Suggestion to fix Social Security in the US

Social Security is a program that I think has market perception issues. It is further hobbled due to some flawed initial logic in its setup.

The market perception issues is that people think that Social Security is a retirement plan or that the funds paid into Social Security are one's own funds.


Social Security was created to be an emergency compassionate safety net for people who lived beyond the average lifespan but who did not have the means to save up for the period of their life they could not work, and further was conceived at a time where work was generally physical in nature. Further, the monies paid in to Social Security by workers are distributed to
individuals who are not in the work force any longer.

At the time of inception it was many people to each retired person collecting Social Security. Now I believe it is 3 working people for every recipient of Social Security.



The flawed initial setup logic is that the model did not include mechanisms to adjust for dynamic variables. Probably because the architects of the time did not foresee some of the variable parameters. At the time, I don't know if they would have foreseen a time when work would be mainly defined as an intellectual endeavor, a moving or reshaping of information, rather than physical labor. So they would not have foreseen a time where much older people could still be viable contributors to society in the work force, as they can today since it takes little physical stamina to be a knowledge worker. Further, I don't know if they could conceive a time where living to 100 was no big deal and insurance companies are not realizing that the first person to live to 150 is alive today.

I am a democrat, a progressive liberal, a humanist and I person who is generally compassionate and all for a society that cares for those in need and does not simply allow its citizens to suffer needlessly. However, I still see merit in a free market. I am not generally in favor of unnecessary hand outs.

Towards that end, here are some suggestions to enhance the Social Security safety net.

• Build a mechanism to allow for changes in longevity and definitions of productive capability. In the near term that might mean creating a stepped program such that persons within 5 years of retirement receive all existing benefits at the age previously set as standard, persons 10 years to retirement receive benefits 2 years later, persons 15 years 5 years later, and so on. Further down the road, for persons born after the new methodology is implemented, they become eligible for benefits at the apex of the actuarial bell curve for that birth date.


• Build a mechanism that allows for adjustment of retirement age based on the then current definitions of what it means to be an employable citizen. I cannot foresee what the workforce requirements 20 years from now will be, for all I know people can put a cap on their head and perform work in a virtual reality, and perhaps the best candidates for that future work reality will be people over 80 years old.


• Clarify that these benefits, as a safety net are not universally doled out equally but instead distribute as needs dictate. This does not mean participation is optional - this is a safety net by society for society - to help those in need. So - all citizens legally working are compelled to participate but set net worth thresholds by which the amount of benefit distributed after retirement is determined. If a person retires with significant financial resources (I am not going to propose here what the thresholds and levels should be, but only illustrating the concept), then that person has no need of Social Security benefits, further, a person who has reached an age where they are no longer able to participate in the work force but who has moderate means may need moderate additional benefits and would receive moderate Social Security benefits, and finally one of exceptionally meager means may need a greater degree of Social Security benefits.


• Finally - there is a wealth of information out there which illustrates how the current system is inefficiently operated, and which reformation can shave billions off the current costs, extending even the existing operational paradigm's viability for many more years. For example, Medicare is currently not allowed to negotiate better pricing on prescription drugs. Those types of bureaucratic inefficiencies need to be analyzed and logically/rationally addressed.

By making these reasonable and logical enhancements, by removing emotion and rhetoric, I think that we can establish a compassionate, responsible and sustainable program to ensure those citizens who need support after they can no longer participate as wage earning members of society, are sustained and supported in their senescense.


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