Washington Wants to Make 2 Social Security Changes: How Much Would They Help Retirees?
The Social Security program provides monthly income to almost 20% of Americans, and it moved 26.3 million people out of poverty in 2021, according to the Census Bureau. However, the program is also facing several big problems, and two of the most pressing issues concern trust fund solvency and the buying power of Social Security benefits.
Social Security ran a $56 billion deficit last year, and the Board of Trustees says that trend could lead to trust fund depletion by 2035. At that time, payroll taxes would cover just 80% of scheduled benefits. Additionally, many policy experts believe benefits have fallen behind inflation. In fact, The Senior Citizens League says benefits have lost 40% of their buying power since January 2000.
Government officials in Washington have proposed numerous changes that address those issues. Two of the most common involve increasing Social Security payroll tax and changing the formula used to calculate annual cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs). But how much will those changes actually help? Here is what retired workers should know.
Source Fool.com
