Why cap it at $100k? Why not $80k? Surely, a retired household can live on that. Half of America already does. Or, better yet, just make the benefit a flat number, regardless of how much you contribute?
The tax rate you, and the rest of us, have been paying is 12.4%, no 6.2%. Whether that has been too low is highly debatable. That said, while increasing the tax to 16.2% would be unpalatable, it is the most honest solution. All others involve picking more winners and losers and increasing the unfairness of our tax code.
The entire premise that there has been an increase in layoffs is just incorrect. There has been exactly zero increase over the last 25+ years, and the last 5 have been below historical levels. https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/JTSLDL
Comments
Why cap it at $100k? Why not $80k? Surely, a retired household can live on that. Half of America already does. Or, better yet, just make the benefit a flat number, regardless of how much you contribute?
Post: Fixing Social Security once and for all
Link to comment from April 22, 2026
The tax rate you, and the rest of us, have been paying is 12.4%, no 6.2%. Whether that has been too low is highly debatable. That said, while increasing the tax to 16.2% would be unpalatable, it is the most honest solution. All others involve picking more winners and losers and increasing the unfairness of our tax code.
Post: Fixing Social Security once and for all
Link to comment from April 18, 2026
The entire premise that there has been an increase in layoffs is just incorrect. There has been exactly zero increase over the last 25+ years, and the last 5 have been below historical levels. https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/JTSLDL
Post: America Doesn’t Just Do Layoffs. It’s Fallen in Love With Them
Link to comment from March 18, 2026