Social Security Upgrades for Retirement's Realities

About this episode

Kathryn Anne Edwards discusses potential updates to Social Security to better reflect the realities of retirement.

Economist Kathryn Anne Edwards is a Social Security fan girl. Would it be possible for her to love it even more? Yes, if the old-age insurance program got some updates to handle the messy, gradual and interrupted way that retirement truly transpires. Her four blue-sky pitches: changing benefit calculations for caregivers, taking benefits temporarily, a sliding “full” retirement age based on years worked, and a tax on companies that abuse 1099 non-employee compensation. Plus: A big retcon segment including details from a new study by the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco that further explains why "more supply" isn't the whole answer to the housing affordability crisis. Support Optimist Economy by donating: https://optimisteconomy.com Video clips are on the Optimist Economy YouTube channel⁠⁠ . Follow us on Instagram at ⁠⁠ @optimist_economy or TikTok at ⁠⁠ @optimist_economy . Or meet other Optimists on our Substack chat . Optimist merch provides great utility: https://merch.ambientinks.com/collections/optimisteconomy Send your economic questions, concerns, or executive orders to optimist.economy@gmail.com

People in this episode

Host: Robin Rauzi

Guest: Kathryn Anne Edwards

Topics covered

• Social Security
• retirement
• economic policy
• housing affordability
• caregiver benefits

Keywords

• Social Security
• retirement updates
• caregiver benefits
• housing crisis
• economic policy

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, Optimist Economy

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