Social Security Reform

Although the Social Security system is fine for the moment and is running surpluses in income over outgo, the board of trustees predicts that the funds will be depleted by 2041 and only 73% of incoming receipts will provide for the benefits offered by Social Security. On average over the next 75 years the system's cost will be 14% higher than the income. The main and primary reason for this problem is the past World War 2 baby boomers retiring less than a decade and according to statistics life expectancy for the elderly is on the rise. Compared to the current statistics on the elderly, by 2025 the number age 65 and older is predicted to grow over 74%. Unfortunately for us the increasing number of elderly isn't as great as we would like. If this truly does happen by 2025 the ratio of workers per seniors would down to the 2 to 1 range. President Bush tried to remedy this situation by trying to change the social security funds to not only take money from taxes but also to combine social security with people's private accounts. Of course many people opposed this because they didn't want extra money to be taken from their private accounts. Obama also opposed this and also the option to raise the retirement age. Unfortunately he doesn't oppose the increase in payroll taxes and by 2037 taxes might by up around 16 to 24% compared to the current 12.4%. The only solution to this problem seems to be to take extra money from other programs to fund social security while increasing payroll taxes. Seeing all of the debt that the US has dug itself into, we have to find a way to at least remedy this problem.