In yesterday’s column, I wrote:
If you have an issue with Social Security, then fix it. The regressive taxes to fund retirement benefits top out at about $117,000 in 2014. Why not simply raise that to $250,000 next year and $500,000 during the next 20 years. Congratulations, you just made Social Security solvent for the next century.
I was incorrect. Several sharp-eyed readers pointed out those numbers didn’t add up. That sent me back to a research report I was basing this on, and as it was, I had incorrectly read the data, conflating raising the cap with removing it entirely. As the Congressional Budget Office numbers show, making incomes up to $500,000 subject to the payroll-tax wouldn’t get the job done. Indeed, removing the cap would only cover about nine-tenths of the projected Social Security shortfall in the coming decades.
Related Posts
- 73Mindfulness and meditation exercises are becoming increasingly popular with businesses. What could they offer your firm? Natasha Clark investigates. Ray Dalio, Bridgewater Associates; Steve Jobs, Mark Benioff, Salesforce.com; Oprah Winfrey, Bill Clinton, Gweneth Paltrow and Rupert Murdoch. What do all these CEOs, celebrities and influential business leaders have in common? They…
- 54Motivation is a fire that must constantly be refueled if it is to continue to burn.
- 51Graduation speeches are the last opportunity for a high school or college to educate its students. It's unsurprising, then, that these institutions often pull in some of the world's most powerful people to leave an equally powerful impression on their students. Here are the best of those speeches and some…
- 51Delighted to see so many people sharing my top 10 tips article on the BBC. One of the most rewarding parts of success is being able to share what you have learned to try to help others. Like many people, I learn better through experience than theory. Also, if presented with huge…
- 48I’m looking forward to sharing posts from time to time about things I’ve learned in my career at Microsoft and the Gates Foundation. (I also post frequently on my blog.) Last month, I went to Omaha for the annual Berkshire Hathaway shareholders meeting. It’s always a lot of fun, and…