Solving The Social Security Deficit: Assume 55-59 Year Olds All Die by 2028

[boedicca]

This is a hoot.

An analysis of the data used to determine the solvency of Social Security has found a some Oddities. In particular, by 2028, it assumes the mortality rate for 55-59 years is 100%. How convenient! Assume people die before they are eligible to collect benefits. That's the way to get rid of the deficit.

Next up: all workers will be required to smoke 2 six packs of unfiltered cigarettes a day or they will be charged a non-smoking tax/penalty by the IRS.


The NY Times Sunday Review features an extraordinary data-dive into the workings of the Social Security Trust Fund life-span estimation process. Their conclusion - the Social Security actuaries are using outmoded techniques; contemporary analytical tools suggest that Americans will live longer and deplete the (notional) Social Security Trust Fund faster than currently forecast. Properly adjusted forecasts would show Social Security spending an additional $800 billion (cumulatively) by 2031, which is roughly $40 billion per year.

And the authors discover a real howler - apparently the Mayans have found a toehold in the Social Security office:

JustOneMinute: Social Security Crisis Arrives At The NY Times

 

[gwennie]

What's also crazy is the people who continue to insist on raising the retirement age.....pretty soon they will want to raise it to 80 so that slim to no one will be able to collect the money. The simple fix is to remove the payroll tax cap of $102k.....if everyone making more than that amount were paying the full 6.2% of their income (no matter where that income comes from), then SS would be flush with enough money to pay its bills. Of course, making it illegal for Congress to use that money for anything else would go a long way as well.

 

[Oddball]

What's also crazy is the people who continue to insist on raising the retirement age.....pretty soon they will want to raise it to 80 so that slim to no one will be able to collect the money. The simple fix is to remove the payroll tax cap of $102k.....if everyone making more than that amount were paying the full 6.2% of their income (no matter where that income comes from), then SS would be flush with enough money to pay its bills. Of course, making it illegal for Congress to use that money for anything else would go a long way as well.

When that Ponzi scheme was foisted upon America, the life expectancy was below 65.

 

[boedicca]

The retirement age should be raised. When SS was started, only a little over 54% of men and 61% of women lived to be 65%. Those ratios now exceed 70% and 80% respectively, with longer expected lifespans.

But that's not the point. The point is that we are being duped about the solvency of SS. A large cohort is just assumed to Die Off when they reach the age range of 55-59.

What's up with that?