Paulson: Action needed on Social SecuritySo, the only options the Secretary of the Treasury and the Social Security and Medicare trustees can come up with are raising rates or paying less. If you only have a tax collector and a check writer, I guess those are the only options.
Treasury secretary says program is 'financially unsustainable.' Trustee report says government will have to pay back what it owes starting in 2017.
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, saying that Social Security is "financially unsustainable," called Tuesday for quick action to keep the system strong and released a report detailing the program's funding shortfalls.The federal government will have to start paying back what it owes the Social Security trust fund in 2017 so the program can continue paying 100% of benefits. By 2041, if the system is left unchanged, Social Security will only be able to pay out 78% of benefits promised to future retirees.
Those are two key estimates in the Social Security and Medicare trustees' 2008 annual report.
What about this?
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