opinion : Social Security reform

So fixing Social Security is going to cost 2.5 trillion dollars. Or maybe not. Well either way we need to face the facts the system is in trouble. Whether you like the president's plan or not, you have to admit that we need to do something. The system takes in less then it pays out, and this is clearly not sustainable. Sure the easiest thing to do would be to just let it run out and 2042, but that is just about the time when I would retire, so clearly I don't like that option.
So what can we do about this problem? Well first we need to look at how the system was supposed to work. In fact it hasn't changed much since it was established in the Great Depression. At that time it worked great because there were very few people who were retired and many workers to support those who did. This reality has changed howeve,r and we need to change the system to meet current needs. First of all the minimum age is being argued about. Any one who thinks that this does not need to be changed is probably being bribed or about age 50. With much different occupations and much better medicine and nutrition, there is no reason why people today cannot work much longer. In fact they live much longer and there is no reason why a 65 year old person needs to retire from an office desk job. Raising the age to retire over 70 would probably be the best start to fix the system.
Because of the huge influx of old people thanks to the baby boom, The system will still not work without some other major changes. The fact is that we need some way to get more money into the retirement fund pool. Now there are many ways to do this, with investing in private markets and raising taxes being among the most obvious. Now the investment way seems to be favored by the president and the whole thing could work very well, assuming that the stock market has good returns forever, which seems unlikely. this plan would essentially make the Social Security fund a giant mutual fund. Now I would think that the huge influx of capital would be a boon to the economy, but the obvious question remains: where are we going to get the money for this. This is where the 2.5 trillion dollar figure comes from, as this is what analysts believe the one time costs of this program would be. And this brings us to the other solution, which would raise the 2.5 trillion dollars in the same way that's the government raises all its other funds: raising taxes. Of course everyone is always against raising taxes, but in this case, I am not sure that we have any choice. I am certainly not a big fan of taxes but I would much rather pay an extra one or two percent now than not get social security money when I retire. So I guess my point and all this: whether or not you agree with the president's plan, you must agree that we need to do some type. Leaving this problem along will not make it go away.