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Report says a second Trump term would add 4 billion tons of climate pollution; Trump predicts a bloodbath for the country if he is defeated in November's election; Nevada leaders discuss future of IVF, abortion in the Silver State; and anglers seek trawler buffer zone as Atlantic herring stock declines.

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The SCOTUS weighs government influence on social media, and who groups like the NRA can do business with. Biden signs an executive order to advance women's health research and the White House tells Israel it's responsible for the Gaza humanitarian crisis.

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Midwest regenerative farmers are rethinking chicken production, Medicare Advantage is squeezing the finances of rural hospitals and California's extreme swing from floods to drought has some thinking it's time to turn rural farm parcels into floodplains.

Will Social Security Last for Gen X, Y, Z?

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Monday, April 30, 2012   

CONCORD, N.H. - The annual checkup on the financial health of Social Security was released last week by the Social Security Board of Trustees, and the prognosis is that the trust fund will be exhausted by 2033. That's three years earlier than last year's projection.

While some are sounding the alarm bell, Steve Gorin, the executive director of the New Hampshire Chapter of the National Association of Social Workers, says the news is not surprising, given the recent recession. According to Gorin, fixing the projected shortfall would not take much effort.

"It's been estimated that to make Social Security solvent for the next 75 years would require an increase in the payroll tax of roughly 1.1 percent from employers and 1.1 percent from employees."

Gorin says the trust fund could also be made solvent by increasing the tax cap. It is currently capped at $110,000 per year, meaning no contributions go into Social Security for income above that amount. According to the National Academy of Social Insurance, three out of four Americans - across age groups and party lines - say it is critical to preserve Social Security, even if it means asking working Americans to pay higher taxes to do so.

Some economists and policy makers suggest keeping the current program for those 55 and older and offering younger workers the chance to invest over one-third of their Social Security Taxes into private retirement plans. Nancy Altman, co-director of Social Security Works, sees this as the wrong approach. She says the program is efficient the way it is.

"The reason it can be so efficient is because it covers everyone on a mandatory basis. If you start allowing people to opt out, it sounds good - it sounds like choice - but it would ultimately cause the whole system to unravel."

Altman says the program is strong and provides guaranteed benefits, unlike 401Ks and home equity.






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