Is Social Security Doomed?
BOSTON (CBS) - Nope! But there is trouble brewing and of course it makes for great headlines.
Social Security will be there in the future, and it will be there for you today if you need it. It will look different in the future and will evolve into what's needed for American workers and their families.
You may have to contribute more and/or retire later to be eligible for full benefits and you may be taxed on all of your benefits, but there will still be benefits.
Over 58 million individuals received Social Security benefits last year. Of that number, almost 40 million were retirees and their dependents.
Social Security was never meant to be the sole source of retirement income for retirees. The average retiree is receiving almost $1,300 ($1,269) a month. Hard to survive on an annual income of about $15,000.
The Baby Boomers, 76 million of them, have already begun to tap into the system and they are having a huge impact on the system.
Social Security is a pay-as-you-go system with most of the taxes being paid today going to fund current benefits. Excess funds are credited to the Social Security trust fund.
Benefit payments are projected to exceed taxes in 2020, and the trust fund will be exhausted in 2033. Now that does not mean that Social Security will not have any money.
It means that Social Security will only be able to pay about 75% of the benefits owed, using dollars that are coming in from workers paying into the system. Now, this is if nothing is done about the situation.
We do need to fix the problem! And soon! There are ways to fix the problem. Increase retirement age beyond age 67 to 70. Increase the maximum amount paid into Social Security. Raise the percentage paid in which is now 6.2%.
And the government could decrease benefits. No one wants to talk about increasing taxes or taking away benefits, which is what I believe we may need to do to solve this problem.