AARP quizzing candidates on Social Security

[portlander23]

AARP quizzing candidates on Social Security
Erin Murphy
Times Bureau

AARP on Tuesday unveiled its plan to inform the public — in particular its 37 million members — about the presidential candidates’ plans, or lack thereof, for ensuring Social Security’s long-term fiscal health.

“They should at least be able to tell us and the voters what their plans are to keep Social Security strong, John Hishta, AARP’s senior vice president of campaigns, told reporters Tuesday.

Multiple solutions to extending Social Security’s solvency have been debated in recent years, but none have been passed by Congress. Among them: raising the retirement age, raising the cap on how much income is taxed, reducing or eliminating benefits for wealthy retirees, and allowing younger workers to put their Social Security taxes in a private retirement account.

“They are, to different extents, being specific,” Sovern said. “Where there is a lack of specificity, we are pushing for more.”

Hishta said the front-running candidates from both parties — Republicans Donald Trump and Ben Carson and Democrat Hillary Clinton — have yet to detail specific plans for Social Security.

Related:

Sanders says it's time to expand and rethink Social Security

Say It Ain't So, Hillary Clinton - You're Open to the Idea of Raising the Retirement Age?

Clinton did not categorically rule out Social Security benefit cuts or raising the retirement age

Clinton's Remarkable Non-Answer Regarding Social Security (Sep 24, 2015)

Hillary Clinton on Social Security Expansion: Words are Wind. A Cold Wind.

Sanders offers Social Security as latest example of ‘many, many differences’ with Clinton

A Trojan Horse In Clinton’s Pledge To “Enhance” Social Security?

Why It's Misleading to Swear to Protect the Poor's Social-Security Benefits

Hillary Clinton's lack of answers regarding Social Security (September 26, 2007)

[elleng]

1. As president, Governor O’Malley will:

Increase Social Security benefits for all retirees—both today’s and tomorrow’s. Governor O’Malley supports immediately boosting monthly benefits in a progressive manner for all Social Security was intended as a supplement to individual savings and pensions, but today, one in five married couples, and nearly half of unmarried individuals, rely almost exclusively on Social Security checks to survive. More than two-thirds of Americans near retirement will not have enough savings to maintain their current standard of living.
Strengthen Social Security’s long-term fiscal outlook. The solvency of Social Security is not in crisis: Social Security has adequate funds to pay full benefits through 2034. But to pay for expanded benefits, Governor O’Malley supports lifting the cap on the payroll tax for workers earning more than $250,000.In addition, Congress should implement policies to lift the wages of all workers, which will make meaningful contributions to Social Security’s long-term balance sheet. This includes raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour and enacting comprehensive immigration reform.

Ensure Social Security benefits are sufficient to keep retirees out of poverty. The immediate future is dire for many Americans nearing retirement: one in five Americans has no retirement savings at all. To keep seniors out of poverty, Governor O’Malley supports increasing the special minimum social security benefit to 125 percent of the poverty line for Americans who have worked at least 30 years.

Increase Social Security benefits for minimum wage- and lower-income workers. As wealth inequality continues to widen and traditional middle class jobs prove harder to come by, Governor O’Malley supports adjusting “bend points” in the formula to give minimum-wage and lower- and middle-income workers more financial security.

Prevent benefits from eroding over time. Governor O’Malley supports using the Consumer Price Index for the Elderly (CPI-E) instead of the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners (CPI-W) to determine Social Security’s cost-of-living adjustments. The CPI-E provides a more accurate reflection of the higher cost of living for retirees than the current measure, which focuses on younger workers. Using the CPI-E will ensure that benefits do not erode for future generations of retirees.

Reform Social Security to support, rather than penalize, caregiving. Governor O’Malley supports providing up to five years of “caregiver credits” that would increase the 35-year wage base for those who spend an extended period of time providing full-time care for children, elderly parents, or other dependents. In practice, current methods of calculating benefits penalize workers, most often women, who take extended time off to care for their families.

Reject efforts to raise the Social Security retirement age. Governor O’Malley believes that raising the retirement age is a back-door way to cut benefits for lower-income workers. It harms these workers in two ways: by forcing them to delay retirement in jobs that are often physically difficult, and by reducing lifetime payouts compared to wealthier retirees, who live five years longer on average than their lower-income counterparts.

CREATE SIMPLE, STREAMLINED RETIREMENT SAVINGS OPPORTUNITIES

With the days of defined benefit plans long past, millions of hardworking Americans lack adequate savings to support their standards of living when they retire. Nearly one in three Americans has no retirement savings, rising to one in two for Americans under the age of 30. Current investment vehicles such as defined contribution plans and IRAs have been grossly inadequate and underutilized for preparing most working Americans for comfortable retirements.

As president, Governor O’Malley will:

Dramatically expand access to employer-based retirement plans. Half of all workers do not have access to a retirement plan. Among part-time and low-income workers, roughly seven in 10 lack an employer-based retirement option. Governor O’Malley would require employers with more than 10 employees to process an automatic employee contribution to an IRA for all employees, at a level determined by the employee (who would have the option to opt out).
Raise wages so all workers can afford to save. Since millions of hardworking Americans live paycheck-to-paycheck and struggle to save for retirement, raising the minimum wage and other wage policies are also critical to ensuring that today’s workers can retire with dignity and security in the future.

PROTECT SENIORS FROM RISKS TO THEIR FINANCIAL SECURITY

Older Americans face increased financial risks that threaten their ability to retire with dignity. Every day, unscrupulous lenders and scam artists attempt to separate seniors from their lifelong earnings. Republicans in Congress bent on slashing budgets attempt to undermine Social Security and other vital programs. And a growing number of aging Americans who need quality long-term care cannot afford it.

Implementing measures to better protect seniors from these threats to their financial security will help provide a stronger retirement firewall for millions of Americans.

As president, Governor O’Malley will:

Reject efforts to privatize Social Security. Governor O’Malley views proposals to privatize Social Security for what they are—a massive benefits cut that will gut Social Security, add to the federal debt, and leave future generations without the critical protections Social Security has provided for decades.

Increase penalties for those who defraud our seniors. Older Americans are often targets for financial scams and exploitation, at an estimated cost of nearly $3 billion a year. The vast majority of frauds go unreported. Governor O’Malley will advocate for policies to protect our seniors from financial fraud, including laws to increase penalties for the financial exploitation of older Americans, laws to allow financial advisors to refuse or delay transactions where clients are being defrauded or exploited, programs to better identify and report financial exploitation among older Americans, and increased investment in prosecutors and advocates to go after elderly abuse.

Fully implement the fiduciary rule. Under existing retirement advice rules, some brokers and financial advisers are allowed to sell Americans products even if they know they are poor investments. This conflict of interest, where advisers put their own bottom lines before helping their clients, costs workers saving for retirement $17 billion every year. President Obama has proposed a critical and commonsense rule to require those who give financial advice to put their clients’ interests first. Governor O’Malley will fully enforce this important fiduciary standard, protecting the retirement savings of millions of Americans and creating a level playing field for the many investment advisers who already act in their customers’ best interests.

Make affordable, high-quality long-term care a national priority. Americans’ longer lifespans are outpacing our ability to provide quality and affordable long-term care. Although seven out of 10 Americans will need home care at some point in their lives, many Americans and their families struggle to afford it. Nine out of 10 people who provide long-term care are women, while home care workers are underpaid, overworked, and lack important benefits and protections.As baby boomers age, now is the time to move forward, working with the private sector, to develop an efficient, affordable, and high-quality system to provide a diverse range of long-term care services for our seniors. Governor O’Malley will lay out a comprehensive plan for reforming long-term care and supporting caregivers in the coming weeks and months.

https://martinomalley.com/policy/expanding-social-security/

[retrowire]

3. never forget

"Secretary Clinton, if elected, will you expand social security?"

"I will.... enhance Social Security."

nice pause for careful non committal wording Hillary!

[SmittynMo]

6. There she goes again

Totally non committal with fluff. No indication of what enhance means, or what she would do. I was actually shocked she used the words "I will".

[Scuba]

4. If one wants to know Hillary's position on Social Security, one should ask her friend Pete Peterson.

[Hoppy]

5. A.A.R.P. is primarily a tarted-up insurance company.

Good to see they are doing something positive for it's members.

Ask the candidates if they approve of removing the contribution cap.

[salib]

7. Yep. United Health Care will evaluate the candidates' positions.

Now, what if a candidate wanted to see single payer, full health care, I.e., no need for supplemental plans? What would UHC, er... ,AARP, have to say then?

[monicaangela]

8. AARP????

The American Association of Retired Persons (or AARP) is the eight hundred pound gorilla of associations supposedly representing senior citizens.

In actuality, the organization is a huge fraud on seniors, profiting by commission from a variety of money making schemes, receiving millions of taxpayer dollars, and promoting programs of big government and high taxes which hurt, not help, seniors. Considering the record of the AARP, we like to call them the AARP–the Association Against Retired Persons.

AARP had an unusual origin but one that gave it a tremendous boost in members and money. In 1947, Ethel Percy Andrus, a principal, established the National Retired Teachers Association (NRTA) and, in a unique partnership with insurance executive Leonard Davis, formed AARP in 1958. Davis provided insurance policies for NRTA members, and made a personal (though highly controversial) fortune for himself in the process.

http://60plus.org/aarp/

As far as what the candidates are saying regarding Social Security, fact is, they can only advocate for changes to be made. It is up to congress to make those changes, if we don't remove the republican majority in the House and Senate, all these plans being discussed by democratic candidates are for nothing IMHO.