Having dinner with Scott Rasmussen a couple weeks ago, we got onto the subject of Social Security. He remarked that people have different ideas about Social Security reform. Some people suggest raising taxes or the retirement age, other people want to go with privatization, still others propose reducing the benefits. Interestingly, Scott had a entirely different idea that is simple but brilliant.
Here’s the scope: Allow each Social Security recipient the latitude to pick how he wants his money accrued and allotted. For instance, if you want to retire at 70, then you can. If you want to retire at 65, so be it. If you want to increase benefits, you can tweak your contributions as such. With each person controlling the time frame and/or amount to be collected and reserved, this solution alleviates that one-solution-fits-all approach to reform that undoubtedly helps some and hurt others.
I think Scot’s idea has great potential.