Tag: Social Security assets
Abstract The experience of the reformed Railroad Retirement program has lessons for initiatives that would invest Social Security assets in equities: To address the risk in equity investment, Congress would likely require an automatic adjustment mechanism to keep the program “on track.” The adjustment mechanism should address surpluses as well as shortfalls, and cannot b…
Introduction Social Security traditionally has operated on a pay-as-you-go basis — that is, current taxes pay for current benefits. The 1977 and 1983 Amendments to the Social Security Act provided for a temporary departure from this approach — with the buildup of a significant trust fund. Currently the Social Security trust funds hold $1.7 trillion…