Social Security Reform
How Social Security Works Employee pays 6.2% of salary into SS Trust Fund Employers pay 6.2% for each employee into the SS Trust Fund
SS Trust Fund makes payments to –Retirees –Disabled –Survivors –Dependents Any surplus taxes go to the Social Security Trust Fund, secured in the form of US Treasury Bonds
Future of Social Security Adjustments made to program to meet changing conditions –1983: increased payroll taxes Extended retirement age from 65 to 67 Increased trust fund reserves and contributions to beneficiaries –2001: commission appointed to study ways to improve Social Security
Effects of Retiring Baby- Boomers
Projected Outgo
Worker per Beneficiary Declining
Trust Fund Exhausted by 2034
What do your think? What recommendations would you make to Congress to help this projected problem?