Tag: Social Security costs

Man touching a choice concept

We know what we are dealing with, and can take steps to address it. The key metric used to summarize Social Security’s financial status is the 75-year deficit.  This number is the present discounted value of scheduled taxes (plus the existing trust fund) minus the present discounted value of scheduled benefits divided by the present…

Hand holding paper with lots of financial charts and graphs

CBO’s “taxable ratio” assumption is a big contributor to high long-run deficit. It turns out that the Congressional Budget Office’s assumption about a big decline in the share of earnings subject to taxation is a major driver of the agency’s very high projection of Social Security’s 75-year deficit.   Let me explain exactly what t…