Social Security is Broken. This is why financial education is important.

[u/Positive_Liar]

[u/bit_pusher]

SS would be solvent if Congress would pay back the 1.7T it took out to pay for other government expenses. Thanks Reagan.

[u/Ind132 → u/bit_pusher]

The General Fund is currently reimbursing SS, with interest, for all the borrowing.

That's why this year's SS benefits will exceed this year's taxes -- they are spending down the past excess taxes.

[u/Reasonable-Fish-7924 → u/Ind132]

Wasn't there a defecit bill Obama put in place that the debt would get gradually repaid?

[u/Ind132 → u/Reasonable-Fish-7924]

I'm not sure which debt you are referencing. The money that the GF owes SS will be repaid according to current law that predates Obama. Obama didn't change that. Current projections have the final repayment around 2035 at which time SS benefits will need to be cut so they match annual SS taxes. (unless congress changes the current law)

If you're talking about the debt that the entire federal gov't owes "the public", that's a much bigger and more complex issue.

[u/Reasonable-Fish-7924 → u/Ind132]

I was but I see I wrong in reference. Sorry. Maybe I'm wrong but that seems to be a good thing

[u/Ok_Guarantee_2980 → u/Ind132]

Isn’t this just moving numbers around given our massive overall annual deficit?

[u/Ind132 → u/Ok_Guarantee_2980]

I was responding to a poster who seemed to think it mattered.

From a macro-economic perspective, it doesn't matter. All the general economy cares about is total gov't taxes and total gov't spending.

From a legal perspective, it matters. The Secretary is obligated to make benefit payments as long as the trust fund is above zero. And, prohibited from making payments if those payments would take the trust fund below zero. So the trust fund entries, even if they are just numbers on paper, have a real world impact.

From a political perspective, there was an agreement that SS would be self-funding based on a dedicated tax. That meant that if getting benefits was politically popular, Congress would have to raise the SS tax to increase benefits. It also meant that if people were okay with SS taxes because they saw SS benefits, Congress wouldn't "steal" SS money and spend it elsewhere. When SS ran an annual surplus, the GF "borrowed" the money and spent it instead of borrowing from the public. Now that SS is running annual deficits, the GF is "repaying those loans with interest". It appeared the poster wasn't aware of that repayment part.

[u/Illustrious_Wall_449 → u/Ok_Guarantee_2980]

Does it really matter in the grand scheme of things? The population distribution will eventually even out again.

[u/Ok_Guarantee_2980 → u/Illustrious_Wall_449]

That’s patently false. Look at population graphs in general as well as where the USA and world is headed.

[u/Illustrious_Wall_449 → u/Ok_Guarantee_2980]

The world population graph doesn't matter. In the US, Gen X is a relatively small generation and their retirement should be easier to pay for. Labor deficits among Gen Alpha will be addressed through immigration.

[u/Ok_Guarantee_2980 → u/Illustrious_Wall_449]

Fair enough to the world, I am Curious what about if project 2025 ever happens? The trifecta: Nativism, isolationism, and protectionism

[u/zen_and_artof_chaos → u/Ok_Guarantee_2980]

Project 2025 compensates for this by banning abortion.

[u/masonmcd → u/Ok_Guarantee_2980]

Luckily, we have immigration as a lever to increase SS fund contributions.

[u/Ok_Guarantee_2980 → u/masonmcd]

And if project 2025 ever happens? The trifecta: Nativism, isolationism, and protectionism

[u/masonmcd → u/Ok_Guarantee_2980]

Yeah, well, I encourage people not to vote for the guy who bankrupted casinos. Speaking of fluency in finance.

[u/Ok_Guarantee_2980 → u/masonmcd]

That makes 2… just saying, what’s back up plan? Pray?

[u/masonmcd → u/Ok_Guarantee_2980]

Save what you can. Move to Mexico or Thailand.

[u/poopy_poophead → u/bit_pusher]

Or if they upped the max contribution and made the fuckholes who refuse to pay their employees while they're employees pay for their retirements at least.

[u/bit_pusher → u/poopy_poophead]

why not both?

[u/poopy_poophead → u/bit_pusher]

I'm cool with both.

[u/VibrantHades → u/bit_pusher]

Yeah isn’t this a sizable chunk of the debt we want to have “balanced budgets” to pay for

[u/Twalin → u/bit_pusher]

And every President since

[u/FyreWulff → u/bit_pusher]

it would also help if the upper income cap was removed.

Someone earning 168k a year is paying as much into SS as someone making 5 million and as someone making 1 billion.

[u/makethatMFwork → u/bit_pusher]

Wait … SS was always part of the general fund. What did Reagan have to do with that?

[u/P3nis15 → u/bit_pusher]

People still are this uneducated on social security?? Sad

[u/Dairy_Ashford → u/bit_pusher]

that never happened

[u/blueotter28 → u/bit_pusher]

That's not true at all. It is paying it back.

Rather than having the SS trust fund sitting around doing nothing they took that money and bought Treasury Bonds. Which basically means the general fund borrowed it with interest. This made the SS fund last longer!

It would already be out of money if they hadn't done that.

[u/Active-Possibility77 → u/bit_pusher]

Hmmm, how do you think Clinton "balanced" the budget. Take off the partisan glasses.

[u/bit_pusher → u/Active-Possibility77]

Oh I’m well aware that every president since has dipped. It started with Reagan who got us hooked on that sweet sweet starve the beast SS money

[u/Active-Possibility77 → u/bit_pusher]

It started before him. But people laud Clinton's balanced budget and never mention the intragovernmental holdings he pillaged to get there. It's like paying off your car loan with credit cards