Within the next seven years or so something must be done to sustain Social Security. There are many combinations of changes possible. Several can be found in the Social Security section of this blog. For example.
However…

Given the decades long delay in fixing SS which benefited many existing retirees now out of the workforce by not being subject to higher taxes or benefit cuts, how will the cost of fixing SS be allocated- 100% by the current workforce via payroll tax adjustments or future benefit reductions or shared by current retirees perhaps by delays or adjustments to future COLAs?

There must be some pain, how it is shared is key. This would not be an issue if incremental necessary changes were made on a regular basis.


As noted previously, the right answer is everyone who paid in and everyone who benefitted – identify the underfunding, keep the existing progressivity of benefits relative to funding, confirm the amount each should have paid, what they did pay, and the underpayment. Send them a bill and give them various benefit reduction or tax increase choices (or combinations thereof) to select a solution. Everyone who is alive should be called upon to shoulder the funding gap.
As noted previously, the only political answer available during the next three years would be one where President Trump gets to claim savior status. That would be to wait until September 2028, after the primaries and conventions have been held, and Trump would announce: (1) An increase in FICA OASDI from 12.4% to 16.4%, employee remains at 6.2%, employer goes from 6.2% to 10.2%, effective January 1, 2029 or January 1, 2030, (2) a cap on FICA taxes at $100,000, and a limit on the calculation of Social Security benefits to no more than $100,000 in income, applied both prospectively and retroactively, and (3) Start to raise the Social Security Full Retirement Age from 67 to 70 starting January 1, 2033, moving the Full Retirement Age 3 months each year for the next 12 years (adjusting the factor at age 62 accordingly), while immediately moving the added 8% per year adjustment from age 70 to age 75 (to match the RBD which will be 75 effective January 1, 2033 for those born after 1959.)
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There was no way to spread the need for cash this year except to tax enough this year to meet the cash needs. The Trust Fund fiction just glossed over that fact.
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