[techgnosis]

The healthcare portions of the debt seem unsolvable but I don't know why we think Social Security is that complicated to fix.

1. Define very clearly what SS is. We need to be clear that it's an agreement between the working class and the retired class that says "if you are too old to work and you can't afford to live, we will take care of you"

2. Get rid of the SS tax cap. You don't pay any SS tax above 180k ish, which seems silly. Get rid of the cap and let every earned dollar participate in the program. It doesn't feel like that hard of a sell.

3. You don't get SS payments if you already have enough income. See #1, the agreement. We are agreeing to take care of you if you need it. Many, many retired persons do not need their SS income. Even if you paid SS tax your entire life, see #1. It is not an agreement that you will receive the money you put in later in your life.

Those aren't popular ideas but they are simple and easy to understand for everyone.

[tzs]

#2 is popular, according to polling. See [1][2].

[1] https://www.aarp.org/social-security/survey-raising-taxes/

[2] https://www.nasi.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/NASI_SocialS...

[ta9000]

Of course it is, most people like to tax others to pay for their own benefits. Almost no one in the US maxes out the cap, so for them it would make no difference.

[techgnosis]

SS tax is a flat rate. I'm not asking the rich to pay more than anyone else. I'm asking that the rich pay the SS tax on every dollar they make, just like most people do.

[bdangubic]

do that poll in fairfax or loudoun county in northern va or san jose or san francisco and and watch those numbers change… every is up for more taxes as long as someone else pays them

[Hammershaft]

That isn't enough to solve the problem.

https://www.crfb.org/socialsecurityreformer/

[FreakLegion]

According to the site it is.

Revenues -> Eliminate Tax Max without Benefit Credit (parent's #2) closes the gap by 68%.

Benefit Formula -> Slow Benefit Growth for Top Half of Earners (closest option to parent's #3) closes the gap by 41%.

Together these keep the program solvent indefinitely.

[whimsicalism]

? the OP proposed raising the contribution limit & also hinted at some means testing "and you can't afford to live" -- which combined would absolutely be enough to close the gap depending on how aggressive you are with these changes.

[bdangubic]

I would let government decide “you cant afford to live” as much as I would let OJ Simpson date my daughter. but that would be a hoot as two parties controlling the government change. while one is in power, 99.99% of retirees would qualify, the other - 0.000065% :)

[whimsicalism]

vacuous anti-government take that doesn’t really do anything to contribute to the discussion, imo. essentially “keep the government out of my social security!”

[bdangubic]

you have a comment to say what you don’t disagree with or just shooting the breeze?

[whimsicalism]

healthcare: It might be politically doable if we just keep govt catastrophic care insurance and then give like ~50% of what we were previously spending on medicare/medicaid as a UBI. Would cut spending substantially and make the politics on 'endless healthcare spending without clear benefit' more of an uphill battle.

[iamthemonster]

I was interested to hear Trump mention Australia's retirement system the other day (amongst the endless stream of what he normally talks about, it really stood out).

In Australia you have a universal Age Pension which is a backstop against extreme hardship set at the equivalent of US$20.5k, but your rate of Age Pension reduces linearly with income levels between US$9k and US$44k.

Similarly, the rate of Age Pension reduces linearly with asset levels between US$213k and US$474k, but you don't count your own home in that.

The private retirement savings system is similar to the 401(k) and Roth 401(k) except the employer doesn't typically do a match, they are just legally obligated to pay 12% of your salary. You can then contribute an extra US$20k as an income tax reduction or pretty much however much you want after-tax.

Inside the superannuation system, the gains are only taxed at 15%.

In general, it's a pretty perfect system that just leans a little too far towards being a rich person's wealth preservation tool, but overall it enables self-sufficiency while also preventing real poverty in old age.

[ta9000]

> Get rid of the SS tax cap. You don't pay any SS tax above 180k ish, which seems silly. Get rid of the cap and let every earned dollar participate in the program. It doesn't feel like that hard of a sell.

No. Frankly getting a bit of a boost to my income at the end of the year is one of the few things I have left to look forward to. The program at best will pay out $0.75 on the dollar of benefits. How much is enough? Do more with less.