The Demise of Social Security?

The United State's social security system has many flaws, and the recent economic state does not help out the situation at all. The baby boomer generation will soon begin to collect the benefits of social security that they have been paying for their entire lives. The younger generations of America may not be so lucky. It is estimated that the social security trust fund will run out by 2041. This estimate, made in 2005, has been moved from 2042 as it was estimated in 2003. While 2041 does seem too close for comfort, the begginning of social security's demise may realistically be alot sooner. It is estimated that by 2017, the payroll taxes that the government collects from its citezens will no longer be able to pay for the output that the baby boomers will demand in benifits. This estimate, also made in 2005, was moved up one year from 2018 as it was estimated in 2003. It is apperent in these estimate changes that the social security problem that we are facing in America may come sooner than we may think.
There are a few different ways that may potentially help solve this problem. One solution would be to raise the payroll tax. If there is more money in the fund, than the system will stand on its feet for longer time. However, critics say that this may just be buying time and will not fix the system itself. Also, this may create havolk among the working community who will suffer from these tax raises. Another solution may be to raise the retirement age. This is an intuitive solution that also may buy the United States some time but may not actually solve the problem. One more potential solution would be to cut back on other government spending. This solution is more reasonable than the first two, but still has it's flaws. Reducing other spending programs will ultimately have a negative affect on the economy in a different way, and the current problem with social security is still not solved, but only put off. What the government really needs to do is to find some way to change the system to provide income to the elderly in a different way.



Sources:
http://www.russellbailyn.com/weblog/2006/10/solving_the_social_security_pr.html

http://www.cbpp.org/1-11-05socsec.htm

http://money.cnn.com/2005/03/23/retirement/2005_trusteesreport/index.htm