America Needs to Invest the Social Security Trust Fund
Our nation ensures social welfare through Social Security. However, the United States cannot ensure the welfare of its own welfare system. To save Social Security, Americans in general do not favor an increase in the payroll tax, a cut in benefits or an increase in the retirement age. Furthermore, Americans are relying upon Social Security as their sole source of income at increasingly alarming rates. Social Security is intended to supplement retiree income, not account for 100% of it. Through elimination of the potential options, that leaves one necessary action: invest the Social Security trust fund in the stock market.
According to the San Francisco Chronicle (Social
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Examine the absolute worst case scenario: the market crashes and the $700 billion investment is worth $0. In this event, there would still be about $2 trillion in a trust fund. Furthermore, The President proposes that beneficiaries have the so-called "safety net feature of a basic, monthly retirement stipend, rather than leaving future retirees entirely at the mercy of the stock market and their own investment savvy."
Investing the Social Security trust fund in the stock market only allows us, as beneficiaries and future beneficiaries, the potential to receive benefits from a social welfare system that would otherwise risk extinction, commonly known as bankruptcy.
Of course there is the issue of who would make the actual investments. Many people are concerned that their Social Security money will be controlled by politicians who might have their own special interests or political agendas. The President proposes that the money be invested "in broad-based stock indexes similar to the Standard & Poor's Index under the control of a private Social Security Investment Board, as independent in theory as the Federal Reserve." Currently the Federal Reserve regulates and monitors the economy. To date, there have been no reports of conflict of interest within the Federal Reserve. Therefore, an independent management board for Social Security
It’s a matter of either losing all that you have worked for and live in poverty when retired or allowing your hard earned dollars to grow and have a secure comfortable retirement. I believe that Social Security is a doomed Government Program and that Privatization of Social Security would allow for a more secure retirement plan for all Americans. Social Security was first created to help aging Americans in their senior years so they would not end up in poverty. Social Security was signed in as law on August 14, 1935 by President Franklin D. Roosevelt and was fully operating by 1940 (SSA). Originally a retirement program, but Social Security now includes survivor benefits, disability benefits and Medicare and all together is the largest
For many years the social security program has been operating successfully. In recent times however, it is becoming apparent to some that social security is in need of reform. Their argument is that with the amount of people getting older in the next couple of decades, there will not be enough money left in the social security reserves to pay for everyone who needs it. That is why the idea of separating social security up into private funds has been brought to the attention of the American citizens. This idea of reform has been around for quite a long time; however it has been pushed on by pro reform supporters more in recent times because they think it is necessary for the
Current problems with the Social Security fund exist, and are the reasons why Social Security is in the need of reform. According to Forbes Magazine, the fund is expected to run out by 2033 (Teal 2013). At this point, money will still be coming in, but will not pay out the full benefits to recipients. The worker to retiree ratio is continuously declining, being approximately three workers to every
For years, Social Security has provided retired, disabled, as well many other Americans with financial security when they lacked or had little income later in their lives. Now, Social Security is being overwhelmed as the American population continues to grow. The Baby Boomers, or the demographic group born in the post- World War II era, from 1946-1964, have been the main reason for the prevalence of this issue. Millions were born during this era and by 2012 they were eligible for the full benefits of Social Security. Two years after that and for the first time ever, Social Security had to draw from its fund and since then they have not collected a surplus of taxes. Recent predictions show that by “2035, the number of Americans over age 65 will jump from today's 48 million to 79 million,” showing that this is just the start of Social Security’s problems to come. By 2035, I will hopefully be in my mid-30’s, wondering if one I would be able to afford retirement and without this system, I’m a bit unsure.
Our Social Security program mainly help out with older citizens and retirement but Social Security is more than just a retirement plan. The program helps families where a parent die and there is no type of income, a worker who has been disabled, and a dependent parent. If there were some type of circumstances in one home or life, they would be able to receive Social Security at any age. There is no doubt in my mind that we should save this program, no matter the cost, it helps out so many people in ways that we may not know of. Take some time and think about the world if this program had never been created and image how many people would be in poverty, unemployed, and old people who are not being able to pay for medicines or supply that they need. We should not change anything in the Social Security program until an crisis acquire, and when that day comes we will already know what to do to improve it by changing certain things in the
It’s a matter of either losing all that you have worked for and live in poverty when retired or allowing your hard earned dollars to grow and have a secure comfortable retirement. I believe that Social Security is a doomed Government Program and that Privatization of Social Security would allow for a more secure retirement plan for all Americans. Social Security was first created to help aging Americans in their senior years so they would not end up in poverty. Social Security was signed in as law on August 14, 1935 by President Franklin D. Roosevelt and was fully operating by 1940. Originally a retirement program, but Social Security now includes survivor benefits, disability benefits and Medicare and all together is the largest
There are many problems with Social Security today; however, the most prominent problem stands out as the baby boomers. The term baby boomers refer to the massive generation born after World War 2, and since they are all retiring now America’s Social Security is beginning to drain. Chuck Hagel, author for USA Today Magazine, states that in 1950 for each retiree, there were 16.9 people in the workforce; today there are much bigger numbers: for each retiree there are nearly 3.3 people in the workforce (“Saving” 12). Hagel suggests that Americans under 45 should be able to have options when it comes down to how their money is being spent in Social Security: either they can use the traditional Social Security tax rate, or they can use 4% of their Social Security payments to invest the funds that currently make up Federal Thrift Savings Plan (“Saving” 12). In doing so Americans will be able to limit and control where their Social Security money goes. However, many people disagree with changing Social Security. David Cay Johnston, author of several award-winning books, argues that Social Security does not need a revision because of the large surpluses in past years: $2.7 trillion in 2011 (“Social Security is Not”). This is true, Social Security does have a large surplus every year; however, the government ends up spending it which
The social security system, established by the federal government in 1935; is currently one of the most costly items in the federal budget. The purpose of the system is to provide for Federal old-age benefits, and to enable social insurance and public assistance. The proposal of moving to an entirely new system would give the people living in the United States their own individual authority of controlling their own investments. If social security does not become privatized; the system itself will turn unsustainable, the retired and disabled will not fully receive their earnings; and the people of the United States will continue to have no control over their investments.
Standardized savings is a standout amongst the best government programs in the United States. This kept away from destitution after a huge number of Americans wound up plainly old, debilitated, and family wage laborers kicked the bucket. As President Bush underscores, " Social Security is one of the greatest achievements of the American government, and one of the deepest commitments to the American people." But in spite of its achievements, the program has two There is a major issue.
After its passage on August 14, 1935, Franklin Delano Roosevelt regarded the Social Security Act as “a cornerstone in a structure which is being built but is by no means completed” but whose purpose is to “take care of human needs and at the same time provide for the United States an economic structure of vastly greater soundness.” The very opposite of soundness, however, was achieved. Today, looming deficits and abuse of the program have left it the focus of many debates. At their conclusion, the discussions generally only point toward making it more difficult to receive the money you put in, back, and raising taxes drastically on those still working to provide benefits for the disproportionate amount of retirees. Its problems are vast, but a permanent solution has yet to be decided. Far less discussed, however, is if the program itself is worth saving. Because of
Roosevelt and his Economic Crisis Committee, in 1935, came up with the simple idea of providing benefits to the generation of retired workers from tax money of currently working generation. Roosevelt put this straightforward idea into the system to make it work, and it surprisingly has worked out well so far. When the bill became a law in 1935, there were many people who were affected by the Great Depression and sought financial aid. Unlike the bank money that goes in loans and still depositor have access to the money; Social Security System passes out collected money immediately into benefits (“Social Security System”). This way, the working generation will always provide enough money to the fund. Rather than providing money from government fund, idea of benefiting citizens from their own money didn’t receive
According to the definition, Social Security is a federal insurance program that provides benefits to retired people and those who are unemployed or disabled*( http://www.investopedia.com/terms/s/socialsecurity.asp). The concept of social security was first introduced by Francis Townsend; an American
Social security has been a big part of our nation since 1935 when the great depression plagued our nation. Social security is an independent trust fund and has been since its creation. 1 Social Security Benefits cannot be given out to anyone who hasn't paid into it. No one can receive it as welfare or other types of governmental assistance. 1 Many people think that Congress takes money out of the Social Security fund and irresponsibly uses it. The truth is, congress is using it how they are supposed to be. They are using it to pay people their owed social security benefits and other important government programs. Although the federal debt may be high and respect for congress may be low, they are using it as they should. 2
First, Social Security has a poor return on investment. Most folks could double their earnings by simply investing money that goes into SS into a decent mutual fund. Secondly, Social Security isn't your money. When you and your wife die, that's it - no money goes to your kids. Money invested in the private sector is yours to will to anyone you want. Third, Social Security is anything but secure. It will eventually go bankrupt in the coming decades if SS taxes are not raised, benefits decreased, or the eligible age to receive SS funds increased. The reason it's going to go bankrupt is because Americans are living longer and the ratio of workers supporting the program to retirees benefiting the program has reversed in the last 20 years. It's
There is much-heated debate on the issues of Social Security today. The Social Security system is the largest government program of income distribution in the United States. People are concerned that they won't see a dime of what they worked so hard to contribute into the Social Security system for so many years. Social Security provides benefits to about forty-three million Americans. Not only to retired workers, but also to their spouses and dependents of the workers who die prematurely. It also provides benefits to disabled workers and their dependents. Social Security appears to most people like a simple retirement saving’s account. After all, you generally