Updated
Updated · The San Diego Union-Tribune · Jul 15
Steve Jones Blasts 40-Year Means-Tested Social Security Idea as Unfair to Savers
Updated
Updated · The San Diego Union-Tribune · Jul 15

Steve Jones Blasts 40-Year Means-Tested Social Security Idea as Unfair to Savers

2 articles · Updated · The San Diego Union-Tribune · Jul 15

Summary

  • Steve Jones argued a means-based Social Security change would punish people who spent decades saving for retirement while redirecting benefits to non-savers.
  • Forty years of budgeting, bringing lunch from home and taking modest vacations, he wrote, were part of a plan built on personal savings plus expected Social Security payments.
  • Jones said stripping benefits from retirees who "saved too much" would hurt the middle class and effectively reward those who did not prepare.
  • His letter responds to a July 10 article that described a needs-based Social Security approach as a possible bipartisan fix.

Insights

Should Social Security be an earned right for all or a safety net just for the poor?
How could saving for retirement lead to smaller Social Security checks in the near future?
Could lifting the payroll tax cap solve the crisis without cutting benefits for average Americans?