Last week the 2018 Social Security Trustees Report was released, confirming that Social Security, which provides critical income to retirees, people with disabilities, spouses, and survivors, is a solid program that can continue to pay benefits into the future. 

With no action from Congress, Social Security can continue to provide 100% of the benefit people are owed until 2034. After that, even if absolutely no changes were made, beneficiaries would still receive 79% of their benefits. But 79% isn’t good enough. With over 21 million people lifted out of poverty thanks to Social Security, Congress needs to ensure that people receive at least what they’d be entitled to under today’s rules. Additionally, we need to work towards expanding benefits to ensure that low-income older adults receiving Social Security are not living in poverty despite working for most of their lives.

There are some simple, and affordable, fixes that can both ensure the long-term solvency of the Social Security Trust Fund and also expand Social Security benefits. Proposals such as the Social Security 2100 Act would, among other things, raise the wage cap so that people with high earnings pay fully into the Social Security system. Currently, high earners only pay into Social Security up to a point, after which they are entirely off the hook. The maximum amount of individual wages taxed in 2018 is $128,000. This means that the CEO of Apple, who had a $3 million salary last year (not including $9 million in bonuses or $89 million in stock), would have paid the same dollar amount in Social Security taxes as two experienced teachers making $65,000 each. 

Much of what the Trustees Report discussed were things we already know, however it also reminded us that we should act now, and encourage Congress to take up the task of ensuring that we are providing sufficient support to the older adults, survivors, spouses, and people with disabilities in our communities who depend on Social Security now and into the future.