{"id":9652,"date":"2019-09-06T13:01:29","date_gmt":"2019-09-06T18:01:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.uwsp.edu\/cps\/?p=9652"},"modified":"2019-12-17T13:00:02","modified_gmt":"2019-12-17T19:00:02","slug":"how-it-works-and-how-it-is-funded-or-not","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.uwsp.edu\/cps\/2019\/09\/06\/how-it-works-and-how-it-is-funded-or-not\/","title":{"rendered":"Social Security Part 1: How it Works and How it is Funded (or not)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

So, do you think the\nSocial Security taxes that you currently pay go into a trust fund to pay you\nretirement income in the future? The answer to that question would be \u201cno\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the next few blogs we\u2019ll take a look at Social Security \u2013 the basics of how it works, and how it is funded (or not). We are only briefly discussing the major concepts regarding Social Security.  The laws are complex \u2013 very complex, and changes are likely.  Direct links are provided throughout this blog series to the Social Security Administration for further information and greater detail on a variety of topics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Social Security Background<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hot on the heels of the Great Depression and stock market\ncrash, the quest for economic security became increasingly elusive for many\nAmericans. President Franklin D. Roosevelt in conjunction with Congress sought\nto increase the economic security of Americans, particularly in their\nretirement years. The Social Security Act was an attempt to do that \u2013 signed\ninto law by President Roosevelt in 1935, it created a social insurance program\ndesigned to pay retired workers age 65 or older a continuing income after\nretirement. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over the years the program has been tweaked and expanded.\nKey changes included: 1) the addition of a Social Security Disability Insurance\nprogram (SSDI) in 1954 under President Eisenhower which provided benefits to\ndisabled workers and disabled adult children, 2) the addition of a medical\ninsurance program for individuals 65 and older (Medicare) in 1964 under President\nJohnson, 3) the extension of benefits to lower-income and disabled Americans through\nSocial Security Insurance (SSI) in the 1970s under President Nixon, and 4) in a\nresponse to funding concerns, changes under President Reagan that made Social\nSecurity payments subject to taxation and raised the retirement age for full\nbenefits in the next century.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For more information and detail on the history of Social Security:
Social Security Administration (SSA): Social Security History<\/a> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

CBEI Blog Series: Social Security<\/strong>
Part 1: How it Works and How it is Funded (or not)<\/a>
Part 2: Who Gets Benefits?<\/a>
Part 3: How Are Programs Funded?<\/a>
Part 4: Benefits \u2013 How Much Do You Get?<\/a>
Part 5: Financial Status of Programs<\/a>
Part 6: The Future<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

\"Kevin<\/figure>
\n

Kevin Bahr is a professor emeritus of finance and chief analyst of the Center for Business and Economic Insight<\/a> in the Sentry School of Business and Economics at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point. <\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

So, do you think the Social Security taxes that you currently pay go into a trust fund to pay you retirement income in the future? The answer to that question would be \u201cno\u201d. In the next few blogs we\u2019ll take a look at Social Security \u2013 the basics of how it works, and how it […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":136,"featured_media":9757,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[527],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.uwsp.edu\/cps\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9652"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.uwsp.edu\/cps\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.uwsp.edu\/cps\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uwsp.edu\/cps\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/136"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uwsp.edu\/cps\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9652"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uwsp.edu\/cps\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9652\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9754,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uwsp.edu\/cps\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9652\/revisions\/9754"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uwsp.edu\/cps\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9757"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.uwsp.edu\/cps\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9652"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uwsp.edu\/cps\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9652"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uwsp.edu\/cps\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9652"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}