| Newsbytes
April 2003
Editor:
Scott Gottlieb, CPA
Assistant editor: Susan A. Maffetone, CPA
Social
Security Not Sustainable for the Long Term
Recently
the news from The Social Security Board of Trustees
was an unwelcome reminder to the many Americans that
depend or will depend on Social Security in their
latter years.
In
the 2003 Annual Report to Congress, the Trustees announced:
The
projected point at which tax revenues will fall below
program costs comes in 2018 -- one year later than
the estimate in last year’s report;
The projected point at which the trust funds will
be exhausted comes in 2042 -- one year later than
the estimate in last year’s report;
The projected actuarial deficit of taxable payroll
over the 75-year long-range period is 1.92 percent
-- larger than the 1.87 percent projected in last
year’s report;
The Trust Funds would require another $3.5 trillion
in today’s dollars, earning interest at Treasury
rates, to pay all scheduled benefits over the next
75 years. This obligation grew $200 billion from last
year.
"This
report is yet another reminder of what we have known
for some time: Social Security's long-term financing
problems are very serious, and will not be fixed by
wishful thinking alone," said Jo Anne Barnhart,
Commissioner of Social Security.
The
2003 Trustees Report will be posted at www.socialsecurity.gov/OACT/TR/TR03
by Monday evening
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