Social Security How the Social Term Paper

Increase payroll taxes.

This is seen to increase the cash-flows in the Social Security thus can lessen the cash needs of the organization to meet its services to its program members.

Increase the Limit on Taxable Earnings

Increasing the limit on taxable earnings could similarly increase payroll taxes that in turn will increase inbound cash flows in Social Security.

Increase Taxation of the Benefits

Again, this means that an increase in tax paid by the workers could increase the inbound cash-flows in Social Security, thus providing them with an increased cash sources.

Raise the Retirement Age.

Raising the retirement age would mean providing the Social Security with more period to use and grow its finances.

Change Investment Procedures

The way that the Social Security invests its finances may have flaws. Thus, changing and improving its investment procedures may provide better revenues.

Will the Proposed Changes Work?

Some of the proposed changes may work and some may not. Those that concerns an increase in the obligations paid by the workers to the Social Security will certainly cause issues and contradictions from the workforce. This is because some of the proposed solutions mean additional barrier to the workers. For instance, the proposed solutions of increasing payroll taxes, increasing limit on taxable earnings, and increasing taxation on benefits would mean less net amount in their salaries. Arguments may include question such as "What benefits will the workers get should there be an increase in taxes?"

The raising of retirement age is another solution that will certainly be rejected by the workers because it means a delay in receiving the benefits that they should get. However, other solutions such as changing the investment procedures may work. There may be ways that can increase the revenues of the Social Security and the thing required to discover better ways are extensive study on the inbound and outbound flow of cash in the Social Security.

What is your Opinion for Possible Solutions?

In my opinion, the possible solutions that the Social Security should consider should not cause the workers with barriers. I believe that the proposed solution of changing the investment procedures of the Social Security can be effective as long as the organization obtain and produce correct accounting of their finances and as long as they find better ways of investing their finances. Another possible solution may be changing the benefit formula; for instance, decreasing the amount of initial benefits received by program members. Although this will have a disadvantage to the program members, there must be another approach that can turn that disadvantage into an advantage, or into a better benefit, in the later part of benefits received by the workers. The solution of changing the initial benefit formula is only to provide the Social Security with more time to increase its revenues and finances.

References

John, David. How Today's Social Security Works. 2005. http://www.heritage.org/Research/SocialSecurity/bg1827.cfm

The Social Security Program in the U.S.A. - How it Works. 2005. http://www.seniorjournal.com/NEWS/SocialSecurity/5-05-09HowSocialSecurityWorks.htm

Social Security Issues.

National Center for Policy Analysis. http://www.ncpa.org/pi/congress/socsec/socsec19jj.html

Solutions to the Social Security's and Medicare's Financial Problems.

American Academy of Actuaries. http://www.actuary.org/pdf/socialsecurity/socsec_m.pdf