So says Edward F. Coyle, executive director of the Alliance for Retired Americans, who insists the buzz stems from the same people who want to cut Social Security benefits and increase the retirement age.
“Current and future retirees should be suspicious of those who react to today’s news with ‘sky is falling’ predictions of doom,” Coyle says. “These … are brought to you by the same people who have been badly discredited after years of advocating for a privatized Social Security tied to the roulette wheel of the stock market.”
The National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare agrees:
“According to the Social Security Trustees, Social Security will have sufficient funds to pay full benefits through the year 2041. The Congressional Budget Office projects that full benefits can be paid through 2049. No other federal program is subject to such strict, long-term spending restrictions and oversight. The Social Security Trustees report every year on the income and outgo of the fund over a 75-year period. Over the next 75 years, Social Security has a funding gap, but that gap is both modest and manageable. Moreover, even if no changes at all were made in Social Security, which we do not anticipate, incoming revenues after 2041 would be sufficient to finance 78 percent of benefits.”
The committee also released a recent survey, which showed about 80 percent of boomers believe Social Security is not in crisis.