Jo Rae Perkins on Social Security | |
A: The system has been broken for decades, Congress continues to "kick the can down the road." Congress must stop borrowing from the Social Security Trust Fund. Currently, the biggest challenge is the amount of the future anticipated payouts. Social Security should provide about 30% of retirement income. We need to teach the importance of saving money, how to become debt free, learn to pay cash, save for retirement. Simultaneously, Congress must reduce the size of the federal bureaucracy. This will free up our tax money and provide more for us to have as savings. In summary, there is not a simple answer to this problem. The people will need to decide if they want to pay a higher percentage of their income into Social Security, raise the full retirement age, & eliminate early retirement, or let the system go away. If nothing is done, the program is on tract to be bankrupt by 2034.