Many analysts agree that reducing COLAs may be appropriate, but they worry about the impact this measure is likely to have on older recipients. Policymakers face the dilemma of how to bring Social Security into balance while protecting all recipients. In order to do this, it is necessary to view Social Security benefits from a lifetime perspective rather than in yearly increments. With this sum, decisions can be made about how to distribute benefits so that they best serve an individual throughout his or her retirement. This proposal reduces lifetime benefits by the same amount that reducing COLAs would, but it has the advantage of extending greater protection to older recipients.
Retirement is no longer a brief period at the end of a person s life.
Today, it can amount to a substantial chunk of time for which retirees may not be financially prepared. Longer retirements are also burdensome for workers, who finance them through Social Security taxes. Unfortunately, it is difficult to reconcile older recipients need for more financial protection with policymakers attempts to control the growth of the Social Security program. Figures About the Authors Eugene Steuerle is a senior fellow at the Urban Institute, where his research includes work on Social Security reform. Christopher Spiro and Adam Carasso are research assistants at the Urban Institute.