Sep 18, 2024
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Dating back to 1935, Social Security has become a popular, ubiquitous safety net for retirement-age Americans and their families. In fact, it's indispensable. Yet this high-priority federal budget item stymies senators and congress members of every stripe. They’re reluctant at best to tinker with it, even though its funding is projected to run out by 2037.
To put the numbers into perspective, $1.5 trillion in Social Security benefits are to be paid out monthly to roughly 68 million Americans and more than 67 million beneficiaries in 2024, under a $14.2 billion operating budget. The Social Security Administration’s Program Operations Manual System alone has more than 20,000 pages, making it a proverbial third rail in American politics.
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In the quest for reform, some Republicans have suggested bumping up the full retirement age from 67 to 70. Meanwhile, democrats want the wealthy to help fund more of Americans’ Social Security benefits.
Given the disparity of views, it could be worth looking at how other worldwide retirement systems compare.
United Kingdom: National Insurance system
Introduced in 1912, the UK's National Insurance system — also referred to as social security — is administered by the nation's Department for Work and Pensions. As of 2021, it oversaw spending of 220 billion pounds (roughly $280 billion U.S. dollars), making it the nation's largest government program.
Salary contributions by both employers and workers total a minimum of 8%. That's significantly less than the amount contributed in the United States, which stands at 12.4%. The UK's current state pension age is 66 but will rise to 67 between 2026-2028 and could hit 68 depending on how lawmakers in Parliament proceed over the next few years.
For those eligible to collect the full amount, the UK’s State Pension pays out 221.20 pounds per week or more than $1,125 U.S. dollars monthly. Whereas, if you were to retire at age 70 in 2024 in the United States, the maximum you can earn is $4,873 U.S dollars per month — significantly more.
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India: Employees’ Provident Fund
Employees and employers each contribute 12% of the worker’s salary to the Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO). Though the process seems to raise many questions, given the astounding 427 questions on its FAQ page. If you took 5 minutes to read each answer, it would take you more than 35 hours.
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India’s Employees’ Provident Fund covers only a small portion of the organized workforce — namely, those who have a direct and regular employer-employee relationship. That translates to just 35 million out of a labor force of 400 million people with old-age income protection, according to Dezan Shira and Associates.
But if you are eligible, you can collect benefits as early as age 50, with the full pension available at 58. As of 2023 employees get around 38% of their last salary as a pension, according to Reuters.
Canada: OAS and CPP
Retirement contributions in Canada equal 11.9% of a salary, split between employee and employer. Canada financially assists retirees through two programs: Old Age Security (OAS) and the Canada Pension Plan (CPP).
The OAS is a monthly payment you can get if you are 65 and older and is based on the number of years you've lived in Canada after age 18. If you're 65 to 74, your maximum OAS monthly payment is $718.33 Canadian dollars and $790.16 for those 75 and over (about $518 and $570 U.S. dollars).
The CPP is a monthly, taxable benefit that replaces part of your income when you retire and lasts for the rest of your life. While the standard age to start a pension is 65, you can receive it as early as 60 or as late as 70. In 2024, the maximum monthly amount you can receive if you start your CPP pension at 65 is $1,364.60. However the average monthly payment as of April was $816.52 ($984 and $589 U.S. dollars respectively). That’s still less than the maximum in the United States.
Read More: Dave Ramsey says this 7-step plan ‘works every single time’ to kill debt, get rich in America — and that ‘anyone’ can do it
What are the potential reforms?
One possible solution for the United States — not so far-fetched given the track records of other nations — is to simply raise the retirement age. That’s what’s happening in Denmark where the country plans to increase the current retirement age from 66 to 68 by 2030 and 69 by 2035. Germany will also bring theirs up to 67 by 2031.
Still there’s no clear answer as to how lawmakers can remedy a depleting Social Security fund and the resolution may not please everyone. Benefit cuts and decreasing expenditure can result in a lower quality retirement, while increasing funds by way of increasing taxes for those in certain tax brackets also isn’t great news to bear. But one thing is for sure — no plan at all over the next decade is likely to cause some concern over a not-so-safe safety net for those approaching retirement.
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Lou Carlozo is a freelance contributor to Moneywise.
