3 ms·
>> Social Security unfunded liabilities. Social Security isn't unfunded. The main issue there is that it invests the money in US treasury bonds. As those bonds
by phkahler 4y ago
>> Social Security unfunded liabilities.
Social Security isn't unfunded. The main issue there is that it invests the money in US treasury bonds. As those bonds mature they reinvest in new bonds. That's all find and dandy, but it creates a system where SS is constantly "buying" bonds and the treasury is constantly "paying" SS. This has historically looked like a flow of money from SS into the treasury. As the boomers retire, the net flow will have to reverse, meaning the treasury will have to pay back a bunch of money that it borrowed from the Social Security administration. That's fine, they have several trillion dollars invested. The big issue is that congress has made a habit of spending other peoples money and sees a huge hole in their budget because of this situation.
Social Security is not an "entitlement" it's more like a contract and congress keeps wanting to default on their end of the deal. The amount a person gets from SS is not much more than their lifetime contributions - the average rate of return for an individual is very low, but that's not what the "problem" is.