Pension News

Our birthday present to you is that we are going to stop policymakers from chopping you to pieces.

Social Security, you’ve been providing an economic lifeline that millions of Americans rely on. It’s too bad that on your 75^th birthday, you’re under siege like never before.

What a bunch of ingrates, right? You’ve become so wildly successful that policymakers have started to take you for granted. Even though you help every American family - young and old - you’re terribly misunderstood.

Among the misunderstandings is that you’re “broken” and must be reformed.

That’s a laugh. You’ve been around for 75 years, you’ve never missed a payment, and you’re able to pay full benefits for another quarter of a century - and that’s without making a single change to the way you work.

Who else can make such a claim?

I’ll tell you who?  Nobody and no program.

Here’s what you should tell Americans: Without you, there would be terrible poverty among the elderly in this country. Not to mention the scores of children and people with disabilities who would be in dire straits, too. Take a look at the facts:

 –And Social Security also has lifted 6.5 million children under age 18, or nearly 9 percent of all U.S. children out of poverty.

–Without Social Security 8.1 million women age 65 and older would be living in poverty.

–Almost 7 out of 10 older Americans depend on Social Security for more than half their income and one out of 4 receive ALL their income from Social Security. 

–If not for Social Security, almost 13 million additional older Americans would be living in poverty.  

So, on your 75^th birthday we should be hailing you, Social Security, as THE great American success story - not attacking you.

This is why Retirement USA - a coalition of consumer interest groups, unions, and advocates for retirees - has as one of its core principles the insistence that Social Security benefits not be touched. Retirement USA is advocating for a new retirement system for future generations of Americans (in addition to Social Security) that is Universal, Secure, and Adequate.

Retirement USA is sponsoring “Wake Up, Washington!” month, a national speak-out about retirement security that will take place from September 15-October 15. This month will be a time for Americans across the country to tell lawmakers to keep their hands off of Social Security and to fix our broken, patchwork private retirement system.

So, Social Security, I hope a lot of your fans will help us celebrate your 75^th  birthday by making their voices heard in the Retirement USA story bank!

Over the last few months you’ve probably heard reports about the president’s fiscal commission. Word around town is that this secretive commission, with its stated goal of reducing the federal deficit, is seriously considering cuts to Social Security. (more…)

Yesterday I joined friends from Social Security Works, OWL - The Voice of Midlife and Older Women, Social Security Matters, the Alliance for Retired Americans, the Economic Policy Institute, and others outside of the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center as Pete Peterson (you know him, he’s the one who is trying to scare everyone into thinking that Social Security is on its last legs - don’t worry, it isn’t) hosted a closed-door meeting of millionaires and billionaires, at which cutting Social Security was a primary point of discussion.  (more…)

Senators Kent Conrad and Judd Gregg, the leaders of the Senate Budget Committee, are proposing to set up a commission that they argue is necessary to address tough budgetary issues. In reality though, the proposed commission is likely to force Congress to make destructive cuts in Social Security.  (more…)

New data released by the U.S. Census Bureau contains information that may come as a surprise: Of the age groups surveyed (ages 18 and under, ages 18-64 and individuals age 65 and older), it was the group of Americans age 65 and older who have the lowest rate of poverty at 9.7 percent. (more…)

A timely and provocative op-ed by BusinessWeek’s contributing economics editor Chris Farrell flatly states, “Keep Wall Street Out of the Retirement Business.”  Farrell goes on to ask:

Question is, in light of the current turmoil in the financial markets, should Wall Street manage any of our long-term retirement savings funds? Is the 401(k) plan, which has become the main retirement savings vehicle for the American worker over the past three decades, a mistake? The case for rethinking the 401(k) as a pillar of retirement savings is compelling. (more…)

Last week the federal minimum wage rose to $6.55 an hour, increasing the annual earnings for a full-time minimum wage worker to $13,624.  While it’s certainly the right move for Congress to raise the minimum wage for current workers, it raises an important question about retired workers.  Take a look at our statistics page and you’ll see why: The average retired worker’s Social Security check is now less than that of a minimum wage worker. (more…)