[leadpenny]

There are only two meaningful alternative solutions to fixing SS:

1) Plunge a knife through the heart of it and kill it once and for all, or . .

2) Lift the cap on FICA contributions (currently in the $80,000+ range) so we all can go down the path of complete socialism together.

You'll never hear that on the campaign trail.

[yoe]

Under the Federal Insurance Contributions Act (FICA), 12.4 percent of your earned income up to an annual limit must be paid into Social Security, and an additional 2.9 percent must be paid into Medicare.

There are no income limits on Medicare taxes -- so even if your income is well above the cap for Social Security tax, you will still owe Medicare tax on the total.

If you're a wage or salaried employee, you pay only half the FICA bill (6.2 percent for Social Security + 1.45 percent for Medicare), and the tax is automatically withheld.

Your employer must contribute the other half.

For most people that means 7.65 percent of their paycheck is withheld and their company pays another 7.65 percent on their behalf.

If you're self-employed, however, you're expected to cough up both the employee and the employer share of FICA. You are, however, permitted to deduct half of this self-employment tax as a business expense.

[Puppage]

LOCK BOX!

[G L Tirebiter]

2) Lift the cap on FICA contributions (currently in the $80,000+ range) so we all can go down the path of complete socialism together.

While I agree that lifting the cap would be a stupid idea it is not a potential "solution". The amount of revenue it might raise is meager in comparison to the amounts needed if there isn't a basic, fundamental restructuring.

The only pols out there talking about this idea are the dedicated class warriors (e.g. Teddy).

[Jack of all Trades]

For myself, I see another alternative solution: screw Social Security. I have 15 years to minimize my need for income from wages. Here's the plan:

1) Practice financial austerity: stay out of revolving debt, save and invest to the hilt, emphasize purchases of durable, useful items.
2) Continue to develop personal skills that can be performed for cash or bartered for things of value.

Granted, my plan has several holes in it. It doesn't provide a solution as much as a path to a solution for taxpayers, and most people probably wouldn't choose this path. The more people that adopt this plan, the more SS recipients will be left in the lurch. In the years leading up to the Federal budgetary s#!! hitting the fan, the ability of individuals to use cash will be limited because the FedGov will become desperate for money. Also, it does not take into account what will happen to people who come of age after the crash, if or when it comes.

A naive and grandiose plan, I know, but at least it gives me a little hope.