You
The
latest official report on the solvency of Social Security forecasts the retirement and
disability programs will be insolvent in 2035.
It's not that the program won't have money to pay any benefits, but it's when the Social Security Trust Fund reserves of $2.78 trillion will be depleted.
What that means is that without action by Congress, the program will only have enough money in 2035 to pay 83% of benefits, not 100%.
Now, that eventuality has advocates for seniors sounding the alarm.
Alex Brouwer is Executive Director of the Wisconsin Alliance for Retired Americans.
He joins us now. Thanks a lot for being here.
Yeah, thank you so much for having me for your guide. I appreciate it.
So, for people looking to be of retirement age in 2035 and beyond, the prospect of paying into Social Security for their whole working lives and not getting their full benefit seems unfair.
It's completely unfair, honestly.
We believe that in actually the Wisconsin Alliance and other advocacy organizations, we believe that not only should people receive the benefits they're entitled to, but they should be receiving more benefits and that Social Security should be expanded and the agency modernized
and remain solvent for decades and decades to come.
And so you believe that current beneficiaries should be receiving more in their Social Security benefits?
That's correct. Yeah, organization is supporting a Bill in Congress right now.
The Social Security Fairness Act that's been introduced by Senator Sanders and Elizabeth Warren that actually expands by $200 per month.
Benefits received to beneficiaries and also protects the solvency of Social Security by eliminating something called the contribution and benefits base,
which is basically the cap on which income is taxed for Social Security purposes to have the richest Americans pay their fair share to help keep the program solvent.
Does that particular piece effectively become a tax increase, though? And how well would that go over?
Well, it is what we're advocating for. Yes, it will increase taxes on the wealthiest Americans who we need to have.
We need to contribute more to pay their fair share.
Basically, millionaires and billionaires in this country exist because of all the work that we've all done to contribute to their success, right?
Everybody buys something on Amazon or on Walmart or any of the department stores on our roads that we pay for with taxes contribute to the millionaires and billionaires being able to get their goods to people's homes.
So no millionaire or billionaire is created in a vacuum.
And so those individuals owe to our collective success.
And that means that everybody who is a worker currently has a full and dignified retirement.
So we are asking, yes, we are asking the richest Americans to pay their fair share, but really it pays compared to the wealth that we've created for them by being American consumers.
Because that cap on the withdrawal of kind of FICA taxes is $168,000. Is that it? Anything over that? Those people do not pay in?
That's correct. Yes. So when you receive a paycheck, like your viewers are no, when you receive a paycheck, there's a line called FICA.
And that contribution, that deduction stops at $168,600.
So if you make more than that, you don't receive a FICA tax on that money. So it's pretty much a regressive income tax where the poorest Americans pay 100% of their income is taxed for that.
And then the richest Americans don't. The Social Security Fairness Act keeps that cap in place, but raises it and lifts it for those making above $400,000 a year.
So we know there are also discussions of raising the retirement age to shore up the program. And that's been done once I understand. But does that effectively short people also?
That is correct. Yeah. And there's a study that just came out that showed that actually the raising of the retirement age back in the 80s in the Reagan presidency actually shortened the life expectancy of seniors.
So not only does that limit the number of years they're eligible to receive benefits, but it actually limits their life expectancy because as we all know, you know, there's a point in your life when you should be able to rest and retire from working.
Right. And that is, and that is a right that every American should have no matter what kind of job they had or what profession they worked in.
We think everybody is eligible and do that. So raising the retirement age would only hurt retired Americans and senior Americans.
How important is Social Security to the majority of retirees, including all of those in Wisconsin?
Extremely important. Every single retiree that I personally know depends on their Social Security check every single month.
And every retired American who's a member of the Wisconsin Alliance for retired Americans depends on it fully.
It drives our economy. It's what keeps so many seniors out of poverty. We're arguing that Social Security is one of the largest anti poverty programs that's ever been created in the United States.
We have a lot of choices in this country. I mean, all of this is a political choice, right? We could choose to roll back the clock and go back to the days before Social Security existed.
But we would have seniors in poverty living on the streets, and we don't want that. We want everybody who's worked hard and contributed to this country to live a full and dignified retirement.
Alex Brouwer, thanks very much. Thanks for joining us.
Thanks for covering this important issue for Drica.
Thank you. You know, one thing I didn't come around to but is of interest to me is the number of retirees who live solely on Social Security, which is not a lot.
Yeah, I know, you know, yeah, and, and, you know, the benefits are based on, you know, your income. So there is, you know, for those, for those on the right who would argue for a merit for a meritocracy in that respect.
I mean, it has that baked in, right? The meritocratic aspects where the more money you make, the more the benefits you'll receive to a certain point.
But yeah, I know of several seniors that that's their only source of income.
You know, we're able to get jobs with great pensions.
Right.
Right. All right. Well, thank you for taking time out of your conference day to join us. We appreciate it.
Thank you so much. I really appreciate you guys coming to you.
Will this be aired this evening?
It will. It'll be on the broadcast program this evening at 730.
Marissa will send you the link and it also did just live streams. So it'll, I think it's going up on our news page as well online.
So much.
All right. Thank you. Bye.
Have a good.
Bye.