Social Security

Why the Social Security Disability Fund Is Looking Healthier

By Michael Rainey

The Social Security trustees’ report released earlier this month estimated that the Federal Disability Insurance Trust Funds will run out of reserves in 2032, four years later than expected. The...
Do Deficit Hawks Have a Snowball’s Chance in Hell in Today’s Politics?

By Michael Rainey

When Starbucks founder and executive chairman Howard Schultz announced his retirement earlier this week, he set off a round of speculation about a possible presidential run in 2020. Schultz has never...
Medicare Finances Worsen, Social Security Will Tap Reserves for First Time in 36 Years

By Yuval Rosenberg

Medicare’s financial problems worsened last year while Social Security still faces a significant long-term financial crunch — and will need to tap into its reserves for the first time in 36 years,...
Why More Retirees Are Waiting to Claim Social Security

By Michael Rainey

Retirees are waiting longer to claim their Social Security benefits, reports Mark Miller of Reuters, with the number of early claimants dropping dramatically in recent years: “As recently as 2004,...
Election Ad Wars 2018: GOP Focuses on Immigration, Dems on Health Care

By Yuval Rosenberg

The 2018 elections are 160 days away, but the campaign ad wars are already well under way, with Republicans and Democrats focusing on very different issues so far — though the election is clearly...

The Unintended Consequence of Letting Workers Take Social Security at Age 62

By Michael Rainey

With the Social Security system facing insolvency by 2034, one option to address the program’s fiscal shortfall is to raise the early retirement age of 62. While little is known about the effects...
US Fertility Just Hit a 30-Year Low. Why That's a Problem for Social Security

By Michael Rainey

Births in the U.S. fell to a multi-decade low last year, according to data from the National Center for Health Statistics released Tuesday. The provisional estimate shows 3.85 million births in the U...
Here’s How Much Americans Rely on Social Security

By Yuval Rosenberg

Social Security once again tops the list of major income sources for U.S. retirees — just as it has every year since 2001, according to a new Gallup survey . Almost six in 10 U.S. retirees surveyed...
Is Social Security a ‘Good Investment’?

By Michael Rainey

Social Security is a pay-as-you-go social insurance program, not an investment fund, but Monique Morrissey of the Economic Policy Institute says that its return on contributions is actually quite...
Paul Ryan's Fiscal Legacy: Lots of Red Ink

By Yuval Rosenberg

House Speaker Paul Ryan announced Wednesday that he won’t seek re-election this year and will retire at the end of his term in January, becoming the most prominent in a wave of Republican lawmakers...

States Face a $1 Trillion Pension Problem: Here Are the Worst 10

By Eric Pianin

While a handful of states including West Virginia, New York and Indiana have made important strides in reducing major shortfalls in their employee pension plans, many others are just treading water...
How the Democratic and GOP Platforms Clash Over Social Security Reform

By Eric Pianin

The new Democratic national platform approved this week in Philadelphia includes seismic changes in the Social Security programs. It includes a substantial increase in the average benefits to seniors...
How to Break Through America's Budget Gridlock

By Sen. Mike Enzi (R-WY)

Last year could have been a big one for Congress, because it was able to pass its first joint balanced 10-year budget resolution since 2001 — a budget blueprint that would have put the nation’s...
Could a Universal Basic Income Really Work?

By Suman Bhattacharyya

Could we solve poverty and income inequality by just doling out money to everyone, no questions asked? The idea of a universal basic income has stimulated a lively debate among public policy wonks,...
Trump and Clinton Square Off On Saving Social Security

By Eric Pianin

In the wake of the latest trustees’ report that funding for Social Security, the premier government retirement program, will be exhausted by 2034, Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump squared off this...