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The man who fixed Social Security when it went broke in the ‘80s has some advice for today’s politicians

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Summary
Nutrition label

63% Informative

John Svahn , who goes by Jack , was the Social Security Commissioner in the 1980s .

He oversaw the last major legislative reform to the program.

The Social Security Amendments of 1983 were signed into law by former President Ronald Reagan .

The changes included raising the retirement age for future beneficiaries from 65 to 67 and implementing taxation of benefits.

Svahn: Social Security is in financial straits or will be in another 10 years .

He says it's a matter of economics and demographics.

The number of kids born has not kept up with the number of people living longer, he says.

Svahn says Congress only acts when it is critical.

Svahn: People who work a long time receive a higher replacement rate when they retire and go on Social Security .

He says people who work at high wages for long periods of time receive lower percentage replacement rate.

VR Score

73

Informative language

75

Neutral language

40

Article tone

informal

Language

English

Language complexity

33

Offensive language

not offensive

Hate speech

not hateful

Attention-grabbing headline

not detected

Known propaganda techniques

not detected

Time-value

short-lived

External references

no external sources

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