Social Security: Falling Apart Faster Than Previously Thought
This past week, the Congressional Budget Office updated its annual projections on the health of Social Security.
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It's no surprise that Social Security is in trouble. But a DailyFinance report says there's some shocking news coming from the Congressional Budget Office's annual projections on the health of Social Security and its Trust Funds.
The main takeaways: Social Security is failing faster than last year's dire projection, Social Security spending will nearly double over the next decade and disability claims are high and rising.
The report provides data and charts that say the future is ugly, calling the latest Social Security news "a stern warning of a pending financial catastrophe for a program that over 50 million Americans currently rely on — and nearly everyone working in the country expects to receive."
"Either taxes are going to skyrocket to cover the costs, or benefits will need to be cut," the report reads. "Neither option looks all that good to anyone who expects to be working more than a decade or so from now."
Following the Congressional Budget Office's projection, a panel of CEOs suggested several changes to protect the Social Security program. A report by the Las Vegas Review-Journal reports the suggestions include gradually raising the retirement age from 67 to 70, changing benefit formulas, updating the method for calculating cost of living adjustments and including newly hired state and local workers in the system.
The report says the plan would protect those 55 and older from cuts, but younger workers would face significant changes.
Pam J
10:55 am on Sunday, February 17, 2013
Changing the retirement age to 70 won't work unless companies start respecting the older workers more. A lot of the people who lost their jobs and are still unemployed are over 50. Companies don't want to hire those people, for some reason or another, and most of them are still too young to get social security. I think that, what will have to happen, is that the younger generation is going to have to start putting half their salaries into their 401K plans. Don't rely on Social Security to take care of you. And a big problem is all the people trying to get Social Security disability because they can't find a job. My friend got it and she really shouldn't have. I think there is rampant misuse in that area.
Roger Pace
11:06 am on Tuesday, March 26, 2013
It's so crazy how things are starting to fall apart. I've been trying to find out ways to keep my self financially stable during times like these, and found this very helpful! I've been looking at different websites and all offer some awesome advice and tips. I found www.timwelborn.com to be very helpful. But I was just seeing if there is anywhere else that offers great insight or tips? Any insights would be great!
Observer
5:38 pm on Tuesday, March 26, 2013
The federal government now spends more on disability than food stamps and welfare combined. In 2009, DI began paying out more in benefits than it took in from payroll taxes. By 2016, it is set to run out of money.
It is apparent that if you took those that are able to work off of disability and those that are no longer actively searching for work, so called "discouraged workers", which the government does not factor into unemployment figures, that the actual unemployment in this country would be upwards of 16%.