...Even thou Americans have Social Security, Americans need to plan for their retirement because of the failing economy and the rise of government debt. The failing Social Security program has been in the news for years. It has become a growing issue and a major concern to most Americans. With all the issues facing the government and its economy, the Social Security program needs to be overhauled. Still, people should also take matters in their own hands and make investments in a retirement plan. With the current predicament the Social Security program is in, the results of this system failing could be catastrophic for retiree’s. The results of this would place many retired Americans into poverty and losing everything they have worked for. However, this issue can be avoided by investing in their own retirement instead of putting their trust in the failing Social Security system. The structure of Social Security is expected to fail in years to come. With people living longer and family’s being smaller, less revenue is being poured into the Social Security system keeping it up and running as an active source of retirement income. It has been suggested that early actions to reform Social Security is needed to protect the program from failure. As we all know, the economy is in shambles and the U.S. Government is in a predicament with its own debt. With the governments need to solve its debt ceiling, money has been used from Social Security for funding and a way to pay debt. This is...
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...Is Social Security Headed For Extinction? Com/172 February 22, 2011 Social Security is supposed to be the safety net that Americans can rely on when they retire. But unless you have been living under a rock for the past decade, you are aware of the controversy surrounding the fate of the program. We as responsible Americans have to take control of our financial future so that in the event that Social Security does fail to help support us in retirement, we will not be driven to live out our final years in poverty. The Social Security program started in 1935, with the purpose of ensuring that retired Americans would still have an income available to them once they retired. While the need for Social Security has not changed over the years, the lack of funds being obtained by the program has changed. As young Americans, the concern of whether Social Security will benefit us or even be available to us is an extremely valid one. The Social Security Board of Trustees now estimates that based on current law, in 2037, the trust funds will be completely depleted (Werner, 2010). For young Americans who still have quite a few years left before they are eligible for retirement, this is a frightening reality. According to the 2009 Annual Report from the Social Security and Medicare Board of Trustees, by 2017, Social Security is expected to start paying out more than it collects in payroll taxes (Reuteman, 2010). There are several reasons for the decline in funds being collected. People...
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...In the past decades, Social Security Administration has had annual revenue that excesses the amount it pays to beneficiaries. However, U.S. economy situation has created a long-term effect in many of the public organizations and departments. Social Security Administration is one of many departments that will face some economy issues during U.S. economy recovery. Social security will post nearly $600 billion in deficits over the next decade as the economy struggles to recover and millions of baby boomers stand at the brink of retirement, according to new congressional projections. The funds that Social Security has save to payout their beneficiaries have an expiration date. In the upcoming years more people will be eligible for retirement. Many of them will only be pay 78 percent of their benefits. The government needs to find solutions for the upcoming deficits and be able to help Social Security Administration to no run out of funds. In 2011, Social security administration will collect about 4.6 million retirement, survivor, and Medicare claims. 3.3 million Social Security and SSI claims and 326,000 SSI aged claims, (Social Security, 2011). These claims have to go to procedures that can take months to be approval. During these procedures, many more applicants are eligible to apply for social security and more money is pay to beneficiaries. Social Security Administration has being able to save and invest taxpayers money into U.S. Treasury department. The money...
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...In the past decades, Social Security Administration has had annual revenue that excesses the amount it pays to beneficiaries. However, U.S. economy situation has created a long-term effect in many of the public organizations and departments. Social Security Administration is one of many departments that will face some economy issues during U.S. economy recovery. Social security will post nearly $600 billion in deficits over the next decade as the economy struggles to recover and millions of baby boomers stand at the brink of retirement, according to new congressional projections, (Ohlemancher, 2011). The funds that Social Security has save to payout their beneficiaries have an expiration date. In the upcoming years more people will be eligible for retirement, however, many of them will only be pay 78 percent of their benefits, (Ohlemancher, 2011). The government needs to find solutions for the upcoming deficits and be able to help Social Security Administration to no run out of funds. Issues In 2011, Social security administration will collect about 4.6 million retirement, survivor, and Medicare claims. 3.3 million Social Security and SSI claims and 326,000 SSI aged claims, (Social Security, 2011). These claims have to go to procedures that can take months to be approval. During these procedures, many more applicants are eligible to apply for social security and more money is pay to beneficiaries. In 2011, social security will collect $45 million less in payroll that it pays...
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...Social Security and Medicare History Present Configuration Future Projection GERO100 March 31, 2012 Hopefully we will all be physically able to work until the age of 65, collect retirement and Social Security and live an enriching life until we leave this world. Not all companies financially support their employees with fully funded retirement plans so it is left up to the individual to actively participate in saving for their future. When someone reaches retirement age, if the finances are there, they are usually only a fraction of what they were making as a full-time employee. This is when one hopes of having Social Security and Medicare benefits to supplement our retirement income for a more stable financial future. There are several reasons the Social Security Act was passed in August 1935. The elderly were living longer due to the availability of better health care, autonomy in workplaces to make jobs easier on individuals, and the modernization of our country’s water systems. Due to this increased longevity in the lives of the elderly, they were also more poverty stricken. An intention of the passage of the Social Security Act was to reduce the burden of loss of income to retired workers aged 65 or older. (Quadagno, 2008) It also included provisions for unemployment insurance, old age assistance and aid to dependent children. Benefits were to be paid based on the primary worker and was to be funded through payroll taxes deducted from the worker’s...
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...Social Security Benefits Americans have worked hard for centuries and always have had worries about how will they support themselves when they retire. To help aid retirees, in August 1935, the government established the Social Security Trust fund for retired workers, unemployment insurance, benefits for victims of industrial accidents, the blind, aid for dependent mothers and children, and the physically handicapped(Historical Background and Development of Social Security, 2010). However, the Social Security system is facing serious financial problems due because of a lack of jobs, high unemployment, and layoff rates. So there is no guarantee that Social Security benefits will be available for them when they retire, and therefore should not be used for their retirement safety net. In 2016, the Social Security system will begin paying more in benefits than they collect in taxes (2009 OASDI Trustees Report, 2009). Without changes by 2037, the Social Security Trust Fund will become exhausted and they will only be able to pay out 76% of scheduled benefits (2009 OASDI Trustees Report, 2009). If changes are not made be 2037, many Americans may have to work long into their retirement years because only receiving 76% of their benefits will not be a sufficient income. Most Americans, do not think that they will have to work extra years before they can retire, but with the average life expectancy in the United States currently at 78 years (CDC Centers for Disease Control and Prevention...
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...December 2014 Social Security and its Deficits In 1935, after bank failures and a stock market crash had wiped out the savings of millions of Americans, the nation turned to their president to guarantee the elderly a decent income. In those days, only a handful of workers had access to pensions from their employers or through State governmental pension programs. Over half of America's elderly lacked sufficient income to be self-supporting. The Social Security Act was enacted at the urging of President Franklin D. Roosevelt to create a social insurance program that ensures workers would have a source of income after they retired. (ssa.gov, n.d.) In the decades that have followed, Social Security has become one of the federal government's most popular and essential programs. Despite all our efforts to encourage savings and investment, the private retirement picture has not changed much in recent decades. Even today, barely half of all workers have access to retirement plans at work, and millions reach retirement age without enough private savings to provide an adequate living in retirement. Social Security is still the foundation for most seniors' retirement. Without this critical safety-net program, over half of all older Americans would fall into poverty. Social Security does exactly what it was designed to do. It gives retired people a secure, basic income for as long as they live. At the end of 2005, more than 48 million people were receiving Social Security benefits: 33 million...
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...Kimberly Clark Professor Camille Castorina ECO 405-001 February 1, 2015 Social Security and Medicare are critical federal programs, in America, that promotes income stability among millions of households. Social Security does so by providing a steady stream of income to replace wages lost due to retirement, disability, or death. Medicare provided health benefits to the elderly and disabled. While both of these programs make sense, both are struggling to keep up with their growing demands. Social Security is a tax that every working individual and their employer pays. These taxes do not go into a “personal” account; as one might think. Instead, the benefits that are received by the current retiree is being paid by today’s workers and today’s worker will be paid by the next generation of workers; a pay-as-you-go-system. Unfortunately, for retirees, benefits will not be received by the amount he/she pays into Social Security but on their earnings history and retirement age. Social Security is a hot topic, one that our current administration is unwilling to address; even with a looming presence of issues by 2020. A program that has been plagued by funding issues caused by our elected government officials. To quote the Social Security Administration itself: "Social Security's total expenditures have exceeded non-interest income of its combined trust funds since 2010. ... Since the cash-flow deficit will be less than interest earnings through 2019, reserves of the combined...
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...Social Security Planning Even though Social Security was designed to take care of us in our retirement years, a secondary retirement income to coincide with our social security is an extremely important consideration if not a necessity. One has to take many considerations that into account when deciding whether or not to plan a secondary income source to coincide with their retirement benefits. Tax rates, inflation, Cost of Living Index and even geographic location play an important role on the ability to live comfortably on social security in retirement. Other things that need to be taken into consideration are not only current economic criteria but future economics as well. Many analysts predict, using current data and future projections, that by the year 2044 the Social Security Administration will no longer have any funds, in which to disburse to retirees. When talking about retirement planning, one has to begin by being aware of and understanding economics and how these affect not only current, but future trends. Quite a bit of information is available at the Social Security Administration Official website – www.ssa.gov. From this site one has access to different financial calculators and other resource links, one of which is a very detailed downloadable retirement planning guide, entitled – Taking the Mystery out of Retirement Planning. This guide has been developed by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration and its partners. Another...
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...Microeconomics Essay Assignment. 10/23/15 Social Security What is social security? What is the importance of social security in a citizen’s life? Different type of questions occurs when we discuss about the social security. This is one of the problems that United States has faced is their economy, but then again every country faces these kind of problems. Social security future solidity is one of the major issues in United States. What are the requirements for receiving social security benefits? How long do they prolong? Technically social security is a government program that helps workers and retired people and gives them benefit to spend the rest of life. Social security has different types of branches or different types of benefits we can call them. It is not only for retired people, it also helps people with disability, and people with no jobs. The benefits that come with disability and unemployment are limited. For example, its common sense if you find a job back you won’t be getting unemployment benefits, and if people that are disable start to show improvement in their health, their benefits will be terminated. Is the working population big enough to support the social security program for the future? However, there are costs and benefits for keeping this program. Is it possible that something else can be added to the social security program to help people more? Issues A lot of people these days’ worry about how to fix the social security issue. This is totally the wrong issue...
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...Social Security and Medicare Currently the Social Security Trust Fund is in a surplus, more monies are contributed to the fund then going out to beneficiaries. However, as the number of retirees increase and the number of workers decrease the Social Security Trust Fund becomes depleted quickly, in other words a deficit is created. The future for Social Security is going to have to borrow monies to continue with the current benefit structure, will have to restructure the benefit package, or possibly raise the retirement age to accommodate the increase in beneficiaries, to name a few possible changes. Social Security is far from a crisis but the state of Social Security is headed towards a deficit and into debt. It is estimated that Social Security will continue with a surplus until 2020 and eventually depleting around 2040 (Colander, 2010). The U.S. government is going to have to make adjustments to the current system to ensure that funds will continue to be available to future retirees. Along with the Social Security future going from surplus to deficit and debt is the growing concern of Medicare. As of 2004 Medicare funding by the U.S. government has been increased with the expansions of coverage (Colander, 2010). The growing rate of retirees and the need for medical care and drugs has increased. The future of Medicare is uncertain as medical expense increase and the amount spent per individual using Medicare increases funding is utilized faster. Funding for Medicare...
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...It is thought that in the United States a person does not need to plan or save for retirement because social security will cover our needs when we reach the age of retirement. It is thought that social security will always exist, and we will be able to live off the amount of benefits that we each will receive. This would be one of the worst thoughts a person should have in his or her mind. What kind of savings or other forms of financial income would a person is able to depend on if the social security program should happen to cease? It would be a mistake to entertain this type of thinking because social security is not only going bankrupt, but there is also a possibility that the social security program will cease to exist. I strongly urge Americans to think momentarily about the amount of benefits that he or she will receive and if it will be enough money to keep up the cost of living, and to support a family at the same time . We, as Americans, should start to save money for the retirement years at an early age instead of depending solely upon living off social security benefits. The facts are that social security system will most likely be bankrupt or non-existent when the younger generations reach the age of retirement. The social security program has been in trouble for a number of years and is one its way to becoming bankrupt. According to The Heritage Foundation, “As millions of baby boomers approach retirement, the program's annual cash surplus will shrink...
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...A Report on American Economics in English Includes Social Security. 006 American Government-Economics Most of the problems of the United states are related to the economy. One of the major issues facing the country today is social security. The United States was one of the last major industrialized nations to establish a social security system. In 1911, Wisconsin passed the first state workers compensation law to be held constitutional. At that time, most Americans believed the government should not have to care for the aged, disabled or needy. But such attitudes changed during the Great Depression in the 1930's. In 1935, Congress passed the Social Security Act. This law became the basis of the U.S. social insurance system. It provided cash benefits to only retired workers in commerce or industry. In 1939, Congress amended the act to benefit and dependent children of retired workers and widows and children of deceased workers . In 1950, the act began to cover many farm and domestic workers, non professional self employed workers, and many state and municipal employees. Coverage became nearly universal in 1956, when lawyers and other professional workers came under the system. Social security is a government program that helps workers and retired workers and their families achieve a degree of economic security. Social security also called social insurance (Robertson p. 33), provides cash payments to help replace income lost as a result of retirement...
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...Social Security and Retirement Erin Darby COM172 June 7, 2011 Louise Gerdes Social Security and Retirement In the United States, Americans need to plan for retirement. Social Security will not cover people’s needs when retiring. Americans who retire should use savings based on their personal investments, private savings accounts, employer’s pensions such as 401K, and Social Security so that they can live the rest of their lives comfortably. Americans that retire can receive full Social Security benefits depending on their year of birth. For example, baby boomers have the retirement age increased to age 67 for those born after 1960. The generation of baby boomers, Generation X, and Generation Y should be concerned that Social Security benefits will be exhausted when reaching the age of retirement. Without Social Security, what security do Americans really have? Americans should not depend on Social Security for early retirement for several reasons. The Social Security benefit amount might be less than what retirement recipients need, the retirement benefits might disqualify them from receiving full Social Security benefits, or the benefits may no longer be available. One reason Americans should not depend on Social Security is that the benefit amount might be less than what Social Security retirement recipients need. Some workers who have contributed to their Social Security could possibly fall into poverty. According to Laura Sullivan (2008), “future generations...
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...forced to keep working just to eat. This future sounds farfetched, but unfortunately, it is the direction our nation is heading if no reforms are made to our Social Security system. Rising healthcare and living costs, along with an unbalanced worker to retiree populace, have begun to deplete the once trusted mode for retirement. If no resolve is reached, the Millennial generation will be forced to come up with their own ways of saving for retirement like collecting change. The depletion of our Social Security system is my generation’s most severe issue because there may not be enough money to take care of senior citizens into retirement age. Signed into effect August 14, 1935, the Social Security Act insures senior citizens monetary stability after their retirement. The way this system operates is the working class pays a partial tax on their income to the government, who then allocates the money for those who have retired. Essentially, the generation that is currently working will pay for the generation that has retired. A retiree will receive benefits such as coverage for disability and monthly payments given as a source of income for those who do not or cannot work. In today’s society and economy, retirees heavily rely on the compensation they receive from Social Security. It gives not only the elderly, but also millions of citizens who work and pay into the system, the satisfaction of knowing they can be comfortable in the future. The problem we are currently facing...
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