The early 1980’s was the last time Social Security went through major legislative reform, the SSA commissioner back then, John Svahn, has some advice:
The man who fixed Social Security when it went broke in the ‘80s has some advice for today’s politicians [MarketWatch] – “A high-profile Republican president. Intense partisan battles. Social Security hurtling toward insolvency. Retirees worrying about the system going broke. Young workers certain they wouldn’t see a penny in benefits when they retire.
Sound familiar? That was the state of Social Security in the 1980s, though the story is very similar today.”
There were a lot of changes in that period that we don’t think much about today, such as extending the retirement age and taxing benefits.
This part was especially telling: “In 1935, the average life expectancy of a white male worker, which was basically who you were talking about, was 62 and Full Retirement Age was 65. It was never intended for most people to collect it. That’s how the system was designed. Now the life expectancy is in the 70s and the program is still paying retirement benefits at 62. Nobody wants to hear that.”
Wow.