Social Security

That headline – atop a recent Wall Street Journal column by Jack Hough, associate editor of SmartMoney.com – pretty much says it all.

Hough writes: “For an investment return that tops those offered by hedge funds, insurance firms or Wall Street banks, baby boomers should look to Social Security… All you need is a way to make ends meet while delaying the start of Social Security benefits from age 62 to as old as 70.”

With the release of the 2012 Social Security Trustees Report, we can expect to hear another round of sharp debates on Social Security’s financial picture. We must see to it that these discussions do not lose sight of some important facts.

Despite concerns in some quarters about Social Security’s long-term stability, the truth is that the program remains sound and, with some timely improvements, will continue to provide security to millions of Americans for generations to come.

The young person’s debate on Social Security has been particularly one-sided lately.  Last fall at the Harvard Institute of Politics, I helped write and analyze a poll of over 2,000 young people ages 18-29.  We found that 78 percent of young people were concerned that the Social Security system would not be able to provide the benefits they expected when they retired.

Social Security is not in crisis, as Ken Buffin reminded us in his presentation at NASI's 24^th annual policy research conference on January 26 in Washington, DC. For the next 25 years, Old Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance (OASDI) trust funds are 100% solvent, and beyond that window, 90% solvent for two more decades.

The Center for Rural Strategies, an awardee of NASI’s Improving Lives of Vulnerable Americans Through Social Security project, recently analyzed Social Security recipients by county in the U.S. The Daily Yonder (affiliated with the Center for Rural Strategies) used this breakdown of Social Security beneficiaries to find the counties most dependent on Social Security.