To: President Donald Trump, The United States House of Representatives, and The United States Senate
Strengthen Social Security
In light of the failure of private sector retirement planning, Americans are more dependent than ever on Social Security.
We urge you to increase Social Security payouts to replace at least 70% of income for Americans in the 80th percentile and below. This increase should be financed by an abolition of the cap on FICA contributions, and, if necessary, a higher FICA rate, using no more than a 30 year planning horizon (since longer horizons are just invitations to manipulation).
We urge you to increase Social Security payouts to replace at least 70% of income for Americans in the 80th percentile and below. This increase should be financed by an abolition of the cap on FICA contributions, and, if necessary, a higher FICA rate, using no more than a 30 year planning horizon (since longer horizons are just invitations to manipulation).
Why is this important?
In light of the slow collapse of employer-based retirement systems, Americans face a serious retirement shortfall. Individually-based savings are inherently inefficient for several reasons. First, each individual must save for their maximum expected retirement, while a social plan only needs to save for average life expectancy, which is shorter. Second, individuals must invest their money in financial instruments, while Social Security can be invested in the economy as a whole, including productive public investments that are not traded on financial markets. Third, individuals must save enough to cover cyclical downturns, while Social Security can ride those out, counting on eventual recovery. Fourth, individuals must rely on expensive financial advisors and intermediaries such as banks, mutual funds or Wall Street traders, while Social Security is far cheaper to administer.
For these reasons, we need to run a larger part of our retirement system through Social Security. This petition seeks to link Social Security to growth in the economy and make it our primary retirement system. At the same time, it seeks to reduce the political manipulation of the system by reducing the planning horizon to a more realistic distance.
For these reasons, we need to run a larger part of our retirement system through Social Security. This petition seeks to link Social Security to growth in the economy and make it our primary retirement system. At the same time, it seeks to reduce the political manipulation of the system by reducing the planning horizon to a more realistic distance.