According to the Billings Gazette, Wyoming Rep. Cynthia Lummis (Rep.) has introduced legislation to help keep Social Security viable by slowly raising the retirement age. Under the proposed idea, the Social Security retirement age would start to go up in 2024 in phases. Individuals 50 or older would have no changes.
For example, a 49-year-old person would see their retirement age increased by one month, while a 35-year-old would see their retirement age raised by one year and 4 year olds would have their retirement age go up three years.
According to Lummis, the plan is necessary to protect Social Security for young Americans who are saving up for their retirement years. It is also a necessary step as the program is at risk of becoming insolvent in 2037, says Lummis. This plan, would allow Social Security to become permanently solvent. Lummis has endorsed the House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan’s plan, called Roadmap for America’s Future, which introduces Social Security program changes without affecting individuals over the age of 55.
Liberal Paul Krugman calls the plan a fraud, as it calls for massive tax cuts for the rich and massive cuts in government spending. According to Krugman, Ryan only asked the Congressional Budget Office to run the number on his proposed spending cuts without calculating the combined impact of spending cuts and revenue cuts.
The plan will offer workers under the age of 55 to invest over one third of their current Social Security taxes into personal retirement accounts. The funds will include a property right so they can be passed on to their heirs. Additionally, there will be a guarantee that contributors will not lose a dollar they have invested to their accounts, even after inflation.
