We start with this reality: Social Security and Medicare are practically sacrosanct. Nearly nine-in-ten Americans say they’re good for the country. That’s an amazing number. But the popularity of these programs really isn’t all that surprising. People love them because they do what they were created to do. They ease many of the frets and dreads of old age \u201d\u201c a blessing not just for seniors but for everyone who loves, supports and depends on seniors. Which is to say, everyone.<\/p>\n
But the status quo is unsustainable. Some 10,000 Baby Boomers will be going on Social Security and Medicare every single day between now and 2030. By the time everyone in this big pig-in-the-python generation is drawing benefits, we\u2019ll have just two workers per beneficiary \u201d\u201c down from three-to-one now, five-to-one in 1960 and more than forty-to-one in 1945, shortly after Social Security first started supporting beneficiaries.<\/p>\n
The math of the 20th century simply won\u2019t work in the 21st. Today’s young are paying taxes to support a level of benefits for today’s old that they have no realistic chance of receiving when they become old. And they know it \u201d\u201c just 6% of Millennials say they expect to receive full benefits from Social Security when they retire. Fully half believe they\u2019ll get nothing.<\/p>\n