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Social Security Student Benefits
As part of his program for economic recovery, President Reagan included a proposal to discontinue social security benefits for 18 to 22-year-old students attending college or vocational school. Critics of the student benefit believe that other federally funded educational assistance programs which tailor the amount of aid provided to actual educational costs and family income should be relied upon to help finance the college educations of students who are children of retired, disabled, and deceased workers.
Social Security: Alien Beneficiaries
Mounting concern about the payment of social security Benefits to aliens living abroad resulted in the enactment of legislation this year adding new restrictions on the payment of benefits to certain aliens, P.L. 98-21.
Social Security Benefits for Prisoners
On Mar. 24, 1983, the Congress adopted, as part of the Social Security Amendments of 1983 (P.L. 98-21), a measure to preclude virtually all incarcerated felons from receiving social security benefits of any kind, including retirement and survivor benefits. This action expanded previous legislation. In October 1980, legislation had been enacted (P.L. 96-473) that denied only social security disability benefits and student benefits to prisoners convicted of a felony.
Social Security: Reexamining Eligibility for Disability Benefits
No Description Available.
Cash and Non-Cash Benefits for Persons with Limited Income: Eligibility Rules, Recipient and Expenditure Data, FY1981-83
This report summarizes basic eligibility rules, as of May 1984, for more than 70 cash and non-cash programs that benefit primarily persons of limited income. It also gives funding formulas, benefit levels, and, for fiscal years 1981-1983, recipient numbers and expenditure data for each program.
Social Security: The Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA) in January 1988
No Description Available.
Social Security: How is it Treated in Determining the Federal Budget?
No Description Available.
Summary of Major Changes in the Social Security Cash Benefits Program: 1935-1996
No Description Available.
Social Security: Recommendations of the 1994-1996 Advisory Council on Social Security
No Description Available.
Social Security Financing Reform: Lessons from the 1983 Amendments
No Description Available.
Social Security Reform: How Much of a Role Could Private Retirement Accounts Play?
Numerous proposals have been made calling for creation of individual retirement accounts to replace or supplement future Social Security benefits. Some believe that having workers accumulate assets based on their own contributions would be a better way to secure future retirement incomes. Others see the creation of private accounts as a way to offset cuts in Social Security that may be needed to restore the system to a sound financial footing. Much of the debate is fueled by the perception that per dollar of contributions, individual accounts invested in the private sector would exceed the value of future Social Security benefits, particularly since those benefits will likely need to be curtailed as the post World War II baby boomers retire.
Ideas for Privatizing Social Security
This report summarizes the proposals that have emerged and the issues surrounding them.
Ideas for Privatizing Social Security
There has been considerable interest recently in privatizing Social Security. The ideas are wide-ranging: from adoption of a totally-revamped system of personal retirement accounts, similar to an approach taken by Chile in 1983, to permitting optional earmarking of a portion of existing payroll taxes for personal savings. This report summarizes the proposals that have emerged and the issues surrounding them.
Social Security Taxes: Where Do Surplus Taxes Go and How Are They Used?
The costs of the Social Security program, both its benefits and administrative expenses, are financed by a tax on wages and self-employment income. Commonly referred to as FICA and SECA taxes (because they are levied under the Federal Insurance and Self-Employment Contributions Acts), these taxes flow each day into thousands of depository accounts maintained by the government with financial institutions across the country. Along with many other forms of revenues, these Social Security taxes become part of the government’s operating cash pool, or what is more commonly referred to as the U.S. treasury. In effect, once these taxes are received, they become indistinguishable from other monies the government takes in.
Social Security: Brief Facts and Statistics
This document provides facts and statistics about Social Security that are frequently requested by Members of Congress and their staffs. Its purpose is to provide quick answers to basic questions about the program. It should not be treated as a guide to Social Security. The reader is advised to consult other publications for explanations of how eligibility and benefits are determined and how the program is financed. Among them are two pamphlets published by the Social Security Administration (SSA) entitled Basic Facts About Social Security and Understanding Social Security which are contained in the Congressional Research Service (CRS) Info Pack IP 153S, Social Security: An Introduction. SSA also issues numerous other pamphlets on various aspects of the program as well as a lengthy Handbook on Social Security. For other possible sources that provide data and basic descriptive material, see the references listed at the end of this document.
Social Security and the Federal Budget: What Does Social Security's Being "Off Budget" Mean?
As a result of a series of laws enacted in 1983, 1985 and 1990, Social Security is considered to be "off budget" for federal budget purposes. While the meaning of this might seem obvious -- that Social Security is not to be considered as part of the federal budget -- many people are perplexed by the use of aggregate budget figures that count all federal receipts and expenditures, including Social Security's.
The Financial Outlook for Social Security and Medicare
This report provides an overview of the financial outlook for social security and medicare programs.
The Financial Outlook for Social Security and Medicare
This report provides an overview of the financial outlook for Social Security and Medicare programs.
Social Security: The Relationship of Taxes and Benefits for Past, Present, and Future Retirees
In recent years considerable public attention has focused on Social Security's treatment of younger versus older workers. Analysts sometimes have addressed this issue by examining the value Social Security provides each generation of workers in relation to the Social Security taxes they pay. These are referred to as "moneys worth" analyses.
Current Social Security Issues
Social Security is the focus of intense public interest. Projected long-range funding problems, public skepticism about its future, and a growing perception that Social Security will not be as good a value for future retirees as it is today are fueling calls for reform. This report discusses a number of the major Social Security issues currently drawing congressional attention.
Current Social Security Issues
Social Security is the focus of intense public interest. Projected long-range funding problems, public skepticism about its future, and a growing perception that Social Security will not be as good a value for future retirees as it is today are fueling calls for reform. This report, updated regularly, discusses a number of the major Social Security issues currently drawing congressional attention.
Social Security and the Federal Budget: What Does Social Security's Being "Off Budget" Mean?
As a result of a series of laws enacted in 1983, 1985 and 1990, Social Security is considered to be “off-budget” for federal budget purposes. While the meaning of this might seem obvious — that Social Security is not to be considered as part of the federal budget — many people are perplexed by the continued use of aggregate budget figures that include Social Security’s receipts and expenditures.
Tax Code Termination Act: A Fact Sheet
This report discusses the Tax Code Termination Act, which would “sunset” (repeal) the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 on December 31, 2002 and would require that any new federal tax system that is adopted be approved not later than July 4, 2002.
Social Security Taxes: Where Do Surplus Taxes Go and How Are They Used?
No Description Available.
Social Security Reform: Bills in the 106th Congress
The Social Security system is projected to have long-range funding problems. Although the system’s income currently exceeds its expenditures, its trust funds are projected to be depleted in 2037. Concern about the problem and a belief that the remedy lies partly in economic growth that could be bolstered by changes to the system have led to introduction of a number of bills incorporating varying degrees of reform. This report describes the funding problem in some detail, summarizes many of the reform bills introduced in the 106th Congress, and provides a list of other related CRS reports.
Social Security: A Discussion of Some Issues Affecting the Early Retirement Age
This report examines certain technical aspects of the issues surrounding the earliest age of retirement, not only in terms of its treatment under reform proposals, but also in terms of its effect under today's law. It includes background and history of the topic as well as issues related to financing, equity, and incentive effects.
Social Security: Summary of Major Changes in the Cash Benefits Program
Title II of the original Social Security Act of 1935 established a national plan designed to provide economic security for the nation's workers. The system of Old-Age Insurance it created provided benefits to individuals who were age 65 or older and who had "earned" retirement benefits through work in jobs covered by the system.
Social Security Reform: The Issue of Individual Versus Collective Investment for Retirement
This report discusses a myriad of issues have been raised in the current Social Security debate, in particular the question of whether and how the nation’s financial markets might be used to reform the system.
Social Security: Raising the Retirement Age Background and Issues
The Social Security “full retirement age” — the age at which retired workers, aged spouses, or surviving aged spouses receive benefits that are not reduced for “early” retirement — will gradually rise from 65 to 67 beginning with people who attain age 62 in 2000 (i.e., those born in 1938). Early retirement benefits will still be available beginning at age 62 (age 60 for aged widows and widowers), but at lower levels. This report discusses bills introduced in the last four Congresses that would, among other things, accelerate the phase-in of the increase in the full retirement age to 67, raise the early retirement age to 65 or 67, and raise the full retirement age to 69 or 70.
Social Security Reform: How Much of a Role Could Personal Retirement Accounts Play?
This report illustrates the potential accumulations of personal savings accounts intended for retirement savings, given a range of possible contribution amounts and interest rates. It is intended to provide information about how to evaluate the possible role of personal accounts in the debate on Social Security reform.
Social Security and the Federal Budget: What Does Social Security's Being "Off Budget" Mean?
This report discusses social security and its place in the federal budget. As a result of a series of laws enacted in 1983, 1985 and 1990, Social Security is considered to be "off budget" for federal budget purposes. While the meaning of this might seem obvious--that Social Security is not to be considered as part of the federal budget--many people are confused by the continued use of aggregate budget figures that include Social Security's receipts and expenditures.
Social Security and the Federal Budget: What Does Social Security's Being "Off Budget" Mean?
No Description Available.
Social Security: Taxation of Benefits
No Description Available.
Social Security's Treatment Under the Federal Budget: A Summary
This report discusses the treatment of Social Security in the federal budget, which has become a major fiscal policy issue. Congressional views about what to do with budget surpluses are diverse—ranging from buying down the outstanding federal debt to cutting taxes to increasing spending. However, support for the proposition of “protecting” Social Security surpluses is substantial.
Social Security Reform
No Description Available.
Social Security Reform
No Description Available.
Social Security Reform: Bills in the 106th Congress
No Description Available.
Social Security and the Federal Budget: What Does Social Security's Being "Off Budget" Mean?
As a result of a series of laws enacted in 1983, 1985 and 1990, Social Security is considered to be "off budget" for federal budget purposes. While the meaning of this might seem obvious -- that Social Security is not to be considered as part of the federal budget -- many people are confused by the continued use of aggregate budget figures that include Social Security's receipts and expenditures.
Social Security, Saving, and the Economy
No Description Available.
The Financial Outlook for Social Security and Medicare
The 2001 annual reports of the board of trustees of the Social Security and Medicare trust funds were released on March 19, 2001. Both programs have benefitted from an improved economic outlook in the near term, but both continue to have projected long-range problems. Insolvency for the Disability Insurance (DI) part of Social Security is projected to occur in 2026, and for the retirement and survivors part, in 2040.
Social Security Reform
Although the Social Security system is now running surpluses of income over outgo, its board of trustees projects that its trust funds would be depleted in 2038 and only 73% of its benefits would be payable then with incoming receipts. The trustees project that on average the system's cost would be 14% higher than its income over the next 75 years; by 2075 it would be 45% higher. The primary reason is demographic: the post-World War II baby boomers will begin retiring in less than a decade and life expectancy is rising. By 2025 the number of people age 65 and older is predicted to grow by 73%. In contrast, the number of workers supporting the system would grow by 13%.
Social Security and Medicare "Lock Boxes"
With the onset of burgeoning federal budget surpluses, Social Security and Medicare's treatment in the budget has become a major policy issue. Congressional views about what to do with the surpluses are diverse -- ranging from "buying down" the federal government's outstanding debt to cutting taxes to increasing spending.
Social Security Benefits Are Not Paid for the Month of Death: A Fact Sheet
Social security benefits are not paid for the month in which a recipient dies. Legislation is routinely introduced that would either pay the full amount of the benefits for the month of death or pro-rate the benefits based on the proportion of the month that the recipient was alive.
Social Security's Treatment Under the Federal Budget: A Summary
No Description Available.
Major Decisions in the House and Senate on Social Security: 1935-2000
No Description Available.
Social Security: What Happens to Future Benefit Levels Under Various Reform Options
The report first examines several benefit-constraint options. Among them are raising the age at which full Social Security retirement benefits can be received, changing the way initial benefits are computed, and constraining cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs). It also illustrates the effects of creating new personal savings accounts and presents their projected impact as a supplement to, or partial replacement of, the existing system, or as a means to close the gap between the benefit levels promised by the existing system and what can be paid under its projected future income. Finally, because across-the-board cuts may be seen as too severe for several types of recipients, other options that would ameliorate their effects, including one that would raise revenue, are also illustrated.
Social Security and Medicare "Lock Boxes"
No Description Available.
Social Security Taxes: Where Do Surplus Taxes Go and How Are They Used?
No Description Available.
Social Security and the Federal Budget: What Does Social Security's Being "Off Budget" Mean?
No Description Available.
Social Security: The Cost-of-Living Adjustment in January 2002
This report discusses the Social Security recipients that receive a costof- living adjustment (COLA) in January of each year. An automatic Social Security benefit increase reflects the rise in the cost of living over roughly a 1-year period
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