To the Editor:

Thank you for your editorial on the Social Security Trust Funds. Social Security is a pay-as-you-go system. Taxes paid now go to pay benefits. While Baby Boomers worked more was being put into the system than was being paid out – thus a surplus – hence the Trust Fund. Recognizing that the Baby Boomers would someday retire and there would be fewer workers, since 1982 the Trustees have been projecting when the Trust Funds would be depleted. Unfortunately Congress has failed until now to take heed of these projections. There is no simple solution. First response is usually to raise the amount of earned income on which FICA taxes are paid. In 2024, only about 6% of workers had earnings that equaled or exceeded the maximum amount subject to taxes. According to the actuaries even doubling that amount would only decrease the projected deficit by 19%. Did you know that FICA taxes have not been increased since 1988? Increasing them by .2% would decrease the deficit by another 5%. There are other proposals that would get the percentage to 100%, but there’s not enough room here to list all of them. The important thing is to recognize that if nothing is done that when 2032 – the current projected Trust Fund depletion date – comes and your Social Security benefits are decreased by approximately 20%, many of our neighbors whose only income is Social Security, will find ends even harder to meet. In 2024 the average retirement benefit was $1,975.00. It’s hard for most of us to imagine living on that. A 20% reduction would reduce that to $1,580 per month. So, as you are considering who to vote for this fall, ask them the tough question. What is their specific plan to address the shortfall in the Social Security Trust Funds? Are they really willing to address this in 2027? The longer they wait, the harder it will get. P.S. The amount of federal taxes you pay on your Social Security benefits has not changed. What changed is that up to an extra $6,000 per taxpayer was added to your standard deduction and that will go away after 2027.

Bernadette Aley
Village of Mira Mesa