As if there wasn’t already enough panic about the health of the Social Security program, after the trustees warned that the funds could run out by 2035, a new alert comes from the voice of Alabama Republican Senator Tommy Tuberville. This senator has suggested that retired Americans might not receive their Social Security benefits when they stop working. This would be a severe economic blow to millions of Americans who rely on Social Security in old age and who have been contributing to it for decades.
“No, most people won’t get Social Security,” Tuberville said, according to Newsmax. “It’s just unfortunate. It was a tax that was imposed on the American people years ago, sold on the promise that we would take care of their retirement.”
Social Security Uncertainty: How Long Does the Program Have Left to Live?
These alarming and distressing new claims come just at a time when the future of Social Security is under scrutiny and debate. Analysts and experts warned that if the proper changes are not made from the Congress and the White House, the funds of this federal program could run out in less than a decade.
Tuberville had already warned in February of this year that he foresaw that retirees may not see their Social Security payments in a few years, something he reaffirmed in his most recent interview with Newsmax.
Where is the Social Security money?
Speaking at a hearing of the Health, Education, Labour and Pensions (HELP) Committee, Tuberville said the government was spending the money people are paying into their Social Security. “What happens is that [the money] comes here and we spend it,” he said. “We have a debt of $35 trillion.
We don’t have any money. In this body, we better start solving this because soon there will be an avalanche of 150 million people who will come here saying, ‘Where is the damn money we paid?’I could have put my Social Security money for 40 years on the market and it would probably be worth eight to ten million today, but the federal government wasted it.”
Is Social Security in Crisis? It’s Not Totally Ruled Out
The Social Security commissioners’ warning that the funds could run out by 2035 has raised concerns among the public and the government, as it is a vital source of income for millions of Americans and people with disabilities.
There are several reasons, for example, life expectancy has increased significantly in recent decades, which means that more older people will receive their Social Security benefits by living longer.
The low birth rate has also influenced the depletion of resources, which means that fewer young people have started paying their taxes to finance the program. Remember that the money paid to people enjoying their retirement currently comes from those taxes paid in real time. If you thought that the contributions you make to Social Security go to a personal fund of yours that will be enjoyed only by you, you were wrong. On the other hand, health care costs have been rising faster than wages in recent years, which has put greater pressure on the program.
Can a Social Security Catastrophe Be Avoided?
There are several measures that legislators and the federal government can promote or carry out to prevent Social Security funds from running out, but none of them is going to be popular or pleasant. The first that some specialists have proposed is to increase taxes so that Social Security income will be higher. This represents increases in the contribution amounts of workers and employers.
The other option, which is even less popular, involves reducing benefits, that is, paying less percentage when you receive your Social Security checks. The third option, which is even more unpopular and controversial than the first two, is to raise the retirement age so that people retire at a higher age in view of the increase in life expectancy.
The government is currently discussing which of these measures is feasible, which has the least impact on the population, or whether combining all three with lower thresholds would be the definitive solution.
Various proposals to address the problem are being discussed, but Democrats and Republicans have different and sometimes conflicting approaches. There does not seem to be a simple or painless solution, and any decision that is made from the legislative or federal spheres will impact the program in the future and its beneficiaries.
