News and perspective on public policy issues affecting Washington's economy and quality of life, brought to you by the Economic Opportunity Institute.
Ready for a fresh take on Social Security? Check out a new report that bypasses the binary “to cut benefits or not to cut benefits” debate. Instead, the authors of “Expanded Social Security” argue that the current levels of retirement insecurity in America make a good case for expanding Social Security and increasing benefits. There’s […]
A new report from AARP shows that the majority of boomers (age 45-64) in Washington state are worried about their future finances in retirement. In the report, over half of respondents reported anxiety when thinking about their future finances, with women (64%) reporting a significantly higher level of anxiety than men (48%). Many of the […]
President’s Obama’s budget – expected to be released later this week – will likely include a cut to Social Security known as the Chained CPI. The Chained CPI would change the way inflation in calculated for Social Security benefits, reducing cost of living adjustments by about 3% per decade. For the average Washingtonian who receives […]
If we wanted to adopt a cautious policy measure that would eliminate Social Security’s shortfalls predicted 20 years down the road, we could eliminate the cap on earned income subject to Social Security taxes, currently set at $113,700. Such a measure would lead to increased payments by about the top 5.2 percent of wage earners.
