Social Security modernization: options to address solvency and benefit adequacy: report of the Special Committee on Aging, United States Senate

Original publisher: Washington : U.S. G.P.O., 2010. LC Number: KF31.5 .A3 2010 OCLC Number: (OCoLC)644573707 Subject: Social security -- United States. Excerpt: ... 7 forts to improve solvency may enhance, weaken or have no impact on the ability of Social Security to provide retirement security for all Americans, whereas efforts to improve the adequacy of benefits will likely come at a cost to the system. Timing also plays a role in the decisions that must be made. Modernizing the program will become increasingly difficult as the Social Security Trust Funds di-minish, therefore it will be easier and less costly to make changes now. So it is with some urgency that Congress should simulta-neously address the twin challenges of solvency and effectiveness, and because the program is critical to every American family, it should be done in a bipartisan and transparent way. A full and informed debate on how to tackle these challenges be-gins with the collection of relevant options. It is our hope that this report will serve as a resource to Congress and policymakers as they discuss the future of the Social Security. THE PROMISE AND CHALLENGES OF SOCIAL SECURITY Social Security benefits, while not generous, provide an impor-tant source of income for retired Americans and serve as the foun-dation of retirement income for the majority of retirees. In 2009, the average monthly retirement benefit was $ 1,164. Although So-cial Security is not meant to be the sole source of income for retir-ees, in 2008 nearly one-quarter of beneficiaries age 65 and older lived in households that relied on it for at least 90 percent of household income. These individuals were mostly single women and Social Security's oldest beneficiaries. The Social Security program faces a modest long-term financing shortfall of tax revenue and interest on Trust Fund assets. The So-cial Security Trustees estimated in 2009 that the Old Age, Sur-vivors, and Disability Insurance program will continue to add t...