Online Social Security Statement In Limbo 160
coondoggie writes "While the debate over Social Security benefits is heating up in Congress, one of the most basic ways everyone interacts with the agency — the yearly Social Security Statement — is in limbo as the agency struggles to move it online. The Social Security Statement had been issued every year since 2000 to more than 150 million workers serving as the government's key way of communicating with workers about benefits, earnings records and how much retirement money they have. The statement is also a key tool for communicating with the public about the long-term financial challenges the Social Security system faces. However, whether you realize it or not, the SSA suspended mailings of the statement in March citing budgetary concerns."
Re:They can have a $1 for this. (Score:5, Informative)
I will gladly pay $1 in taxes each year to pay for them to print and mail a statement.
I've seen the accounting for such things in a number of corporations, and none of them could send out statements at a cost of under $1, so I doubt that the SSA can achieve such a cheap mailing, either.
There are a lot more costs than the paper and postage. This is the reason for the inexorable move to electronic statements. It's far cheaper to move a flock of electrons or photons than it is to move the equivalent pieces of paper. Electrons and photons are much better behaved than pieces of paper, so it can mostly be handled by the computers and comm gear, without human hands getting involved. You'd be surprised at how difficult it is to fully automate paper communications.
(Unless you've done it, of course, in which case you know most of the zillions of ways that pieces of paper -- and the moving parts that push them around -- can screw things up. ;-)
Sigh (Score:5, Informative)
Maybe you should read one of those statements they mail, or just do some reading online. Social Security in its current state will never "collapse" because it is funded by taxes. It has taxes collected just for it, from every paycheck. As such, so long as there are people working in America, it has a revenue stream.
The problem is not a collapse, the problem is that they will not be able to pay out promised benefits. Currently the SSA takes in less money than they need to pay out for benefits. In the short term, that is ok, they have a large fund which is used to fund the difference. However the difference is quite large, and nothing is being done to fix the problem. That means at some point the fund will be depleted (when depends on a lot of factors, you can look up the various estimates). When that happens, they can't pay out the promised benefits, only a fraction of them, maybe 70% currently.
It is a big problem, particularly since many people depend on social security to not be homeless in old age. However it will not "collapse."
In terms of suspending mailings, well it probably saves more than you think. It isn't just postage, it is printing costs. No, it doesn't cost a lot to print a couple page flyer. Does cost a bit to print a hundred million of them though.
Given that they are spending out more than they take in, it makes sense to cut where it is feasible. This would be a potential area.
Re:Dire Omen? (Score:5, Informative)
One problem here that not many people know about is that the "trust fund" isn't an actual account with actual money in it.
It's basically just a stack of IOUs from the Treasury dept stating that they will pay that amount when the SSA requests it, but if future government revenues or budgets are not conducive to that money being available from Treasury, it could be hard for them to get it.
Re:Dire Omen? (Score:4, Informative)
One problem here is that people posting things like the above don't know what an "actual account" is, since that's exactly what an actual account (e.g., at a bank) is.
You seem to have "account" confused with "safety deposit box".
Re:They can have a $1 for this. (Score:5, Informative)
Sorry, but you are out of your mind if you think it costs $3 to $10 to produce and stuff and address that statement.
We do such mailings all the time for far, far less. And in THAT type of volume, with automation, the actual costs is well below $1.
Even our Xerox printer/copers at a measly 70ppm, ACTUAL COSTS, including the tabloid paper, would be about $0.03 per statement. Envelope and stuff for another $0.05. Address it for another $0.01 or so. I am guessing the actual costs of their statements, ready to mail, are in the $0.10 to $0.15 range.
There is NO WAY they are going to maintain a website design, and database, and hardware, and electricity, and ISP, AND SUPPORT THE MILLIONS OF LOGINS and HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF CONFUSED elderly for less than their simple annual mailing. No way.