The
"new" crisis in Social Security is a topic of much interest
these days. There are pros and cons on each side and there does
not seem to be one definitive answer.
Social
Security is an issue these days whether you are young or old. Possible
changes can affect everyone in every age category and changes that
are currently being discussed can have a very long term affect.
If you consider it took them this long to tell us the system is
broken one must be very careful about supporting any new legislation
as it could take just as long to fix it, should it turn out to not
be the right answer. The effects of any new legislation will not
only affect current seniors but is will create an impact not only
to individuals but to their families and the community.
Currently
Social Security is not broken. Nor is it likely to be in the very
near future. It does need to be changed but there is no "crisis"
at this time.
More
than half of todays workers are NOT covered by pensions and many
have not even begun to save for retirement. This means that it is
not the senior that needs to worry, but the upcoming retirees that
are in trouble. This is a seperate issue from social security and
needs to be dealt with as a stand alone issue.
Many
consider social security to be nothing more than a pryramid scheme.
It's not. It's a system where families take care of each other.
Without social security benefits many will have very tough decisions
to make financially. Because today's seniors get social security
they are able to live independent lives, do not have to live with
their children or live off the community. Many can tell stories
of how social security helped when a parent died or became disabled.
Social
Security needs to be studied more with an eye to the future and
not with an agenda to run in an fix things without extensive investigation.
Below
are some resource sites for you to explore to help you make an informed
decision about social security.
AARP
http://www.aarp.org/
and
their magazine:
AARP
Magazine
http://www.aarpmagazine.org/
Social
Security Administration
http://www.ssa.gov/
Articles
How
to Tinker With Social Security Correctly
by Paul Griffitts
Myths
and Truths About Social Security
By Karen Westerberg Reyes, March & April 2005
