How Congress Might Slow the Growth of Social Security Benefits (Journal Article)

Congress has a long menu of ways to reduce the growth of Social Security’s future benefit costs. These include increasing the full retirement age, means testing benefits, reducing cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs), and modifying the benefit formula. Choosing from that long menu is totally a political matter, without obvious right and wrong answers. Something must be done before too long to solve Social Security’s financial problems.

Author: Bruce D. Schobel, FSA, MAAA, CLU, CEBS, is a consulting actuary in Winter Garden, Florida, who worked for SSA during 1979 through 1988 and has stayed involved in Social Security matters since then. He was staff actuary to the National Commission on Social Security Reform (the “Greenspan Commission”) that developed the framework for the Social Security Amendments of 1983.