I reached a middle-age milestone this year: my oldest child got married and moved out — one down, three to go. My daughter and son-in-law, ages 19 and 21 and both employed, quickly learned about the payroll tax. Like the rest of us, they see 12.6% of every paycheck taken by the government and handed over to people like my upper-middle class parents, who definitely don’t need it.
That’s Social Security for you: a perversion of traditional values about saving, investment, and wealth transfers. Generally speaking, wealth should voluntarily flow from the old, who can’t take it with them, to the young, who could use a financial boost.
Sure, we might want a government program to stabilize incomes for the elderly poor who lacked the wherewithal to save or who risk outliving their own wealth. But a program that pays out based strictly on age, and not need? That’s not “social insurance.” That&#8217;s intergenerational plunder and a looming fiscal train wreck. It has to stop.
Everyone knows Social Security is broke and broken. The program has been paying out more than it takes in since 2021, and the latest projections have the Social Security trust fund depleted by 2033. After that date, it will only pay 79% of scheduled benefits if significant changes aren’t made.
Reform, however, seems politically impossible. Old people are the most reliable voting bloc. No sane politician dares tamper with their precious entitlements, lest he invite the wrath of the AARP — just ask Paul Ryan or George W. Bush. Raising payroll taxes also won’t fly. Unlike the personal income tax, lower earners pay proportionately higher shares of their income to Social Security. Stabilizing the program would require tax hikes on everyone — a political non-starter.
To fix Social Security, we need to <a href="https://inpolicy.org/2024/12/white-paper-the-art-of-the-deal-a-win-win-proposal-to-save-social-security/?mc_cid=a1fb06c6c9&amp;mc_eid=f20cc410a8">think outside the box</a>. Tweaking the retirement age, tax rates, and benefits won’t do. We don’t need “reform” so much as an escape hatch. If we can wean a relatively small number of people off of Social Security, we can preserve the substance of the program for those who truly need it. What we need is a &#8220;buyout.&#8221;
Companies have used buyouts for decades to resolve unfunded pension liabilities. In a buyout, the company lets workers out of the retirement plan in exchange for some kind of payment. This can be either a lump-sum, which the participant gets to invest and manage, or a more reliable alternative annuity contract. The company fixes its finances by offloading its pension obligations. Workers who accept buyouts gain greater security and control over their entitled funds.
<h3><a href="https://get.dailywire.com/?_gl=1*12irifn*_gcl_au*MTk0MTMwNzY0LjE3MzUwNjczNzI.*_ga*MjExMDc1MjEyMy4xNzE5NDkwOTk4*_ga_CZKR9ZYKJP*MTczNTMwOTU5OC43NzMuMS4xNzM1MzA5NjI2LjMyLjAuMA.." target="_blank" rel="noopener">50% OFF ALL DAILY WIRE ANNUAL MEMBERSHIPS FOR A LIMITED TIME!</a></h3>
Here’s how a Social Security buyout <a href="https://inpolicy.org/2024/12/white-paper-the-art-of-the-deal-a-win-win-proposal-to-save-social-security/?mc_cid=a1fb06c6c9&amp;mc_eid=f20cc410a8" target="_blank" rel="noopener">would work</a>: I renounce the benefits that I’m entitled to when I reach retirement age. In return, the government will give me a modest, gradual reduction of my portion of the payroll tax. I crunched the numbers for a 10-year phased-in reduction of the employee’s share of the Old Age tax, from 5.3% to zero. Both Social Security and I come out ahead, easily. This is because Social Security does not invest tax “contributions.” Instead, it pays them directly over to retirees, in true Ponzi scheme fashion. Its rate of return ranges from pathetically small to negative for all but the oldest and lowest-earning participants — well below the returns available with stock market index funds.
The buyout is calibrated to offer a significantly higher rate of return and gain in net wealth. To ensure success and forestall regret, I will further commit to investing, within my IRA, the amount of my payroll tax reduction. Because I still have decades to invest before retirement, I will come out ahead compared with what Social Security would have provided. There are many like me, probably millions, who similarly aren’t counting on Social Security and are self-funding retirement. They too will voluntarily leave as long as the value of the buyout exceeds their scheduled Social Security benefits. According to initial calculations, a Social Security buyout should be a clear win for workers ages 45 and under in the top half of the income distribution. If a tax-saving buyout were offered continually starting now, Social Security would be stabilized when about 20% of workers opt out, with no changes to benefits, to retirement age, or to tax schedules for those who choose to stick with the program.
If you like your Social Security plan, go ahead and keep it, and good luck to you. But let me (and millions more) out, and save the program. I never wanted Social Security anyway, and I’m better off investing on my own. Most importantly, I can stop plundering my children, increase my investment in America’s future, and feel good about being part of the solution.
* * *
Tyler Watts is a professor of economics at Ferris State University in Big Rapids, Michigan.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

Social Security Cards with US One Hundred Dollar Bill $100

Here’s A Radical Way To Fix Social Security Forever

Here's A Radical Way To Fix Social Security Forever

Federal Government

Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR)

National Debt

Opinion

Pensions

Retirement

Social Security

Taxes

The State Financial Officers Foundation announced on Tuesday a new effort, joined by <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/utah" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Utah</a> Treasurer Marlo Oaks (R), to push back on the use of pension funds to back leftist political causes.
The foundation launched the <a href="https://publicfiduciary.net" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Public Fiduciary Network</a>, chaired by Oaks, to raise awareness about the use of public pension funds to push politicized Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) initiatives. According to the group, there are about 5,000 state and local pension funds across the United States that control trillions of dollars in assets.
“Our goal is to provide education and resources for to them to understand the scope of the problem in the financial industry, the level of politicization of these funds, and to understand very clear ways that they can protect the fiduciary duty with respect to how they’re managing and overseeing these pension funds,” Noah Wall, the executive director of the State Financial Officers Foundation, said at a press conference in Florida.
Oaks, who will be the network&#8217;s national chair, said that teaching individuals on state and local pension boards about the efforts of some asset managers to back certain agendas was a “critical issue” because of the “politicization of our capital markets.”
The Republican said that pension fund managers needed to go back to the traditional understanding of fiduciary responsibility where political agendas do not impact investment strategies.
Earlier this month, a report from the American Accountability Foundation showed that Oklahoma public official retirement funds were being used to push decarbonization, racial audits, and pro-abortion policies. The report identified at least 216 ESG-tinged proposals that were backed using public retirement funds.
When asked by The Daily Wire if there would be a specific area of geographic focus for the network, Wall said they hoped to recruit partners at every level across the country.
“It’s a 50 state issue,” he said. “We’ll be working on recruiting members on states from around the country. It’s not a red state or blue state problem. This is a national issue. We’re going be recruiting everyone down to the county commissioners that oversee local pension boards.”
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State Financial Officer Foundation CEO Derek Kreifels said that raising awareness was especially needed because giant asset managers, like BlackRock, have stepped up their lobbying at the state and local level. Kreifels said BlackRock has sent mixed messages about its commitment to ESG investments, saying that its stance “depends on who&#8217;s in the room and who they’re talking to.”
In recent years, states have stepped up efforts to block state funds from going through asset managers that have targeted the oil and gas industry.

stack of one hundred dollars notes

New Effort Launched To Stop Use Of Public Pension Funds For Leftist Causes

Economy

Investors

U.S.

Utah

Dr. <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/show/fauci-unmasked">Anthony Fauci</a> is set to earn a pension larger than President <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/joe-biden">Joe Biden’s</a> salary upon his retirement, further rendering him the highest-paid federal employee in American history, according to a Thursday report from <a href="https://www.openthebooks.com/substack-dr-faucis-retirement-pension-414667-will-exceed-president-joe-bidens-salary-400000/">Open The Books</a>.
The government transparency nonprofit calculated that Fauci, who directs the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and works as Chief Medical Advisor to the president, will receive a $414,667 annual pension payout upon his retirement after Biden’s first term concludes. Because Fauci received a 5% salary increase from 2020 to 2021 and a 5.4% increase from 2021 to 2022, a conservative estimate of two more 5% increases leave him with a final salary of over $530,000.
Fauci, who has worked in the federal government for 59 years, currently earns more than National Institutes of Health Director Francis Collins, as well as U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra — both of whom make $203,500 per year. President Biden earns $400,000 per year, while members of Congress <a href="https://pressgallery.house.gov/member-data/salaries">earn</a> $174,000 per year and Chief Justice John Roberts earns $258,100.
Median household income was $67,521 in 2020, according to the U.S. <a href="https://www.census.gov/library/publications/2021/demo/p60-273.html#:~:text=Median%20household%20income%20was%20%2467%2C521,median%20household%20income%20since%202011.">Census Bureau</a>, implying that Fauci will earn more than six times what the average American family does.
Fauci told <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2022/07/18/anthony-fauci-interview-covid-00046189">Politico</a> earlier this week that he expects COVID to remain with the global population for several years. “We’re in a pattern now. If somebody says, ‘You’ll leave when we don’t have Covid anymore,’ then I will be 105,” he argued. “I think we’re going to be living with this.”
In any case, Fauci said that most Americans no longer heed his advice.
“It’s becoming more and more difficult to get people to listen, because even the people who are compliant want this behind them,” Fauci said. “What I try to convince them, with my communication method, is we’re not asking you to dramatically alter your lifestyle. We’re not asking you to really interfere with what you do with your life. We’re just asking you to consider some simple, doable mitigation methods.”
Fauci also expects Republicans — who will <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/gop-senator-midterms-will-be-bloodbath-for-democrats">likely win</a> the House of Representatives and possibly the Senate this year — to target him politically. “They’re going to try and come after me, anyway,” Fauci said. “I mean, probably less so if I’m not in the job.”
Indeed, Fauci has <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/sen-paul-demands-answers-from-fauci-on-gain-of-function-funding">faced criticism</a> for his agency’s alleged use of gain-of-function research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology. In a hearing earlier this year, Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) pressed Fauci on the origins of COVID.
“What happens when he gets out and accuses me of things that are completely untrue,” Fauci responded to the panel, “is that all of a sudden that kindles the crazies out there and I have threats upon my life, harassment of my family and my children with obscene phone calls, because people are lying about me.”
Paul told The Daily Wire earlier this year that Fauci’s rebuke was irresponsible.
“Anyone who dares to question Fauci’s smear campaign against other scientists is accused by Fauci of fomenting violence,” he explained. “As someone who actually was the target of semiautomatic gunfire by a Bernie Sanders supporter, I never once accused Senator Sanders of being responsible for the attack and I resent Fauci avoiding the question by ginning up the idea that his opponents are the cause of threats.”

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Fauci’s Pension Will Be Bigger Than Biden’s Annual Salary, Largest In Federal History

Fauci Poised To Be The Highest-Earning Retiree In Federal History

Anthony Fauci

COVID

Joe Biden

Former New York Democratic Governor Andrew Cuomo is still collecting a paycheck from the State of New York despite resigning in disgrace following scandals related to the COVID-19 pandemic and sexual assault allegations with nearly a dozen women. 
The <a href="https://www.niagara-gazette.com/news/local_news/cuomo-collecting-4-219-monthly-pension/article_f082fd2b-3e88-5e7c-816d-045c668daf56.html">Niagara Gazette</a> first reported Sunday that Cuomo received his first pension check last month in the amount of more than $4200. Cuomo’s reported annual benefits from the state amount to more than $50,000, which he will receive for the rest of his life. Cuomo will also receive a 1.4 percent cost of living increase every year. 
A spokesman for the New York State Comptroller confirmed the payments to <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/cuomo-collecting-pension-checks-new-york-state-government">Fox News</a> Monday. &#8220;Andrew M. Cuomo’s gross monthly retirement benefit with the New York State and Local Retirement System has been finalized and is $4,219.11,&#8221; the spokesman said. &#8220;He received his first pension payment in October of 2021.&#8221;
Under New York Law, members of the government “convicted of a felony related to their public service may have their retirement benefits reduced or revoked,” the <a href="https://www.osc.state.ny.us/retirement/members/forfeiture-benefits-convicted-felons">Comptroller’s website</a> states. However, the process is somewhat complicated. The District Attorney of State Attorney General must file a separate petition seeking the forfeiture of state benefits, only after the initial conviction. The Comptroller’s office must then verify that the individual is eligible for retirement benefits. Only then can the action proceed to trial. If the trial court orders the benefits to be revoked, the petitioning attorney must then serve the order to the Retirement System before they are mandated to comply. 
So far, Cuomo has not been charged with any crimes. 
The New York State Assembly released the final report of its impeachment investigation into Cuomo last Monday. As <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/report-former-ny-gov-cuomo-engaged-in-sexual-harassment-violated-ethics-rules-in-book-publishing-not-fully-transparent-about-nursing-home-deaths">reported</a> by The Daily Wire, the report found substantial evidence that Cuomo committed sexual harassment against multiple women, unethically used Executive Chamber employees and resources to write and publish his book on New York’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and was &#8220;not fully transparent&#8221; regarding nursing home deaths from COVID-19. 
The document begins by listing the allegations against former Governor Cuomo, along with a summary of the evidence for each charge and the investigators’ findings. First and foremost, the report deals with the charges from eleven different women who worked for or with Cuomo during his tenure. “We conclude that there is overwhelming evidence that the former Governor engaged in sexual harassment,” the report asserts.
Investigators next address the charges that Cuomo violated state ethics rules in writing and publishing his memoir “American Crisis: Leadership Lessons from the COVID-19 Pandemic.”
“We have reviewed evidence demonstrating that, in contravention of the requirement set forth by the Joint Committee on Public Ethics (&#8220;JCOPE”) that ‘[n]o State property, personnel or other resources may be utilized for activities associated with the book,’ the former Governor utilized the time of multiple state employees, as well as his own, to further his personal gain during a global pandemic – a time during which the former Governor touted the ‘around-the-clock’ state response to the crisis,” the report found.
The report also alleges that Cuomo misrepresented information about the impact of COVID-19 on nursing home residents in New York. The investigators found that the Executive Chamber “substantially revised” a report by the New York State Department of Health, the revisions “largely intended to combat criticisms regarding former Governor Cuomo’s directive that nursing homes should readmit residents that had been diagnosed with COVID-19.”

Former Governor Andrew Cuomo

Former NY Governor Andrew Cuomo Receiving Pension Payments Despite Resignation, Investigations

Andrew Cuomo

Sexual Misconduct

Illinois State Senator Don Harmon (D), who serves as president of the senate, has requested a $40 billion bailout from Congress, citing the economic burden of the coronavirus pandemic on the state’s ability to raise revenue. 
According to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/17/business/dealbook/illinois-pension-coronavirus.html">The New York Times</a>, Harmon sent the letter to Congress this week, acknowledging that he realizes he’s “asked for a lot, but this is an unprecedented situation.” 
Furthermore, Harmon told the state’s Congressional delegation in a letter earlier this week that Illinois expects to lose approximately $14.1 billion in revenue as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, reported <a href="https://www.thecentersquare.com/illinois/illinois-democrats-seek-more-than-40-billion-in-federal-bailout-for-pensions-budget-deficits-more/article_5413ea42-80f4-11ea-93c6-ef1157a705ab.html">The Center Square</a>. 
“This loss would deplete approximately one-third of Illinois’ general funds in one fiscal year, significantly impacting state services and long-term obligations,” said the letter, which provided a preliminary assessment of how much funding the state would need. 
According to the assessment, the state’s largest request was a generic $15 billion grant to address the unbalanced budget, followed by a $10 billion request for the state’s notoriously expensive public pension system. 
The assessment also includes $6 billion for unemployment insurance trusts, $9.6 billion for individual municipalities and an additional $1 billion for areas disproportionately affected by the coronavirus, reports the news agency. 
The Times noted that the National Governors Association, a group made of the country’s governors, estimated that states, in total, would need $500 billion of “unrestricted fiscal support.” 
While Illinois’ expected budget shortfall is in line with the association’s projection — once adjusted for population — the addition of other factors into the federal bailout plea blows the request significantly out of proportion. 
The Times noted that state’s pension problems “far predate the coronavirus,” noting that the unfunded liabilities are one reason credit rating firms place the state “one notch above junk territory.”
According to <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-illinois-pensions/illinois-unfunded-pension-liability-rises-to-137-3-billion-idUSKBN1Y82ZP">Reuters,</a> Illinois unfunded pension liabilities reached $137 billion in December of 2019, and experts expect it to continue to grow at an unsustainable rate as long “contributions lag actuarial requirements” and the state’s constitutional protection of pension benefits remains intact. 
In 2015, the state supreme court struck down a law that sought to reign in the public pension systems — which had accrued over $100 billion in unfunded liabilities as of 2013 — in light of a section of the Illinois constitution that prohibits the state’s pension or retirement benefits from being “diminished or impaired.”
In the opinion, however, the court placed the problem at the steps of the state assembly, arguing that it did not properly anticipate that the pension system would become unmanageable, and was aware of the constitutional provision barring pensions from being cut. 
“The General Assembly had available to it all the information it needed to estimate the long-term costs of those provisions, including the costs of annual annuity increases, and the provisions have operated as designed.13 The General Assembly understood that the provisions would be subject to the pension protection clause,” said the court. 
“The funding problems which developed were entirely foreseeable. The General Assembly may find itself in crisis, but it is a crisis which other public pension systems managed to avoid and, as reflected in the SEC order, it is a crisis for which the General Assembly itself is largely responsible,” said the court. 
According to the think tank <a href="https://www.illinoispolicy.org/the-1-illinois-pension-millionaires/">Illinois Policy</a>, approximately 129,000 public employees in the state will retire with more than $1 million from the pension system.

Springfield, Illinois Cityscapes And City Views

Illinois Pleads For Multi-Billion Dollar Pension Bailout In Federal Coronavirus Request

Illinois

Gov. Bruce Rauner (R) of Illinois believes that his state is on the verge of &#8220;banana republic territory&#8221; because the state faces an imminent financial crisis. As described in a story <a href="http://www.thefiscaltimes.com/2017/06/12/Could-Illinois-Be-First-State-Go-Bankrupt">published</a> by The Fiscal Times on June 12:
<blockquote>
Last week, the state marked the second full year in which Gov. Bruce Rauner and a combative Democratic legislature were unable to agree on a new operating budget. The state Senate the week before rejected a House-passed budget measure premised on a $7 billion revenue shortfall after Rauner threatened to veto it.
</blockquote>
The article further explained the state&#8217;s financial predicament:
<blockquote>
The state was responsible for a record backlog of unpaid bills totaling $14.7 billion, causing fear among programs and local agencies dependent on state aid. State legislators also failed to approve a stand-alone kindergarten through 12th-grade education budget that was vital to the operations of the financially struggling Chicago school system, Reuters reported. A $15.7 billion bill to ensure schools open in the fall passed the Senate but was soundly defeated in the House. 
</blockquote>
According to Fox News, the state also has <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2017/06/20/illinois-careens-into-financial-meltdown-and-not-even-lottery-is-safe.html">$130 billion in unfunded pension obligations</a> that it needs to take into account. In short, Illinois is on the verge of filing for Chapter 9 bankruptcy, which could shut down the entire state. The actual cause of much of the state&#8217;s financial problems originated in 2011 when the state, led by Gov. Pat Quinn (D), <a href="http://www.thefiscaltimes.com/2017/06/12/Could-Illinois-Be-First-State-Go-Bankrupt">decided</a> to hike the tax rate to address a looming pension shortfall as well as offset a $12 billion deficit to account for a $35 billion state-wide budget. Since then, the Democrat-led state failed to reform the pension plans. Illinois Policy, an independent organization that promotes freedom-driven public policy in the state, <a href="https://www.illinoispolicy.org/reports/whats-driving-illinois-111-billion-pension-crisis/">listed</a> the following drivers for the pension crisis:
<ul>
<li>60% of state pensioners retired in their 50&#8217;s, many with full pension benefits.</li>
<li>Over half of state pensioners will receive $1 million or more in pension benefits over the course of their retirements. Nearly 1 in 5 will receive over $2 million in benefits.</li>
<li>Almost 60% of all current state pensioners can expect to spend 25 or more years collecting benefits, based on approximate actuarial life expectancies. Due to automatic, 3% compounded COLA benefits, those pensioners can expect to see their annual pension benefits double in size.</li>
<li>The average career pensioner &#8212; retired after Jan. 1, 2013, with 30 years of service or more &#8212; receives $66,800 in annual pension benefits and will collect over $2 million in total benefits over the course of retirement.</li>
<li>The average career pensioner will get back his or her employee contributions after just two years in retirement. In all, pensioners&#8217; direct employee contributions will only equal 6% of what they will receive in benefits over the course of their retirements.</li>
</ul>
With a financial crisis like this, nobody is going to get their pay-day without destroying the state economy. While Detroit filed for bankruptcy following its <a href="https://mishtalk.com/2016/05/24/detroit-fresh-out-of-bankruptcy-discovers-195m-pension-shortfall/">own pension crisis</a>, this could be the first time in the 21st century that a state in the union files for bankruptcy in a vain attempt to give excessive pension plans to government employees.
Great job, Democrats!
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WELL DONE, DEMOCRATS: The Entire State Of Illinois Is About To Go Bankrupt

Here&#8217;s the height of hypocrisy: members of Congress, who share in a pension system fully funded by taxpayers, are thinking of cutting the benefits of contributing to 401(k) and similar retirement plans.
Members of Congress participate in the Federal Employees Retirement System. How valuable is that? <a href="..:..:..:Applications:Microsoft%20Office%202011:Microsoft%20Word.app:Contents:defending-from-congress:%3Fmod=e2tw">The Wall Street Journal reports</a>:
<blockquote>
In 2015, the average taxpayer-funded annual pension received by recently retired members of Congress was $41,316. A representative or senator retiring in 2014 after 30 years in Congress would earn an annuity of roughly $104,600 to $130,500, <a href="https://slack-redir.net/link?url=https%3A%2F%2Ffas.org%2Fsgp%2Fcrs%2Fmisc%2FRL30631.pdf">according to the Congressional Research Service</a>.
</blockquote>
The Journal notes the difference between the average American and members of Congress: &#8220;Retirement savers in the private workforce pay outlandish management fees that can exceed 1% annually on lousy investment choices; members of Congress pay<a href="https://slack-redir.net/link?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.tsp.gov%2FPDF%2Fformspubs%2FFundC.pdf"> a maximum of 0.039% </a>for funds that <a href="https://slack-redir.net/link?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.wsj.com%2Farticles%2FSB10001424127887324442304578235892062924114">all but guarantee matching the market</a>.Those expenses on a $10,000 investment can easily eat up at least $100 a year for regular retirement savers; fees on the same amount in a U.S. representative or senator&#8217;s account can&#8217;t exceed $3.90.&#8221;
And just how much do members of Congress make? $174,000 annually.
Money contributed to 401(k)s isn&#8217;t subject to current income tax. Future earnings on those accounts aren&#8217;t either unless you withdraw them to live on in retirement.

TERRIBLE: Congress Considers Taxing 401(K) Contributions

Congress

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