Hacker News Reader

Comment by seanmcdirmid | Hacker News Reader

If nothing is done it’s a mathematical fact. The problem is that there are no plans to do anything yet, each administration and congress seeing it as too politically volatile to deal with, which means we will have a last minute suboptimal solution.

Obviously there are solutions. Maybe if America survives that long we might see one implemented.

View on HN

Sure, if nothing is done. The trust fund redeeming its bonds is little different than the congress appropriating money for Social Security benefits; both come out of the current revenue of the USG. When the trust fund no longer has any bonds to redeem, there's nothing stopping congress from continuing to transfer money into Social Security to pay benefits at existing levels. They'll just have to vote on it rather than it happening automatically.

2033 is when all the bonds should have been redeemed and there is no money left to redeem, just contributions coming in and more payments going out. And yes, congress can do a straight injection from the general fund, it’s just even more deficit spending at that point.

The hole can be filled overnight by just raising the retirement age.

And if you normalize for longer lifespans, it's perfectly reasonable.

Great, so everyone in their 60s works for a decade more, as their health declines, and everyone under 60 has to deal with the increased unemployment that would cause.

It would be better to just get rid of the loophole for the rentier class (The FICA cap at $186,000), and this actually would be solved.

People are living longer sure, but are they fit for work longer?

Or just living longer with dementia and stuff?

Ya, there are wide different outcomes to consider with respect to health. Also people should really be retiring earlier, not later, as automation picks up. The way things are progressing right now are just whack.

Personally I watched my Grandpa wither away from Parkinsons and eventually Alzheimer's for over a decade, starting only a couple of years after he retired. He spent most of his retired life in hospice care not recognizing his children or grandchildren.

Knowing that is likely my eventual fate too, I really don't want to wait to the last possible minute to retire.

It's a huge shame we can't accurately predict future illnesses and such, we could plan so much more effectively. As it stands we have to do our best and live good lives before we aren't capable of that anymore. Many people won't have a nice retirement. Many won't even live that long in the first place. Society can probably do better for everyone than we currently do

The sad thing is that those people who need social security the most usually have it for the least amount of time. Obviously are priorities suck.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com