The fact that the income is guaranteed is an important part of being an effective safety net. Nets with holes in them don't work -- you don't want to create just another retirement plan that can fail and leave grandma homeless. Otherwise you're back to square one with the same problem.
Boomers might have a bunch of wealth on paper when you count the value of their deferred-maintenance post-war home, and their 401k that is invested in a tech bubble -- but if their home burns down and the markets crash, even 'rich' boomers need a rent check on the first of the month.
Not to mention, that means testing also places burdens on the poorest among us that can be insurmountable for some.
A social safety net that doesn't catch these people is worthless, as it fails the entire point of having one instead of relying on private retirements.
I can tell you one thing for certain, declining birth rates across the entire western world are not due to Social Security and payroll taxes on Americans alone. And the fact that it is happening everywhere, is pretty good evidence that it's not Social Security's fault here.
There's a lot of research out there that answers that question. There are many reasons for declining birth rates, and those include cultural changes, changes an expectations of the standard of living, changes in family planning priorities.
If you really want to know the true answer to this, you don't need to ask a tax advisor or a politician, you need to ask a sociologist.
Boomers might have a bunch of wealth on paper when you count the value of their deferred-maintenance post-war home, and their 401k that is invested in a tech bubble -- but if their home burns down and the markets crash, even 'rich' boomers need a rent check on the first of the month.
Not to mention, that means testing also places burdens on the poorest among us that can be insurmountable for some.
A social safety net that doesn't catch these people is worthless, as it fails the entire point of having one instead of relying on private retirements.