{"id":341224,"date":"2021-09-19T02:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-09-18T23:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/brett-arendss-roi-5-things-everyone-should-know-about-social-security\/"},"modified":"2021-09-19T02:00:00","modified_gmt":"2021-09-18T23:00:00","slug":"brett-arendss-roi-5-things-everyone-should-know-about-social-security","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/brett-arendss-roi-5-things-everyone-should-know-about-social-security\/","title":{"rendered":"#Brett Arends&#039;s ROI: 5 things everyone should know about Social Security"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_85 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a2fc2738c0b8\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a2fc2738c0b8\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/brett-arendss-roi-5-things-everyone-should-know-about-social-security\/#Why_arent_more_people_talking_about_how_to_save_Americas_retirement_plan\" >Why aren\u2019t more people talking about how to save America\u2019s retirement plan?<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-4' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-4'><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-4' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-4'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/brett-arendss-roi-5-things-everyone-should-know-about-social-security\/#Brett_Arends\" >Brett Arends<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<p>&#8220;<strong>#Brett Arends&#039;s ROI: 5 things everyone should know about <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/social-mediaa\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"1\" title=\"Social Media\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Social<\/a> Security<\/strong>&#8221;<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"article__subhead\" itemprop=\"alternativeHeadline\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Why_arent_more_people_talking_about_how_to_save_Americas_retirement_plan\"><\/span>\n  Why aren\u2019t more people talking about how to save America\u2019s retirement plan?<br \/>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><\/p>\n<div class=\"column column--full article__content\" role=\"region\" aria-label=\"article body\">\n<div class=\"article__side\">\n<div class=\"container--sticky not-active\">\n<div id=\"cx-next\" data-nosnippet>\n              <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div id=\"js-article__body\" class=\"article__body article-wrap at16-col16 barrons-article-wrap\" itemprop=\"articleBody\" data-sbid=\"WP-MKTW-0000408560\" role=\"document\">\n<div class=\"barrons-article-ad-wrapper\">\n<div data-track=\"barrons-article-ad-wrap\" class=\"barrons-article-ad sticky_item\">\n<div class=\"barrons-main-article-ad-target sticky_target body_ad\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div data-layout=\"\n                inline\" data-layout-mobile=\"\" class=\"\n          media-object\n          type-InsetArticleReader\n              \n              inline\n  article__inset\n          article__inset--type-InsetArticleReader\n              article__inset--inline\n  \"><\/p>\n<div class=\"media-object-article-reader\">\n<div class=\"audioplayer\" data-sbid=\"WP-MKTW-0000408560\" role=\"region\" aria-label=\"Listen to Article\" tabindex=\"-1\" id=\"articlereader\" data-show-title=\"false\" data-theme=\"wsj-article-reader\" data-show-header=\"false\" data-show-subscribe=\"false\" data-ads-enabled=\"true\" data-save-publication=\"false\">\n        <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>       You\u2019d think the looming crisis in America\u2019s main retirement plan would be a bigger topic of discussion. The Social Security trustees, after all, just said the plan is now $20 trillion in the hole and will run out of cash by 2034.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p> Instead, if Social Security is being discussed at all right now the main topic for debate seems to be about<a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.yahoo.com\/news\/3-3-million-people-could-181238249.html\" class=\"icon none\"> how to expand the benefits<\/a>, rather than how to pay for the ones we have. <\/p>\n<div class=\"paywall\">\n       I recently wrote about five ideas for saving the system. Here are 5 other points that are relevant, which everyone should know, but which nobody seems to talk about.<\/p>\n<p><strong>1. Despite what critics say, Social Security was always designed to support long retirements.<\/strong> There\u2019s a caucus that wants to \u201csave\u201d the system by\u00a0raising the retirement age (which is another way of cutting benefits). They point out that when\u00a0Social\u00a0Security\u00a0was first enacted in the 1930s, the age of eligibility was 65, and that was also the life expectancy. But this point is dishonest. That was only the life expectancy at birth\u2014and it was artificially depressed because back then, as during most of history, many people died in childhood.\u00a0What really\u00a0mattered was the\u00a0average life expectancy for adults. And even in the 1930s, those who reached 65 <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ssa.gov\/history\/lifeexpect.html\" class=\"icon none\">could expect on average to live another 13 to 15 years<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>2. The Federal Reserve is killing the trust fund.\u00a0<\/strong>As\u00a0Social\u00a0Security\u00a0is invested only in U.S.\u00a0Treasurys,\u00a0the Fed\u2019s policy of driving down interest rates has eviscerated the fund\u2019s returns over the past decade. As recently as 2008, the fund was earning more than 5% a year on its assets. Last year it was half that. And so far this year,\u00a0Social\u00a0Security\u00a0has been pouring money into bonds paying as little as 0.875%. Even while planning to raise benefits by 6%. You can\u2019t do this indefinitely and stay in business. Treasury bonds today yield less than inflation. And this is easily fixable: As the federal government is just borrowing money from itself, there is no reason it can\u2019t credit the trust funds with enough money at least to match inflation, let alone pay its bills.<\/p>\n<p><strong>3. Illegal immigration is subsidizing\u00a0Social\u00a0Security\u00a0at the moment\u2014and legalizing undocumented workers will make the funding gap wider.\u00a0<\/strong>I\u2019ll bet this will infuriate people on both sides of the political divide. Too bad. Facts are facts. Currently, many undocumented workers pay into the system using fake\u00a0Social\u00a0Security\u00a0numbers, but cannot claim benefits. This may be huge, involving <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.gao.gov\/assets\/gao-20-492.pdf\" class=\"icon none\">as many as 1.3 million fake\u00a0Social\u00a0Security\u00a0numbers<\/a> and more than <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/crsreports.congress.gov\/product\/pdf\/RL\/RL32004\/20\" class=\"icon none\">$1.3 trillion in unclaimed benefits<\/a>. It\u2019s a point conceded even by those most critical of illegal immigration, such as the Center for Immigration Studies, which points to <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/cis.org\/Report\/Amnesty-Would-Impose-Large-Costs-Social-Security-and-Medicare\" class=\"icon none\">the potentially enormous cost<\/a> to the system of legalizing these workers\u2019 status (and therefore letting them claim\u00a0Social\u00a0Security)<a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/cis.org\/Report\/Amnesty-Would-Impose-Large-Costs-Social-Security-and-Medicare\" class=\"icon none\">.<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>4. Upper-middle class people get more out of Social Security than they realize. <\/strong>Sometimes higher earners figure they get a raw (ish) deal out of\u00a0Social\u00a0Security\u00a0because they get a lower annual return on their contributions than poorer people do. But that misses three things. First,\u00a0Social\u00a0Security\u00a0is paid for by a regressive flat tax, which hurts low-earners relatively more than high earners. Second, knowing they can rely on Social Security income allows higher earners to take on more risks with the rest of their retirement plan, presumably earning higher returns. And, third: Higher earners on average tend to live much longer than low earners, so they can expect to collect many more checks. The life expectancy gap is big\u2014and getting bigger. According to the <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/sgp.fas.org\/crs\/misc\/R44846.pdf\" class=\"icon none\">National Academy of Sciences<\/a>, men\u00a0aged\u00a050 today who are in the top 20% of earners can expect to live on average about 13 years longer than men in the bottom 20%. Among women, it found the gap is 14 years. <\/p>\n<p><strong>5.\u00a0Slashing\u00a0Social\u00a0Security\u00a0might not save us a nickel anyway.<\/strong>\u00a0Social Security isn\u2019t some boondoggle or foreign war whose bills could be slashed without widespread effects on Main Street America.\u00a0It\u2019s the main support for elderly Americans, and a massive part of the total economy.\u00a0Social\u00a0Security\u00a0provides a third of the income for America\u2019s seniors. A fifth of senior couples and nearly half of senior singles <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ssa.gov\/news\/press\/factsheets\/basicfact-alt.pdf\" class=\"icon none\">rely on it<\/a> for 90% of their income. Economists at the University of Chicago\u2014not previously known for its Marxist leanings\u2014<a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nber.org\/system\/files\/working_papers\/w24567\/w24567.pdf\" class=\"icon none\">recently estimated<\/a> that\u00a0Social\u00a0Security\u00a0alone cut the poverty rate among the elderly by 75%. Put another way, without the program elder poverty would quadruple. Money taken away won\u2019t be \u201csaved.\u201d Most or all will end up coming from other sources\u2014children and grandchildren,\u00a0inheritances, charities and so on. And that which doesn\u2019t will come out of consumer spending. Social\u00a0Security\u00a0paid out $1.1 trillion last year\u2014a major part of the $14 trillion consumer economy. Cut that in future, and the pain will be felt far and wide.<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<p><\/p>\n<div class=\"byline article__byline\">\n<p>    <span>By<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"author mobile-scrim hasMenu\" data-scrim='{\"type\":\"author\",\"header\":\"Brett Arends\",\"subhead\":\"The Wall Street Journal\",\"list\":[{\"type\":\"link\",\"icon\":\"bio\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.marketwatch.com\/topics\/journalists\/brett-arends\",\"text\":\"Biography\"},{\"type\":\"link\",\"icon\":\"twitter\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/BrettArends\",\"text\":\"@BrettArends\"},{\"type\":\"link\",\"icon\":\"email\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/www.marketwatch.com\/news\/mailto:barends@marketwatch.com\",\"text\":\"barends@marketwatch.com\"}]}' itemscope itemprop=\"author\" itemtype=\"http:\/\/schema.org\/Person\">\n<h4 itemprop=\"name\" aria-label=\"links to  author page\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Brett_Arends\"><\/span>Brett Arends<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h4>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMLG0nwswvr63Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">For forums sites go to <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/forum.buradabiliyorum.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Forum.BuradaBiliyorum.Com<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/news\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"2\" title=\"News\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">News<\/a> articles, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/news\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">News category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.marketwatch.com\/news\/story.asp?guid=%7B20C05575-04D4-B545-763B-F02730601358%7D&#038;siteid=rss&#038;rss=1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;#Brett Arends&#039;s ROI: 5 things everyone should know about Social Security&#8221; Why aren\u2019t more people talking about how to save America\u2019s retirement plan? You\u2019d think the looming crisis in America\u2019s main retirement plan would be a bigger topic of discussion. The Social Security trustees, after all, just said the plan is now $20 trillion in&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":341225,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[70897],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-341224","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/341224","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=341224"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/341224\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/341225"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=341224"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=341224"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=341224"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}