This column suggests that the future of Social Security is not as dire as many people might think. Social Security uses a “pay as you go” system when it distributes benefits to qualified people. “This means that current workers pay Social Security taxes, while current retirees get benefits based on that tax revenue and earned income from the trust fund bonds.” There have been concerns that when the baby boomer generation retires that it will put so much strain on the system that it would become unsustainable. The Greenspan Commission actually planned for this baby boomer situation back in 1983 when Alan Greenspan headed the National Commission on Social Security Reform. The commission adopted a number of different fixes to the Social Security system that are discussed in this column. There are reforms that still need to be made that this column recommends, but the future situation facing Social Security is not as bad as some make it out to be.
See Lita Epstein, How Secure Is Social Security?, Investopedia, December 4, 2015.
Special thanks to Brian Cohan (Attorney at Law, Law Offices of Brian J. Cohan, P.C.) for bringing this article to my attention.
