Kaplan’s Top Ten Myths of Social Security now available via SSRN

This classic work by the indefatigable Dick Kaplan is a must-read for talking heads, law profs, and anyone else who thinks they know what’s up with the Social Security.

Abstract:  Few federal programs are as well known andas widely misunderstood as Social Security, despite its nationalprominence in matters both political and economic. As efforts to reformthis creation of the Great Depression era are likely in the comingyears, this article examines the principal myths surrounding thisprogram to set the stage for evaluating possible revisions. The mythsconsidered in this article include the following: (1) there is a trustfund, (2) Social Security does not increase the federal budget deficit;(3) retirees are only recovering their own money, (4) Social Securitywill not be there when one retires, (5) retirement benefits areproportional to one’s lifetime earnings, (6) Social Security favorstwo-income married couples, (7) Social Security favors long-livedmarriages, (8) one could do better investing directly, (9) workingafter retirement makes financial sense, and (10) retirement benefitsare taxed more heavily than other pension payments.

Get it here:  http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1087367

And for some interesting info on how to fix the SS “crisis”, see Jon Formans VCPPTs (very cool power points): http://tinyurl.com/384g39