April 13, 2011
The Honorable Tom Carper
513 Hart Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
Dear Senator Carper,
In recent comments on reforming Social Security, you said, “My sons are 21 and 22; neither of them thinks Social Security will be around for them. I want to make sure that it is.”
In fact, Social Security will be around for them. The Social Security trustees’ projections show that Social Security will maintain full solvency through the year 2037. Even if you and your colleagues in Congress never make any changes to the program, Social Security will always be able to pay close to 80 percent of scheduled benefits from then on. Assuming that they have several successful years in the workforce just as you have, when your sons retire in 2056 and 2057, they will each receive $37,044 a year (in 2010 dollars) for the rest of their lives.
As the discussion over Social Security continues, I hope you and your staff will have the opportunity to further review the design and finances of Social Security. If you would like any additional background on the program, I would be happy to assist you.
