Maya MacGuineas: NC can set example on Social Security this November
Maya MacGuineas is president of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget. She recently wrote an opinion piece for the Carolina Journal, an excerpt of which is below.
Few fiscal issues are as personal as Social Security. It provides benefits to 70 million Americans, including 2.3 million North Carolinians. It is also in trouble.
The Social Security Trustees estimate that the trust fund for retirement benefits will be exhausted in 2032, at which point the law calls for a 24% across-the-board benefit cut if lawmakers do nothing to prevent it. For a middle-income couple retiring in 2033, that cut would equal $18,400 in lost annual benefits.
None of our political leaders believe this is an acceptable outcome. However, Social Security’s financial problems have been well known for more than 30 years, yet lawmakers have done little to address them. Two key factors are driving Social Security’s worsening finances.
Read the entire piece here.
Published works by members or staff of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget do not necessarily reflect the views of all members or staff of the Committee.
