Author Archives for Herb Weiss

Social Security must be key issue in 2024 Presidential Election

Published in RINewsToday on July 17, 2023

Last Wednesday, 178 House Democrats, (90% of the House Democratic caucus) led by Rep. John Larson (D-Conn.) introduced  H.R. 4583, the “Social Security 2100 Act of 2023.” The 108-page bill would expand Social Security’s benefits, with no cuts, and keep the system fiscally strong for decades to come. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-Connecticut) has introduced the companion measure in the upper Chamber.

In May, to drum up support, enthusiasm, and attention for H.R. 4583, Larson, House Ways and Means Social Security Subcommittee Ranking Member, was joined by House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-,New York), Ways and Means Committee Ranking Member Richard Neal (D- Massachusetts) and other House leaders to announce the upcoming introduction of Social Security 2100.

“10,000 Baby Boomers a day become eligible for Social Security, making the point of acting now even more urgent, says Larson. “I am proud to be joined again by a majority of my Democratic colleagues to introduce Social Security 2100, and again, ask my Republican colleagues, whose legislation we’ve included, to join us in helping uplift the 65 million Americans who rely on it. Including lifting 5 million Americans out of poverty, providing 23 million a tax cut, and making sure that Americans are able to get the essential benefits that allow them to pay rent, buy groceries, and fill their prescriptions,” he says.

“It’s important that the Social Security benefits that working Rhode Islanders have earned keep up with the cost of living, and that’s exactly what H.R.4583 – Social Security 2100 Act will accomplish. Unfortunately, extreme Republicans in the House are trying to cut Social Security instead of strengthening it. But I am determined to fight for Rhode Island’s seniors in Congress to ensure they receive the benefits they’ve earned,” says Congressman Seth Magaziner (D-R.I.), a sponsor of the legislative proposal. 

H.R. 4583: The Nuts and Bolts

On July 12, 2023, H.R. 4583 was introduced and referred to the House Ways and Means, Education and Labor, and Energy and Commerce Committees, being introduced in the lower chamber that day.

According to a legislative fact sheet, H.R. 4583, the legislative proposal would increase and expand essential benefits to Social Security beneficiaries. Larson’s legislation would:

•   Increase benefits 2% across the board for all Social Security beneficiaries for the first time in 52 years.  

• Improve the Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA), so it reflects the inflation actually experienced by seniors.

• Increase benefits to boost lower income seniors.

• Improve benefits for middle-income widows and widowers from two-income households.

• Restore student benefits up to age 26, for the dependent children of disabled, deceased, or retired workers.

• Increase access to benefits for children living with grandparents or other relatives.

• Repeal the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and Government Pension Offset (GPO) that currently penalize many public servants.

• End the 5-month waiting period to receive disability benefits.

• Increases benefits by an additional 5% for the most elderly and those who have been receiving disability benefits the longest, those beneficiaries who have been receiving benefits for 15 years or more.

 • Provide caregiver credits to ensure that people (mostly women) are not penalized in retirement for taking time out of the workforce to care for children or other dependents.

• End the disability benefit cliff, replacing it with a gradual offset for earnings.

• Cut taxes for 23 million middle-income beneficiaries.

• Correct an unintended flaw in how Social Security benefits are wage-indexed, to prevent benefits from dropping (a “notch”) if the wage index decreases.

• Ensure that these benefits do not result in reduced Supplemental Security Income (SSI) payments or a loss of eligibility for Medicaid or CHIP.

• Combine the Old-Age and Survivors Insurance (OASI) and the Disability Insurance (DI) Trust Funds into one fund to ensure seamless benefit payments.

• Provide the Social Security Administration with resources to improve customer service.

Social Security 2100 Pays for These Benefits by:

• Ensuring millionaires and billionaires pay their fair share by applying FICA to earnings above $400,000.

H.R. 4583 would pay for strengthening the Social Security Trust Fund and pay for the enhanced benefits by having millionaires and billionaires pay their fair share by applying FICA to earnings above $400,000, with those extra earnings counted toward benefits at a reduced rate. The bill closes the loophole of avoiding FICA taxes and receiving a lower rate on investment income by adding an additional 12.4% net investment income tax (NIIT) only for taxpayers making over $400,000.

Social Security advocates call for passage

“By re-introducing his revised Social Security 2100 Act, Congressman John Larson once again defies the media narrative that ‘no one in Washington has the courage’ to address the program’s future,” says Max Richtman, President and CEO, of the Washington, DC-based National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare, noting that the legislation extends the solvency of the Social Security trust fund for decades while also providing American seniors with an expansion of benefits.  Larson tackles the funding of the expansion of benefits by asking high earners to begin paying their fair share into the program, says Richtman. 

“At a time when House Republicans have proposed cutting benefits by raising the retirement age and other means — Congressman Larson offers a commonsense, fair, and forward-looking plan.

Not only is the Social Security 2100 Act wise policy, but it’s also overwhelmingly popular with voters across the political spectrum,” says Nancy Altman, President of Social Security Works and Chair of the Strengthen Social Security Coalition.

As the debate over Social Security heats up before the 2024 Presidential election, Altman charges that the nation’s media  refuses to “take Democratic plans to protect and expand Social Security seriously, and fails to call out Republicans for their unwillingness to state what they are for, not just what they are against.”

“Reporters are implicitly dismissing these bills because they cannot pass the House and Senate without Republican support. Instead of pressuring Congressional Republicans to introduce their own legislation, the mainstream media provides the Republicans with the cover they seek by claiming that both parties are avoiding action on Social Security” says Altman.

According to Altman, earlier this year President Joe Biden used the presidential bully pulpit at the State of the Union address to call out Republicans for their plans to cut Social Security and Medicare, forcing them to take these program cuts off the table during the debt ceiling negotiations. “If Biden champions a plan that expands benefits with no cuts, while requiring those earning over $400,000 to pay more, the mainstream media will be unable to ignore it,” predicts Altman. 

Congressional strategies regarding Social Security

On the same day that Larson introduced his legislation, Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), Chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, held a hearing, “Protecting Social Security for All: Making the Wealthy Pay Their Fair Share,”  on his legislation, S. 1174, the Medicare and Social Security Fair Share Act.  A companion measure was introduced in the House by Congressman Brendan F. Boyle (D-Pennsylvania), Ranking Member of the House Budget Committee.

At the July 12th Senate Budget Committee hearing, Whitehouse explained that his legislation would bring enough revenue from the wealthiest to ensure that Social Security benefits will be paid and on time for the next 75 years and beyond.

“Right now, the cap on Social Security contributions means a tech exec making $1 million effectively stops paying into the program at the end of February, while a schoolteacher making far less contributes through every single paycheck all year,” says Whitehouse at the hearing. “That’s not fair, and my Medicare and Social Security Fair Share Act would fix that by requiring contributions to Social Security on wages above $400,000,” said the Rhode Island Senator.  

Whitehouse stressed the importance of Social Security to his Rhode Island constituents, by mentioning their comments and thoughts. 

 “I rely on my Social Security as my only source of income.  I would find it impossible to continue to live independently if Social Security were changed, reduced or eliminated.  Social Security benefits were a contract between the federal government and its citizens,” said Robert of Pawtucket.

Another Rhode Islander, Antonella of North Providence, said: “I would be very sad and depressed if there were any cuts to Social Security.  I just get by as it is.” And Laurel of Pawtucket said that without Social Security, she “would have to go back to work and probably have to work until I die.” 

Earlier this Congress, Senators Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) introduced their own bill, S. 393, the Social Security Expansion Act (Whitehouse is an original cosponsor).   The Sanders-Warren bill would expand benefits by $ 2,400 each year while fully funding the program for the next three-quarters of a century and beyond.

As to the GOP position on Social Security, the House Republican Study Committee released a plan to cut Social Security by $718 billion over 10 years.  This plan, endorsed by three-fourths of the  House GOP Caucus), would also raise the retirement age to 69 (for everyone who is currently 59 and younger), which would effectively cut benefits by an estimated 13 percent every year and especially harm low-income workers.  It would also reduce benefits for future beneficiaries who earned a “higher salary” before retirement. Also, only “modest adjustments” to the Social Security program as it operates would be made but it doesn’t clarify the changes.

It is important to note that three fourths of the House GOP caucus endorse the RSC budget, making cuts to Social Security and Medicare.

According to SSW’s Altman, while Democratic proposals (Larson, Whitehouse and the Sanders- Warren proposals) to expand Social Security and Medicare are popular with Democratic, Republican and independent voters, Republican politicians have chosen to not co-sponsor any of these bills.

My final thoughts…

Polls show that Social Security and Medicare, two of the nation’s largest social safety net programs, are extremely popular. According to a poll released in March 2023 by the Associated Press and NORC Center for Public Affairs research, 79% of Americans are opposed to reducing the benefits that Social Security beneficiaries receive.  As to raising Social Security’s eligibility age from 67 to 70, 75% of American’s were against it.

Another poll released last March found that nearly 9 in 10 Americans say they oppose reducing spending on Social Security or Medicare, according to polling from Axios.  

The Congressional debate on financially shoring up Social Security and expanding benefits is of   extreme interest to 66 million older and disabled people (175,840 beneficiaries in Rhode Island), who rely on monthly payments from the program.  But the Social Security debate must include America’s younger generations, too. 

With 477 days left before the 2024 presidential elections, expanding Social Security and making the program fiscally sound and to ultimately be available to Gen Exers (1965 to 1979), Millennials (1980 to 1994), Gen Z (1995-2012) and Gen Alpha (2013 to 2025) must become a key election issue. Social Security beneficiaries and America’s younger generations must call on Congress to expand Social Security benefits and ensure its fiscal viability for every generation.  “Keep Your Hands Off Social Security” must be the powerful message they send to all presidential and congressional candidates before the upcoming 2024 presidential election.     

To review the text of Larson’s H.R. 4583, “Social Security 2100: A Sacred Trust Act,” go to https://larson.house.gov/sites/evo-subsites/larson.house.gov/files/evo-media-document/final-2023.07.11-text-of-social-security-2100-act.pdf.

To watch a video of Larson’s May press conference announcing the upcoming introduction of H.R. 4583, the Social Security 2100, go to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WO8QYRRQ-UQ.

Here is a copy of RSC’s FY 2024 Budget, Protecting America’s Economic Security https://hern.house.gov/uploadedfiles/202306141135_fy24_rsc_budget_print_final_c.pdf.

Prudential Financial study: Gen Xers stumbling into retirement

Published in RINewsToday on July 10, 2023

While aging baby boomers ease into retirement, a new research study finds that Generation X, born between 1965 and 1979, are now facing the harsh reality of not being financially prepared for their looming retirement.

This demographic cohort group follows the baby boomers (1946 to 1964) and proceeds the millennials (1980 to 1994).

America’s 65 million Generation Xers are confronted with a new set of financial challenges that are redefining their plans to ease into retirement, just as they enter their final working years, according to Prudential Financial, Inc.’s latest Pulse research survey, “Gen X: Retirement Revised.”

According to the study’s findings, more than one third (35%) of the Gen Xers have less than $10,000 in retirement savings, and 18% have nothing saved. This cohort group has missed out on “Great Wealth Transfer,” from boomers to millennials.  And 46% say that they won’t have enough savings to live comfortably in their twilight years. This generation will be forced to work much longer and will forgo “snowbird lifestyles.”

“Gen X faces one of the most complex landscapes for retirement readiness in decades, including the decline of defined benefit pension plans which supported prior generations’ retirement, as well as significant uncertainty about the economy and long-term Social Security benefits,” said Prudential Vice Chair Rob Falzon, in a statement announcing the survey results released on June 7, 2023. “This data underscores how important it is for Gen X to adopt a new set of retirement strategies designed to protect and grow their savings, and when possible, translate their assets into reliable sources of future income.” he said.

Cracked-Egg Nest

Researchers found that almost 46% (up to 30 million) Generation Xers do not think they’ll have an adequate nest egg to live comfortably in their retirement years. This fear is reinforced by the reality of their accumulated retirement savings. 

The study findings indicate that most Gen Xers are considering delaying their retirement. While 19% of Gen Xers plan to fully retire, 82% say they plan to work part-time or are unsure they will be able to fully retire.  

As to home ownership, Gen Xers “won’t bet the house, say the researchers.” Only 16% of Gen X plan to use their home value to help fund retirement. Most of Gen X are not planning to follow in the footsteps of baby boomers, who are tapping into record home equity and currently make up the highest share of buyers and sellers nationwide,” say the researchers citing National Association of REALTORS report.  

As winters approach, don’t expect Gen Xers to go South, either. Approximately two-thirds (65%) of Gen X plan to stay in one city or town in retirement. Only 15% plan to split time between locations, note the study’s findings.

Gen Xers don’t expect inheritances (the transferring of wealth from one generation to another) to give them a financial cushion they hope for during their retirement. The study found that a measly 12% say an inheritance will be a source of retirement income, even as boomers are expected to pass down over $70 trillion (total wealth figure according to Federal Reserve data). What’s more, 84% of Gen Xers are not planning to leave an inheritance. Only 16% say they are factoring a family inheritance to fund their own retirement.

Gen Xers must face retirement obstacles

The Prudential Financial, Inc.’s latest Pulse research survey also identified additional retirement obstacles that Gen Xers must confront. The findings indicate that this generation is facing complicated problems not seen in the generations that proceeded them. At the same time, the researchers say, Gen Xers are not currently following a retirement strategy, saving enough for their later years, or accounting for long-term expenses and situations.

Gen Xers closely watch the partisan bickering over how to fix an ailing Social Security program. Despite projections that Social Security trust fund reserves could be depleted by 2033 (reported by the Trustees of the Social Security and Medicare Trust Funds report), 58% of Gen Xers say that can’t expect to rely on it as a source of their retirement income. Among those who plan on receiving Social Security, 54% are worried about the program’s funds being depleted.

As to pensions, the study found that only 20% of Gen Xers plan to use pensions as a source of their retirement income, and only 11% will mostly rely on a pension. This reflects the known steep decline in the number of pension plans, which fell by 73% between 1985 and 2020 (Department of Labor data).

While 33% of Gen Xers say they have a retirement strategy, 67% do not. Almost half (48%) are saving, but don’t have a plan as to how to accumulate the savings.

With inflation slowing down, the study found that more than two-thirds (68%) of working Gen Xers are concerned about reaching their savings goals due to inflation, and nearly three-quarters (72%) of all Gen Xers say the current environment makes it hard to plan beyond day-to-day living.

The study found that Gen Xers worry about job insecurity. While an economic downturn still ranks as the biggest threat to this generation’s job security among working Gen Xers (35%), expressed fears of being replaced by younger workers (29%), and less expensive (26%) workers, are close behind.

Finally, the researchers say that Gen Xers are not accurately factoring in critical costs that they may face during retirement. Nearly two-fifths (38%) are not factoring in healthcare costs, and three-quarters (75%) are not accounting for assisted living expenses.

While the average retiree is expected to receive an average monthly Social Security benefit, it was noted that the average monthly cost of retirement expenses in the U.S is $ 4,350 (Bureau of Labor Statistics). The average retirement living gap is $2,520.

“Gen Xers are contemplating significantly different approaches than prior generations to achieve retirement security,” said Dylan Tyson, president, Prudential Retirement Strategies in response to the release of this retirement study. “Together, we must find ways to incorporate the fundamental best practices of traditional pensions into today’s defined contribution–based retirement system. Strategies like protected accumulation and protected income planning are required to help Gen Xers avoid the potential hazards of longevity risk and market volatility on otherwise well-balanced financial plans,” he said.

The Prudential Pulse Survey on Gen X retirement was conducted from March 31 to April 6, 2023. Using a national sample of 2,000 Gen X adults, ages 43 to 48 and not yet retired. Interviews were  conducted online, and quotas were set to reflect a nationally representative population sample based on age, gender/ethnicity, educational attainment, and region. 

Update: Legislation submitted to reestablish the House Permanent Select Committee on Aging

Published in RINewsToday on August 13, 2021

U.S. Representatives David N. Cicilline (RI-01), Jan Schakowsky (IL-09), and Doris Matsui (CA-06) reintroduced legislation to reestablish the House Permanent Select Committee on Aging to examine the challenges and issues facing the growing aging population in America.

This legislation has been endorsed by the Leadership Council of Aging Organizations (LCAO). The original House Permanent Select Committee on Aging, which was active between 1974 and 1992, conducted investigations, hearings and issues reports to inform Congress on issues related to aging.  

“America’s seniors have spent a lifetime working hard and moving our country forward and they deserve the best in their retirement,” Rep. Cicilline said. “The pandemic has disproportionately impacted seniors and now with growing concerns about inflation, seniors on fixed incomes will bear the burden of the rising cost of prescription drugs, food, housing, and other essentials. There has never been a more urgent time for Congress to reauthorize the House Permanent Select Committee on Aging than right now. Congress must study and address the issues that affect seniors to make sure they can live the rest of their lives with dignity and security.”  

“Every day, 10,000 Americans turn 65 years old. This isn’t a statistic to keep dismissing; it’s a call for action that I have been ringing the alarm on for years,” said Rep. Jan Schakowsky. “The pandemic magnified gaps in U.S. policy that routinely forget about Older Americans and the need to nurture a culture that respects them. From the lack of a universal long-term care policy to barriers to vaccine access earlier in the pandemic, these are issues that need to be examined so that Congress can put forward strong solutions to support our aging population and the communities they live in. I am committed to strengthening policies that support our seniors and proud to be a co-lead on this resolution to make it happen.”  

“Older Americans today face many difficulties—including achieving retirement security and affording the rising costs in health care and prescription drugs—which have only been worsened by the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Congresswoman Matsui. “They have worked hard their entire lives to contribute to our economy, care for our families and enrich our communities. By creating a Select Committee on Aging in the House, we can continue to strengthen and support policies that are important to seniors throughout the country. I am proud to co-lead the resolution to create this committee, and I look forward to continuing to fight for the priorities of Older Americans that gives them the fundamental rights that they deserve.”  

In 1974, the House Permanent Select Committee on Aging was established the purpose of “advising Congress and the American people on how to meet the challenge of growing old in America.” Although the committee did not have legislative authority, it played a critical role in raising awareness about Alzheimer’s Disease and elder abuse. The committee helped pass nursing home reforms, which helped reduce elder abuse at senior care facilities. Reestablishing the select committee would allow Congress to study and address longstanding issues including Social Security, Medicare, prescription drugs, and long-term care as well as other issues that didn’t exist in the past, including online scams which target vulnerable and unsuspecting seniors.

On April 20th, Herb Weiss, a writer on aging issues for RINewsToday published a piece about the history of the Commission on Aging and the possibility that the move that happened this week would, in fact happen.