PERC Blog

Good News for Workers Born in 1960

Posted: October 22, 2021 by Andrew J. Rettenmaier
If you were born in the year 1960, you should be breathing a sigh of relief. The reason for this relief has to do with how Social Security benefits are calculated. The national average earnings in the year in which you turned 60 – 2020 for workers born in 1960 – is critical in calculating your base monthly benefit. If wages go up in ...

Reforming Social Security the Right Way

Posted: June 04, 2019 by Dennis W. Jansen, Liqun Liu, Andrew J. Rettenmaier
Social Security (and specifically the Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance, or OASDI) is in deficit.  We are collecting less in Social Security taxes than we pay out in benefits,  the trust fund is declining and is expected to be fully depleted in sixteen years, in 2035. Baby Boomers are retiring in record numbers, the number of...

Federal Liabilities and Individual Assets: The Case of Social Security

Posted: March 01, 2019 by Dennis W. Jansen, Liqun Liu, Andrew J. Rettenmaier
Each spring or early summer, the Social Security and Medicare Trustees issue their annual reports on the status of the programs’ Trust Funds. The news stories that follow primarily focus on the year when the Trust Funds will be exhaust...

Social Security Trust Fund Underscores Need for Reform

Posted: July 03, 2018 by Dennis W. Jansen, Thomas R. Saving
The Social Security Trust Fund is basically an interest-bearing I.O.U. from the U.S. Treasury to the U.S. Social Security Administration.  As long as general revenue is used to cover all shortfalls in Social Security taxes, the trust fund plays no important economic role in allocating resources, but may highlight the need for reform...