Social Security 101: The Program and the Problem

This session will cover how the current Social Security system works, how it is financed, and what action must be taken to make the system sustainable for the long term. Social Security's benefit structure, the nature of the Social Security Trust Fund, and the assumptions behind the trustee's projections of coming insolvency will all be addressed. Solutions based on personal retirement accounts will be introduced.

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Personal Accounts: Facts and Fantasy

Personal accounts sound like a good idea, but many people have doubts. This session will address the toughest objections made against personal retirement accounts, including issues of transition costs, stock market risk, progressivity, and more.

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Comparing Proposals for Social Security Reform

Day three will look at specific proposals for Social Security reform from both sides of the aisle. This session will walk through the decisionmaking process of crafting an personal account plan, compare and contrast personal account proposals, and examine the tradeoffs made by each plan. It will also include a discussion of proposals for Social Security reform that do not involve personal accounts, including tax increases, benefit cuts, government investment of the trust fund in the stock market, and personal accounts on top of traditional Social Security.

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The Politics of Social Security Reform

The final day of Social Security University will move from the substance of reform proposals to the politics of the debate. There will be an examination of the most recent polling data, and a discussion of the best way to approach the issue.