Imagine a world where the required age for retirement is well over seventy-five. A world where senior citizens, who have been paying money towards their retirement all of their working lives, do not see a return on their investment and are forced to keep working just to eat. This future sounds farfetched, but unfortunately, it is the direction our nation is heading if no reforms are made to our Social Security system. Rising healthcare and living costs, along with an unbalanced worker to retiree populace, have begun to deplete the once trusted mode for retirement. If no resolve is reached, the Millennial generation will be forced to come up with their own ways of saving for retirement like collecting change. The depletion of our Social Security system is my generation’s most severe issue because there may not be enough money to take care of senior citizens into retirement age.

Signed into effect August 14, 1935, the Social Security Act insures senior citizens monetary stability after their retirement. The way this system operates is the working class pays a partial tax on their income to the government, who then allocates the money for those who have retired. Essentially, the generation that is currently working will pay for the generation that has retired. A retiree will receive benefits such as coverage for disability and monthly payments given as a source of income for those who do not or cannot work. In today’s society and economy, retirees heavily rely on the compensation they receive from Social Security. It gives not only the elderly, but also millions of citizens who work and pay into the system, the satisfaction of knowing they can be comfortable in the future. The problem we are currently facing is not enough money is being put into the system for future generations of retirees to live of off. With the economy in shambles and prices of healthcare, along with cost of living increasing indefinitely, it has become paramount for more money to be put into Social Security for it to be a viable form of sustenance for senior citizens. Even today, the amount of money seniors receive is just enough to get by comfortably. Looking into the future, the problem will only get worse. The government refuses to address the issue that not enough funding is going into Social Security. If not resolved, retirees will only be able to receive a fraction of the money and benefits they were promised.

Solutions to solve the issue of under-funding have been made like reallocating money from different trust funds to cover losses in another—only this does not fix the issue. In fact, the reallocations of money from different trust funds only make the problem worse. As Jamie Hopkins, the Associate Director of American College’s New York Life Center for Retirement Income states while talking about the Old-age and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund, “this reallocation of assets would only worsen the issue by pushing the real funding problems onto the Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund by hastening its own shortfall from 2033 to 2030”(Hopkins, 1). Another solution proposed includes increasing the retirement age to 68, but again, this is only a short-term solution for a long-term issue. The New York Times Editorial Board, comprised of 19 journalists with a wide-range of expertise proposed, “another overdue reform, which would close about a third of the [funding] gap, is to raise the level of wages subject to Social Security payroll tax to about $200,000 from the current $113,700. That would bring the taxable wage base in line with rising incomes among top earners”(Editorial Board, 1). In short, make more people pay into the system to ease the deficit.

As Millennial’s enter the work force, many would rather opt out of paying into such a weak and diminishing system. As there is no major reform or talk of reform in site, it is understandable why so many would choose not to participate. Unfortunately, it is very difficult to opt out. A person must have special permission from the government to do so. In effect, Millennial’s will continue to pay into a system that will yield little to no return. As Baby Boomers enter into retirement, the ratio of workers to retirees becomes unsustainable. Not only does this deplete the Social Security Trust Fund, but sentences younger generations to a lesser compensation for the 6.2 percent payroll tax they pay toward Social Security.

Social Security disability payments will end in the year 2016 and the Social Security Trust Fund is predicted to run out of money in 2034. Sheyna Steiner, a senior investing analyst and reporter claims, “when the reserve runs dry, the money washing in from current workers would be enough to pay 77 percent of benefits, according to the 2014 trustees' report” (Steiner, 1). That means, in twenty years retirees will receive almost a quarter less of what they were promised. Now where that leaves Millennial’s, who are just entering the work force and are due to retire in forty to fifty years, is a question no one is ready to ask. Theoretically, if benefits are cut by fifty percent while the cost of living and healthcare increases ever so greatly, it will be near impossible to live off of Social Security after retirement.

There are solutions to solve the issue we face that is Social Security. The biggest problem of all is why no one has taken the time to bring up this issue in government. With such an important roll that it plays in the lives of working and retired citizen, Social Security reform should be the focus of our nation. The stability, safety, and well being of the working class are at risk. By holding off now, we hold off our future. It is easy to live with a steady income, but when retired and have no income, it is a very different story. Millennial’s must now find new ways to plan for retirement.

In conclusion, the government has done little to nothing to reform our Social Security system. The money coming out of the system is more than the money coming in, thus resulting in its depletion. Once depleted, retired citizens will lose the benefits they were promised and life of a retiree will be substandard in our great nation. There are ways to fix the system; it is just a matter of when those reforms will be implemented. For now, or until reforms are made, I will be saving my change for my future.

Kostyantyn Kashchanov
September 25, 2015
English 122 Section 20
Professor Class