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5 min readSocial Security’s Coming Reckoning
In 1935, Franklin D. Roosevelt launched what would become one of the most successful economic experiments in American history: Social Security. At the time, more than half of elderly Americans lived in poverty, and the Great Depression had made the crisis acute. The program worked — it rescued millions of older people from destitution. But nearly a century later, that experiment faces its biggest test. By 2032 — just six years from now — Social Security will not have enough money to make full payments to retirees. The reason is straightforward: the baby boomers are retiring in enormous numbers, living longer than the program’s architects ever imagined, and there are fewer younger workers paying in to support them.
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What you'll learn
- 1 (00:28) **The Social Security Experiment and Its Coming Crisis** - Introduces Social Security as a historic economic experiment facing its biggest test by 2032.
- 2 (03:07) **Meet Steve Goss: The Human Calculator** - Introduces the former chief actuary of the Social Security Administration, who will fact-check proposed fixes.
- 3 (07:30) **Why Reform Is So Politically Difficult** - Explains the political “third rail” nature of Social Security reform.
- 4 (08:20) **Idea #1: Raise the Payroll Tax** - The simplest, most straightforward fix, proposed by economist Doug Arnold.
- 5 (10:36) **Idea #2: Tax Fringe Benefits** - A “sneaker” proposal from Kathleen Romig to expand the payroll tax base.
- 6 (12:14) **Idea #3: Raise the Retirement Age** - A proposal from Maya McGuinness to make workers contribute longer.
- 7 (15:36) **Idea #4: Remove the Cap on Taxable Earnings** - A popular proposal to make high earners pay more.
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Show Notes
Today on the show, we look at some of the most talked about possible solutions; and exactly whose wallets we’ll have to rifle through to find the money to pay for each. Then we’ll run the options by the Social Security Administration's former Chief Actuary. The guy Congress used to call to crunch numbers and give them the bottom line.
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This episode of Planet Money was hosted by Erika Beras and Jeff Guo, it was produced by James Sneed, and edited by Marianne McCune. Sierra Juarez is our fact-checker, and Annlie Huang & Robert Rodriguez engineered the show. Alex Goldmark is the executive producer of Planet Money.
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