Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
So according to a report released just two days ago
on Wednesday, the annual Report from the Social Security Board
of Trustees, the fund is going to be depleted by
twenty thirty three. At that time, only seventy seven percent
of those benefits will be payable. What does that mean
for you in your future? Let's welcome doctor Vance, Gin
economist with Gin Economic Consulting to the program. Doctor, good morning,
(00:22):
how are you hey?
Speaker 2 (00:23):
I'm Bill, Well, how are you? We're doing all right?
Speaker 1 (00:26):
I'd be doing better if I thought my money would
be there that I've been paying in all my life
by the time I retire. Some folks are going to
have some problems here as of twenty thirty three. What
can you tell us?
Speaker 2 (00:36):
Well, that's exactly right. And we've known this now for
a while. We've known that Social Security it the way
it works is where people workers that are paying taxes
today payroll taxes, they fund current retirees and Social Security.
And this new report, as you mentioned, showed that it
will now be a year earlier. It's expected to not
have full funds in order to pay full benefits to
(00:58):
current retirees by the year of twenty thirty three. And
so we've got to do something soon or many people
could see a twenty percent cut to their benefits.
Speaker 1 (01:08):
We kind of something are we talking about here. I
remember back when President Bush was in charge of Bush
forty three and he tried to privatize social Security because
he looked at the numbers and everybody else did and said,
this is when it's going to go bankrupt basically or
be insolvable. And he wanted to privatize and a lot
of people lamb based him for that. So what can
we do?
Speaker 2 (01:30):
Well, that's right, I mean he did try the privacy
staving account. The other methods too. One is to raise
the retirement age. You know, in nineteen thirty five when
Social Security Act was created, most people on average weren't
going to live to sixty three in order to be
on Social Security. Now, life expectancy fortunately, through you know,
growth and improvements in our life that now people are
(01:51):
living the closer to eighties, so they're on Social Security
for a lot longer. So one thing you could do
is raise the retirement age a little bit, but that
also has a lot of pushback. Things you could try
to do or to raise taxes, but people don't want
to do that, or you reduce benefits, or you move
to private saving accounts for those who are maybe below
a certain age, maybe you're younger than fifty, and you
(02:11):
have an option to be on a private account. Given that,
we're gonna have issues with Social Security later on. But
all these are politically unpopular. But at some point, this
crisis is gonna hit and we're gonna have to do something,
and I wish we would do it before then, because
when the crisis gets here, some people could go without
their their full retirement benefits.
Speaker 1 (02:31):
Yeah, well, you're you're exactly right, and that's that's not acceptable,
especially if people have been paying in all of their lives.
This is I think why Elon Musk famously called or infamously,
I guess, depending on your point of view, social Security
a Ponzi scheme that drew a lot of pushback from
some other people, and others said, yeah, that's pretty much
exactly what a Ponzi scheme is. How do you see that? Vans?
Speaker 2 (02:50):
Well, unfortunately, I think that it's true because what we're
doing is we're rolling over debt. There's a lot of
debt in the Social Security Trust Fund. The Congress has
used it, they've kind of rated the Trust fundel in
for a number of areas, and we have thirty seven
trillion dollars in national debt already, and so if you're
rolling over debt with new debt in order to pay
(03:11):
the Social Security it is similar to a Poody scheme.
But unfortunately, but well, I would say fortunately, there are
ways to get around this. We got to find a
way to make sure that those who are current retirees
or those who are nearing retirement, they're going to get
their Social Security I think we need to think about something,
what you know, maybe in the people in the thirties
or forties like me, what else can we do differently
(03:34):
for the future, and so we can set them up
for success without having to be you know, maybe they're
not going to get this in the future. And so yes,
I do think it's similar to a Poise scheme, but
there are ways we should be able to get around
it quickly.
Speaker 1 (03:46):
And what is the exact retirement age now? Is this
sixty seven?
Speaker 2 (03:50):
Yeah, full retirement age is sixty seven. You can start
receiving when you're sixty three at a lower amount than
you would get if you ways your sixty seven. But yes,
you could be on it for ten plus years. The
other thing too, that's interesting about this is in nineteen
thirty five when they created is of course we were
during the Great Depression and it was a supplemental income.
(04:11):
What's happened over time is it's been expanded to many
more people receiving it and at a higher amount that
people can live off of compared to being a supplemental income,
and that has kind of changed the dynamics of what
we I think even FDR anticipated for it to have
intel security.
Speaker 1 (04:29):
Yeah, the idea of raising the retirement age isn't going
to sit well with people, whether they're seniors now or
pushing up on that. People in their late fifties early sixties,
thinking they're going to retire sixty seven and then they
find out it's going to be raised to seventy or something,
and then how long can you continue to do that
into the future. There has to be some alternative rather
than robbing people of what they paid into for all
of their lives or their working lives. Anyway, Doctor van
(04:53):
Scan Economists with again Economic Consulting, Thank you so much
for the insights.
Speaker 2 (04:58):
Thank you have a great day.
So according to a report released just two days ago
on Wednesday, the annual Report from the Social Security Board
of Trustees, the fund is going to be depleted by
twenty thirty three. At that time, only seventy seven percent
of those benefits will be payable. What does that mean
for you in your future? Let's welcome doctor Vance, Gin
economist with Gin Economic Consulting to the program. Doctor, good morning,
(00:22):
how are you hey?
Speaker 2 (00:23):
I'm Bill, Well, how are you? We're doing all right?
Speaker 1 (00:26):
I'd be doing better if I thought my money would
be there that I've been paying in all my life
by the time I retire. Some folks are going to
have some problems here as of twenty thirty three. What
can you tell us?
Speaker 2 (00:36):
Well, that's exactly right. And we've known this now for
a while. We've known that Social Security it the way
it works is where people workers that are paying taxes
today payroll taxes, they fund current retirees and Social Security.
And this new report, as you mentioned, showed that it
will now be a year earlier. It's expected to not
have full funds in order to pay full benefits to
(00:58):
current retirees by the year of twenty thirty three. And
so we've got to do something soon or many people
could see a twenty percent cut to their benefits.
Speaker 1 (01:08):
We kind of something are we talking about here. I
remember back when President Bush was in charge of Bush
forty three and he tried to privatize social Security because
he looked at the numbers and everybody else did and said,
this is when it's going to go bankrupt basically or
be insolvable. And he wanted to privatize and a lot
of people lamb based him for that. So what can
we do?
Speaker 2 (01:30):
Well, that's right, I mean he did try the privacy
staving account. The other methods too. One is to raise
the retirement age. You know, in nineteen thirty five when
Social Security Act was created, most people on average weren't
going to live to sixty three in order to be
on Social Security. Now, life expectancy fortunately, through you know,
growth and improvements in our life that now people are
(01:51):
living the closer to eighties, so they're on Social Security
for a lot longer. So one thing you could do
is raise the retirement age a little bit, but that
also has a lot of pushback. Things you could try
to do or to raise taxes, but people don't want
to do that, or you reduce benefits, or you move
to private saving accounts for those who are maybe below
a certain age, maybe you're younger than fifty, and you
(02:11):
have an option to be on a private account. Given that,
we're gonna have issues with Social Security later on. But
all these are politically unpopular. But at some point, this
crisis is gonna hit and we're gonna have to do something,
and I wish we would do it before then, because
when the crisis gets here, some people could go without
their their full retirement benefits.
Speaker 1 (02:31):
Yeah, well, you're you're exactly right, and that's that's not acceptable,
especially if people have been paying in all of their lives.
This is I think why Elon Musk famously called or infamously,
I guess, depending on your point of view, social Security
a Ponzi scheme that drew a lot of pushback from
some other people, and others said, yeah, that's pretty much
exactly what a Ponzi scheme is. How do you see that? Vans?
Speaker 2 (02:50):
Well, unfortunately, I think that it's true because what we're
doing is we're rolling over debt. There's a lot of
debt in the Social Security Trust Fund. The Congress has
used it, they've kind of rated the Trust fundel in
for a number of areas, and we have thirty seven
trillion dollars in national debt already, and so if you're
rolling over debt with new debt in order to pay
(03:11):
the Social Security it is similar to a Poody scheme.
But unfortunately, but well, I would say fortunately, there are
ways to get around this. We got to find a
way to make sure that those who are current retirees
or those who are nearing retirement, they're going to get
their Social Security I think we need to think about something,
what you know, maybe in the people in the thirties
or forties like me, what else can we do differently
(03:34):
for the future, and so we can set them up
for success without having to be you know, maybe they're
not going to get this in the future. And so yes,
I do think it's similar to a Poise scheme, but
there are ways we should be able to get around
it quickly.
Speaker 1 (03:46):
And what is the exact retirement age now? Is this
sixty seven?
Speaker 2 (03:50):
Yeah, full retirement age is sixty seven. You can start
receiving when you're sixty three at a lower amount than
you would get if you ways your sixty seven. But yes,
you could be on it for ten plus years. The
other thing too, that's interesting about this is in nineteen
thirty five when they created is of course we were
during the Great Depression and it was a supplemental income.
(04:11):
What's happened over time is it's been expanded to many
more people receiving it and at a higher amount that
people can live off of compared to being a supplemental income,
and that has kind of changed the dynamics of what
we I think even FDR anticipated for it to have
intel security.
Speaker 1 (04:29):
Yeah, the idea of raising the retirement age isn't going
to sit well with people, whether they're seniors now or
pushing up on that. People in their late fifties early sixties,
thinking they're going to retire sixty seven and then they
find out it's going to be raised to seventy or something,
and then how long can you continue to do that
into the future. There has to be some alternative rather
than robbing people of what they paid into for all
of their lives or their working lives. Anyway, Doctor van
(04:53):
Scan Economists with again Economic Consulting, Thank you so much
for the insights.
Speaker 2 (04:58):
Thank you have a great day.
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