Are you feeling insecure about Social Security?

As seen in The Oakland Press

October 11th, 2026

Are you feeling insecure about Social Security?

by Ken Morris

The closer we get to the November elections, the less I watch commercial television. All the commercials and the airwaves are inundated with political ads and seem to pit good against evil. We do live in a complex world, with millions of opinions and a total lack of clear-cut solutions to the hurdles we are, and will be facing, in the future. Unfortunately, solutions require more than 30 or 60 second soundbites.

One issue that remains on the backburner in this election cycle is Social Security. On the rare occasions when it is brought up, politicians lob verbal grenades at one another. Apparently unaware that we’re about six years away from recipients being forced to take a pay cut.

There are currently about 70 million Americans receiving Social Security benefits. And for nearly 28 million of them, it’s their only source of retirement income. When that many people face the possibility of benefit cuts, it should be front page news.

It’s not surprising that so much debate surrounds Social Security. It’s a program with complex rules. Different rules apply to different wage earners. Those with a work history of lower wages receive a higher percentage of those wages compared to those who have earned more during their working years.

Let’s consider a 65-year-old who retired in 2024 with an average annual income of $30,000. His or her total annual Social Security benefit would be almost $15,000. That’s a tidy 50 percent of annual earnings. Now, if that same person had earned $106,000 per year, the annual benefit would total almost $34,000. That represents about 32 percent of annual wages. So, the higher the income history, the lower the benefit payments as a percentage of earnings.

Forget the math. It sounds simple, but it’s also complicated. Just understand that the more you earn, the less you get back percentage wise. When Social Security was introduced, we didn’t have the medical technology that we have today. Life expectancies are longer and there’s a reasonable chance that many people will reach age 100. Current research indicates that most retirees will receive benefits totaling nearly four times the total amount of Social Security taxes they paid, including the employer match. Looking at employees only contributions, they’re getting seven times more than they’ve paid in.

So, considering that six-year warning, what can be done? Should the higher wage earners be asked to deposit even more and get a smaller percentage? Should income benefits be reduced for all? Or only for some? Should the Full Retirement Age be increased?

It seems that whenever politicians propose a fix, their political opponent will find a way to trash it. At the end of the day, it’s a numbers problem that’s so large and impacts so many people that any solution will be open to criticism. Maybe I’m kidding, but our $40 trillion debt suggests that our politicians are not very good at math.

It doesn’t matter if you’re red or blue, the current math just won’t continue to work. The trustees of the program have been warning us for years and unless changes are made, pay cuts for recipients will be here in about six years. I’m confident our elected officials will find a solution to the problem, but is inevitable that someone won’t be pleased.