Social_Security

| Social Security | Should we really fight to save it, or move on' | | A very great deal of people believe that Social Security will be around for everybody and forever, but in reality the program is experiencing a shortage that could end the program within the next 10 years. Based upon the current statistics from the Congressional Budget Office, Social Security will pay out more than it receives for the year 2010. Another problem is that within the same report from the Congressional Budget Office, by the year 2018 the trust fund used to pay Social Security benefits will be exhausted. I think that if we take better control of where the money is spent as well as offer more options besides Social Security, we will eventually save money instead of losing it. According to a Congressional Budget Office report on the trends and implications, the current practices by the Social Security Administration make the program unable to remain financially sustainable. According to the Congressional Budget Office, “Since 1970, the number of individuals receiving funds from the SSI has more than tripled from 2.7 million to a current 9.7 million.” From their same report, due to budget shortfalls as well as a rapid increase in payouts the Congressional Budget Office is predicting that the program could run out of money and fail. My biggest concern with our government is that nobody seems to be too concerned about this program. I worry more about the current receivers of benefits that rely upon that money, no matter how little it can come out to. So many people have paid into a system that only a fraction of people are receiving SSI benefits, yet the government cannot provide a viable plan for the sustainability of such an important program. Not only are the payouts usually minimal in the ability to help cover bills, but with the current projections the payments will only get smaller because there will be so many more people causing a massive strain on the system. One of the main problems with Social Security is that the payout is beginning to exceed the funds received to actually operate the program. There needs to be a regulatory body activated to take control of the Social Security Administration and get their spending under control. Under current payouts, benefactors are barely able to get by as it is. This is mainly because there are so many people claiming benefits there is not enough money to go around. Our government has been borrowing against Social Security for decades, and the time has come where the borrowing needs to stop, and better control taken of the program. The Social Security Fund was never meant to operate with such minimal intake and because our economy has created such a loss of income to the fund it has seen is lowest amount of money received in generations. There are people who still believe that Social Security is perfectly fine and that nothing needs to be done because anything that is done would just end up costing more. To a degree they are right, but only temporarily. One of the many projections brought forward by the CBO discusses the possibility that the Social Security Fund could essentially stabilize itself after 2010 and once the unemployment rate drops back to a normal percentage. Based upon another CBO analysis, one of their ideas would lower payouts for anybody above the age of 25, but would remain lower until the budget is leveled out. After that time frame, the payout amount would increase and the backup fund for SSI would be replenished in the event of another funding shortage. At some point everybody will need to come to a compromise and ask ourselves what we are willing to sacrifice to ensure that future generations will be able to receive funds. With making no changes, we run the risk of running out of funds, and in the best case scenario the funds will eventually even out. This is unlikely, however there is always the chance it could work out that way. Since a majority of funding for Social Security comes from taxpayers, the program could become stabilized if our economy was to make major improvements in the areas of employment as well as pay raises. My grandmother recently suffered a stroke that has left her partially disabled, mainly on her left side. While going through all of her medical procedures and treatment, we discovered that between her Social Security and Medicare that almost no bills were going to get paid or have enough money to fill her prescriptions. Social Security is viewed by many people as a program that should be able to help supplement income in retirement, as well as a way to help pay for additional medical expenses incurred due to increasing age. We found out first-hand that the program does neither of this, at least in our case and now we all have ensured that we have our own supplemental income that is not connected to Social Security. My Dad has almost all of his retirement saved in a 401k as well as Roth IRA because even though funds fluctuate with the stock market it is still considered a safer investment than hoping Social Security will provide enough money to take care of ourselves. In the end, Social Security has outrun its course. I think that now is a time when the government needs to allow individuals to choose whether or not they want to contribute to a Social Security fund, or if they want to have that money put into a 401K instead. I think this would save the government money in the long run, as well as save the individuals that will eventually need the retirement assistance. Also, I think that the government needs to truly understand what the CBO is saying and not only considerate it, but implement policies to prevent a SSI collapse. Only time will truly tell, but if something is not done soon, we will see the demise of the Social Security program, and countless retirees will be left with no source of income to help them. I still believe that there are effective ways to organize where money goes, and I believe that Social Security is a very important tool within our government, but I also believe that this is a program that is proving to be more of a burden on the tax payer than it is a benefit. References Congressional Budget Office CBO’s Long-Term Projections For Social Security : Additional Information http://www.cbo.gov/doc.cfm'index=11943