Social Security: An Unhappy 80th Birthday
Update 5:00 PM via Profile America — Preserving Social Security is a continuing concern in an increasingly aging America. The demographic profile was different on this date in 1935, when the program was signed into law by President Roosevelt. The program aimed to provide security to retired workers over 65, most of whom had no pension, and life expectancy at birth was just 58 years for men and 62 for women. The first monthly check under the system was for $22.54, issued in January 1940. Now, there are 39 million retired workers receiving Social Security benefits averaging about $1,300 a month. Current life expectancy at birth is roughly 77 years for males and over 81 years for females, with the longest lifespans projected for native Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders. Profile America is in its 19th year as a public service of the U.S. Census Bureau.
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by Dr. John C. Goodman: We have promised more than we expect to take in: Looking indefinitely into the future, Social Security has a $28.5 trillion unfunded liability, according to the latest Trustees report. When combined with Medicare, the unfunded liability is $72 trillion – more than four times the size of our entire economy.
All of our elderly entitlement programs (Social Security, Medicare, and Disability) have a negative cash flow which will only get worse through time.
Elderly entitlements are crowding out every other type of spending: Currently, we are using about one in every seven general revenue dollars to cover these deficits. By 2020, we will need more than one in five. By 2030, we will need about one in three.
The average 60-year-old couple can expect Social Security benefits worth $1.2 million. With Medicare included, the average retiree is an "entitlement millionaire." However, that requires collecting from future taxpayers at rates that will be from two to three times their current level by mid-century.
Singapore, with its forced saving program, has the most successful social security system in the world: one in six households there is a millionaire household. And that's real wealth – not wealth based on a promise to collect future taxes.
Compared to most private pensions, Social Security is incredibly complicated. Americans are losing $10.6 billion a year by failing to make the right choices in claiming benefits.
Toward the end of the last century, more than 30 countries fully or partially privatized their social security programs. Recently, however, numerous countries have seized private pension funds, including individual private accounts. At least 11 countries have halted or reversed their social security privatization efforts.
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Article provided to the ARRA News Service by PRNewswire (Dallas, Aug 13, 2015) -- Dr. John C. Goodman, an author, health economist, and Senior Fellow at The Independent Institute is considered the "Father of Health Savings Accounts" and serves as president of the Goodman Institute, a think tank that focuses on the areas of health care, taxes and entitlement reform. Goodman served as the founder and president of the Dallas-based National Center for Policy Analysis (NCPA) for 31 years, and regularly appears on television and radio news programs. Currently Goodman is working with members of Congress on an alternative to ObamaCare. U.S. Social Security Act was signed August 14, 1935 by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Tags: Unhappy 80th Birthday, Social Security, Dr. John Goodman To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. and "Like" Facebook Page - Thanks!
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All of our elderly entitlement programs (Social Security, Medicare, and Disability) have a negative cash flow which will only get worse through time.
Elderly entitlements are crowding out every other type of spending: Currently, we are using about one in every seven general revenue dollars to cover these deficits. By 2020, we will need more than one in five. By 2030, we will need about one in three.
The average 60-year-old couple can expect Social Security benefits worth $1.2 million. With Medicare included, the average retiree is an "entitlement millionaire." However, that requires collecting from future taxpayers at rates that will be from two to three times their current level by mid-century.
Singapore, with its forced saving program, has the most successful social security system in the world: one in six households there is a millionaire household. And that's real wealth – not wealth based on a promise to collect future taxes.
Compared to most private pensions, Social Security is incredibly complicated. Americans are losing $10.6 billion a year by failing to make the right choices in claiming benefits.
Toward the end of the last century, more than 30 countries fully or partially privatized their social security programs. Recently, however, numerous countries have seized private pension funds, including individual private accounts. At least 11 countries have halted or reversed their social security privatization efforts.
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Article provided to the ARRA News Service by PRNewswire (Dallas, Aug 13, 2015) -- Dr. John C. Goodman, an author, health economist, and Senior Fellow at The Independent Institute is considered the "Father of Health Savings Accounts" and serves as president of the Goodman Institute, a think tank that focuses on the areas of health care, taxes and entitlement reform. Goodman served as the founder and president of the Dallas-based National Center for Policy Analysis (NCPA) for 31 years, and regularly appears on television and radio news programs. Currently Goodman is working with members of Congress on an alternative to ObamaCare. U.S. Social Security Act was signed August 14, 1935 by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Tags: Unhappy 80th Birthday, Social Security, Dr. John Goodman To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. and "Like" Facebook Page - Thanks!
Posted by Bill Smith at 9:00 AM - Post Link
5 Comments:
Congress is guilty of two major sins. The first is spending all the Social Security and promising healthcare through Medicare with reckless abandonment. The second major sin is ignoring the solution to fund them both by delaying consideration of the Fair Tax the most beneficial tax replacement plan designed to Maximize GDP growth and sustain it to keep up the payments on the $264,000,,000,000,000 TRILLION Shortfall of both Social Security and Medicare.
Jeffrey, Personally, I believe Congress is guilty of many more major sins.
LBJ to blame for this mess in 1968. Placing these funds into the general fund so demwits could spend it as they please.
But enslaving our children to unimaginable debt to the point of collapsing our entire economy is a National Security Threat and criminal to the extreme.
There are people drawing SSI that probably did not pay into the system. People from other countries can draw SSI from the USA if they have worked over here in this country. So go figure.
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