An Open Letter to Mr. President: Make Respect for and Protection of Individual Rights Great Again (Part 2)

How about cementing your legacy in time for our country’s 250th birthday by championing retirement freedom?

Dear Mr. President,

I hope you enjoyed your inauguration. I’m afraid I didn’t watch, but I picked up the gist of it from my trusted news sources. The reception from my readers to part 1 of this letter was a mix of delight and dismay. The latter represented by those thinking me impolite, even rude, but I’m sure that’s like water off a duck’s back. However, after pardoning your J6 goons right off the bat, besting your predecessors equally despicable preventive pardons, you deserve every bit of it. But read on, there is still a chance for redemption.

It’s time to roll up the sleeves and get to work for real, not just signing executive orders. I’m sure you’ve already put your minions on kickstarting economic growth as I suggested in part 1. As I’m sure you remember, I ended on a cliffhanger:

“Kickstarting economic growth is apprentice work. My 2^nd and 3^rd agenda item get into master territory. Taking them on is what separates the men from the boys, it’s the stuff that heroes and legends are made off, it’s for guys who can attract Slovenian super models.”

Let’s get to it. Let’s separate the master from the apprentices starting with #2.

2. Champion Retirement Freedom

Yes, I know you told the country that Social Security is off-limits. But nobody will raise an eyebrow if you change your mind. In fact, most people would probably be surprised if you didn’t. Liberation will take time, probably a generation or two, but you can make a mark as the president who set the American people on the path to retirement freedom. You can be remembered with reverence as the president who finally secured our individual rights to plan and save for retirement without the government regulating or forcing a particular scheme down our throats.

How should you go about it, you ask? I suggest a couple of fireside chats with the nation explaining that we’re quickly moving towards bankrupting the system; that the unfunded liabilities for Social Security are over 50 Trillion, and the so called “trust fund” will run out of money by 2035 if we don’t do anything. But more importantly, you should explain that it’s immoral for the government to violate our individual rights to save and plan for retirement as we see fit. The abuse has been going on since the 1930s. Way too long. America’s grandparents and parents need to understand that without change, they’re saddling their grandchildren and children with a debt that they will never be able to repay. That should weigh heavily on their conscience. And the children and grandchildren should feel outraged over this betrayal by their elders. With your penchant for rallying the troops, why not organize a retirement freedom million men and women march on Washington to set the moral groundswell in motion? That’d be an audience for the ages.

What exactly should be done in practice, you may wonder? I realize you would want to get going as soon as possible. But fully restoring respect for and protection of individual rights in this area will take a generation or more as it wouldn’t be conscientious to pull the rug from under those who are dependent on Social Security for their livelihood. But you can establish the framework. Here are my top four suggestions:

1. Increase the Social Security retirement age

Increase the Social Security retirement age 1 year every 3 years until reaching the average life expectancy (currently around 78–79 years), returning to the original intent back when the program was implemented. Today’s 67 would become 68 in three years, 69 in six years, etc. The entire range of Social Security collection options from early (age 62) to late (age 70) would be adjusted accordingly. (A similar approach was part of the solution back in 1983 when Social Security last time was on the brink of insolvency.) If you don’t think this aggressive enough, then increase it 1 year every 2 or 2.5 years. You’re the boss.

2. Reduce benefits

Reduce benefits from a certain cutoff date, allowing everyone who is, say, age 50 and above to collect in full once reaching the retirement age as calculated above. For everyone younger than 50, reduce benefits by, for example, 2.5% per year of age under 50. If you’re 49 at the cutoff date, you’ll collect 97.5% when reaching full retirement age; if age 48, 95%; if 40, 75%, and so on. That will allow for plenty of time to save up for retirement for those younger than 50. Again, you can make this more aggressive, at least as a bargaining strategy with Congress.

3. Phase out inflation indexing

As you know, Social Security benefits are indexed for inflation every year (COLA – Cost of Living Adjustment). Phase out indexing over, for instance, 10 years, reducing the adjustment with 1/10 each year. This will significantly speed up the process of making the current system solvent. (It will also have the added benefit of helping you put pressure on Congress to keep spending—and consequently inflation—down to not reduce the purchase power of people’s social security checks.)

4. Reduce Social Security taxes

Reduce Social Security taxes gradually to zero after all current liabilities have been funded (assuming the above gradual dismantling).

Taken together, these initiatives will soon put us on track toward transitioning retirement planning and saving from today’s immoral individual rights-violating model to a capitalist social system where Americans’ individual rights are respected and they’re fully in control of planning and saving for retirement.

That’s it for part 2. Am I whetting your appetite yet? If kickstarting growth was the MAGA appetizer and giving Americans retirement freedom the main course, just you wait for the dessert! I promise you it’ll beat even McDonald’s Sweets and Treats. Cheers!