Social Security: Apocalypse Now

Bruce Krasting summarizes the disastrous 2012 Social Security Trust Fund Report.  The highlights:

 * NPVof unfunded liabilities is now $20.5 trillion, up 15% in one year.
 * Trust fund depletion date moved up 3 years to 2033.  Legal deadline for benefit cuts to hit in 2026, so people in their 50′s now are going to get whacked.
 * Disability Fund “drop dead date” moved up to 2016.

On the bright side, this can and will be resolved in two ways:

1) Means-testing Social Security.  If you’re privileged enough to have saved a little in a 401(k), you obviously don’t need any handouts.  Watch this start at the fairly affluent, then descend to start cutting off the middle class.

2) Raising the age limit. Social Security is already delayed until age 67 for those born in 1960 or later.  Bump that up to age 70 and you’d be amazed how much it extends the life of the Social Security Trust Fund.  Hell, let’s push it to 75.  Grandpa can still say “Welcome to Walmart.”

The Disability Fund part is tougher.  It’s hard to separate the genuinely disabled from the malingerers and fraudsters.  You’d be amazed how many people become disabled when you pay them to be disabled.  Yep, it’s the General Theory of Liberalism again, this time come to deplete the Social Security Disability Fund!

Read more at W.C. Varones