Social Security Information

The following social security information is meant to clear up some of the myths and misinformation about the social security system in America.

Myth #1: Social security adds to the national debt.

This is by far the biggest myth and downright lie when it comes to the current social security system in America. The social security trust fund, as it is known, currently has over 2 trillion dollars worth of assets. Absolutely no tax payers dollars, other than what is collected from the social security payroll tax itself, are paid into the social security system. Any politician or individual who tells you otherwise is lying or being very misleading.

The social security trust fund actually lends out excess funds, that are currently not needed to pay eligible beneficiaries, to the federal government in the form of Treasury Bonds. The use of those loans are what then increases the national debt NOT the social security system itself. These loans have to be repaid to the social security system in full.

Myth #2: The social security trust fund is broke.

As I just stated, the social security trust fund currently has over 2 trillion dollars in assets, so it is far from broke. If the current social security system is left unchanged it can pay 100 percent of owed benefits for the next 27 years, and after that it will still be able to pay 75 percent of owed benefits through the end of this century.

Therefore, trying to act as if social security is in dire shape is simply a lie and a scare tactic, used by those individuals who want to privatize social security.

Instead of doing crazy things like raising the retirement age to 70. A simple tweak to the current taxble income levels of social security could make the program last indefinitely. Currently, only the first $106,600 of income is taxed for social security. In other words, a person who makes $106,600 pays social security taxes on that entire amount, but if you make $1,000,000 you still only pay social security taxes on the first $106,600 dollars you earned. Simply raising that taxable social security dollar amount could ensure social security is properly funded for many years to come.