a couple of minor "tweaks" can save the program. What would you be willing to sacrifice? I would vote for three changes:

1) Gradually increase the full retirement age to 68. ?There should be no change for people within 10 years of retirement, but for others, we could add a month every year until we get to 68. When SS was introduced, people barely lived 5 years past retirement age (on average), and now we have people claiming for 20 to 30 years.

2) Increase the cap on the amount people pay the SS tax.

3) Lower the benefits for people in the uppermost brackets - in retirement - by about 25%. My parents have a retirement income of about $150k - no pensions, just responsible lifelong savings and investments - and they tell me they wouldn't miss a SS cut of a few hundred dollars a month.

Opinions?

[/quote]

No to #1 and #3.

1)  Just no.  While people are living longer, they aren't necessarily able to work longer.  The onset of chronic and debilitating issues is still the age it has always been (early 60s).

2)  This is the solution:  Increase the cap on income people pay the SS tax on.  This should've happened a long time ago.

3)  No.  The reason people are willing to pay SS taxes is because they don't look at it as a government welfare program that only benefits the poor.  They see it as something that will pay out.  If you are going to increase the amount of income that is taxed but then cut benefits for certain people, you will lose support for SS long term.  If people perceive it as a program for the poor, it will lose its support.  You also don't want to create a disincentive for saving.  I would only support decreasing benefits for the top 1 percent.  But I'm squeamish about that.  The thing is that there aren't many government programs that help the middle class -- not the poor, not the wealthy -- the middle class.  Two programs that do help the middle class are Social Security and the mortgage interest deduction.  The mortgage interest deduction helps the middle class because it enables people who otherwise wouldn't be able to to itemize their deductions, which usually saves them in taxes.  And yet we're always talking about doing away with those things.  We shouldn't be.  What we don't want to do is further hollow out the middle class.  [/quote]

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