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S O L U T I O N S
August 31, 2020
Edited by Joel Weber
and Howard Chua-EoanSocial Security hits its peak this year. To replenish,
it may need to take out loansAmerica’s
Vanishing Trust
Fund
A monthlycheckfromSocialSecurityis theonly
thingkeepingmillionsofolderAmericansoutof
poverty.Halfofmarriedseniorcitizensand70%
ofunmarriedseniorsgetatleasthalfoftheir
incomefromit, accordingtotheSocialSecurity
Administration.It’stheindispensableretirement
solution.Butthetrustfundthatpaysoldageand
survivor benefits is going to run out of money
sometime in the 2030s.
Those hard facts have raised a question:Should Social Security stop depending just on
payroll taxes and the trust fund to pay bene-
fits and start supplementing those sources with
general tax revenue? The debate came to a boil
in August, when President Trump floated the
idea of a permanent cut in payroll taxes, which
would presumably necessitate a big infusion of
general tax revenue to keep beneficiaries whole.
A lot of advocates for Social Security worry
that tapping general revenue will make people