Setting Social Security straight gains urgency
SMU Political Science Prof. Dennis Ippolito talks about the tough decisions facing those who manage Social Security.
By BOB MOOS
The Dallas Morning News
Social Security has some grim news for John Ansbach of Dallas and other members of Generation X. If the system continues on its current course, it won't have enough money to pay full benefits by the time they retire.
Ansbach, born in 1971, will be eligible for full retirement benefits at 67, in 2038.
But the government trustees who monitor Social Security's long-term financial soundness recently reported that the system will use up its trust funds by 2037 and have only enough from its tax collections to pay beneficiaries 76 cents on every dollar. . .
The Senate Aging Committee has scheduled a hearing for June to take up the issue.
Stabilizing Social Security's finances will be much easier than overhauling the health care system, analysts predict.
"The policy options have long been known. This is a matter of making choices," said Dennis Ippolito, an expert on the federal budget and chairman of the political science department at Southern Methodist University.
"Social Security will be around for future generations, though it will be less generous," he said.
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