Garrett1

AdamGarrett
English11
Mrs.Milarch
14December2015
SocialSecurity
Bythetimetodaysmid30yearoldsarereadytoretire,theremaynotbeanymoneyfor
themtoreceivethroughourcurrentSocialSecuritysystem.Asmanymayormaynotknow,
SocialSecurityisbeginningtofailushereintheUnitedStates.Withmanyofthechildrenfrom
the40sand50sbabyboomgrowingold,thereisanextremelylargeamountofelderlypeople,
resultingintheneedformoremoney.Unfortunately,manypoliticianschoosenottotalkabout
theproblemswithSocialSecuritybecauseitisaverycomplexproblemandcannotbeeasily
fixed.Itwouldalsobereallyeasyforsomeonetotakeadvantageofsomeonevoicingtheir
opinionontheissuebecausetherearesomanywaysthatitcannotwork.
SocialSecuritywasoriginallymadeinthe30sasaidtopeoplewhentheyretired.In1956
benefitswereaddedforpeoplewithdisabilities.Thismeantthatpeoplewithdisabilitiesgot
moneyforfree,althoughtheamounttheygetisaccordingtohowmuchmoneytheyhavegiven.
Butastimegoeson,thesumofmoneyaccumulatedbytheFSA(FederalSecurityAssociation)
isrunningdry.
Asof2010,theexpensesofSocialSecurityhaverisenabovethereceipts,meaningthat
theprogramiscurrentlylosingmoney.Thisyearsmoneygapisanestimated$84billiondollars
(
Desilver
).Thismeansthattheorganizationisspendingmuchmoremoneythantheyre
receiving,whichisneveragoodthing.Thegraphbelowillustratesthenetcapitaloftheprogram

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inbillionsofdollars.Itiseasilyseenthatthedebtisjustgoingtogrow.Inthesamearticlethe
authortalksabouttheneedfor
somekindofreform.Saying
thatwecantjustpushittothe
sideuntilitbecomesmoreofa
problem,becauseitscoming
fast(
Mitchell)
.Many
economistspredictthatby2034
allofthemoneywillbe
depletedfromtheprogram
(Desilver).Withnomoneyto
distribute,manyofthis
generationsgrandparentsanddisabledthatweknowdependingonSocialSecurityfortheir
normalpaycheckmayendupfindingthemselveswithnoincomeatall.
AlargestruggleisthatwecantjustendSocialSecuritysimplybecauseeveryother
personintheUnitedStatesaregettingmoneytakenoutoftheirpaychecksthatwillneverreceive
moneyfromthesystem.Sotheworkingclasswouldneverseethatmoneyagain.Thecurrent
problemwithSocialSecurityisnotwellknownaboutbecauseithasnotmadeitontothepolicy
agenda,whichis,puttingitsimply,thethingsthatthegovernmentwillbefocusingon
throughouttheyear.
OneofthebiggestideaspeoplearepushingforrightnowistheprivatizationofSocial
Security.Thismeansthateveryonewillhavetheirownaccountandtheywillearntheirown

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moneyforretirement.ThishasproventoworkinanumberofdifferentcountriessuchasChina,
Slovakia,andAustralia.Thedownsidetothisideaisthatitwillcompletelyrelyuponthevalue
oftheUSdollar.Iftheeconomykeepsgoingup,thenyouwillearnmoremoney,butifthe
dollarsvalueweretoeverplummet,themajorityofthemoneythatareintheprivateaccounts
wouldbelost,orheavilydamaged.
ThebestcourseofactionfortheUnitedStatesistodropthewholesystemandcomeup
withsomethingneworeditthecurrentwayitworks.Theproblemthatariseswhenthinking
aboutadoptingatotallynewsystemisthatallofthepeople50+gettingreadytoretirewouldnt
beveryhappyseeingastheyvehad6.2percenttakenoutoftheirpaycheckforaslongas
theyvebeenworkingandnowitturnsoutthattheirgoingtogetnothingback.Butifwekeep
thesystemthewayitisnow,thentheprogramwilleventuallydepleteallofitsavailableaid.
Sincegettingridofitwithoutsomekindofcompensationisoutofthepicture,weneedtoturnto
editingSocialSecurity.
Onethoughtthatwouldhelptheproblemisthatweneedtobeteachingthekidsnowto
savetheirownmoney.Althoughthisshouldbedonebyeveryone,weshouldespeciallybe
drillingintothebrainsoftheyouth.Thisistopreventthepanicthatmaybeinsideofthepeople
thatwouldhavenootherincome.Asofearlierthisyear,50percentofthepeopleintheUnited
Statesaresaving5percentoftheirearnings.Whilenearlyevery1in5peoplearesaving
absolutelynothing(Vasel).Ifweputawayonly20dollarseverypaycheck(andgetpaid
biweekly),bythetimeyouwork50yearsyouwillhaveapproximately27000dollars.Although
thiswouldnotbeenoughtoliveonforanextendedamountoftime,itwouldalleviatesomeof
thepressureputonbythissubject.Moreimportantly,itwouldgiveusmoretime.

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WhattheUnitedStatesneedsisanabundanceofjobs.Ifthegovernmentpromotespeople
tostartbusinesses,morepeoplewillworkwhichwilloverallraisetheeconomy.Oncewehave
implementedmanyjobs,weshouldhaveafactionofthemoneypeopleputtowardsSocial
Securityintoaprivatizedaccount,thenanotherpartgoestothesamepeopleitgoestonow.
HavethegovernmentpaytoonlythecurrentpeopleonSocialSecurityuntiltheyunfortunately
pass.ThenweprivatizeourSocialSecurityaccounts,thriveoffoftheeconomicgrowthuntilwe
canfindanotherplanforSocialSecurity.Onceanothersetuphasbeenestablished,youshouldbe
allowedtoeitherreceivethemoneyyouhaveputawayorkeepitinanaccountandcontinueto
builditup.
ManycountriesalreadyrunaprivatizedtypeofSocialSecurity,andithasbeen
somewhatsuccessful.Weshouldusethisuntilabetterplanisthoughtof,orifitisworkingwell,
keepprivatization.Onethingisforcertain,thereneedstobechange.Weneedtogetthisunder
controlnowbeforethereisnotimeleft.

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WorkCited
"CBO'sLongTermProjectionsforSocialSecurity:2009Update."
CBO'sLongTerm
ProjectionsforSocialSecurity:2009Update
.Aug.2009:110.
SIRSGovernment
Reporter.
Web.13Dec.2015.
deRugy,Veronique."WhyDon'tAmericansSaveTheirMoney?."
Reason
.Dec.2014:18.
SIRS
IssuesResearcher.
Web.13Dec.2015.
Desilver,Drew."5FactsaboutSocialSecurity."
PewResearchCenter
.N.p.,18Aug.2015.
Web.13Dec.2015.
Mitchell,DanielJ."WhyCriticsofSocialSecurityPersonalRetirementAccountsAreWrong."
TheHeritageFoundation
.N.p.,4Feb.2000.Web.13Dec.2015.
"SocialSecurity."
History
.N.p.,n.d.Web.13Dec.2015.
"UnitedStatesLaborForceStatisticsSeasonallyAdjusted."
UnitedStatesLaborForce
StatisticsSeasonallyAdjusted
.N.p.,n.d.Web.13Dec.2015.
Vasel,Kathryn."Nearly1in5PeopleAren'tSavingatAll."
CNNMoney
.CableNewsNetwork,
31Mar.2015.Web.13Dec.2015.

OtherHelpfulLinks
https://goo.gl/2Z51uC
(SocialSecurityFAQs)
http://goo.gl/otN5Cr
(PolicyAgenda2015)