The tough part is how many people, defined by age, would be grandfathered into the current definitions. People who are 60 now have been planning their retirements for a long time. I would leave their plans alone. For those 59 or less, take the following steps:
1. Increase the age of eligibility by six months every year, until full SS settles in at 70, and partial SS could be set at 65. This roughly matches the longer life spans we now have.
2. KILL THE FAT CONGRESSIONAL RETIREMENT PLAN. Put them all on SS only, and dump the saved money into real people's retirement plans.
3. Adjust the COLA so it matches, rather than exceeds the true COLA increases.
4. Yes, do engage in selling or leasing federal property. You think excessive federal ownership of land is just a western problem. Not so. Half of Macon County, where I live in the Blue Ridge, is owned by the feds.
5. Allow all citizens to invest up to 10% of their SS contributions in private investments. Did you know that there is no ten-year period in history, including during the Depression, that the stock market has failed to OUT-PERFORM the "return" on SS?
There, you asked the question, and I wrapped my hands firmly around the "third-rail" of American politics. That's the way I campaign. I answer any question that anyone asks.
John / Billybob
1. While I agree with your concept, you need to have more realism about retirement planning. I started in my 30's and I believe it was a late start. Look at the Motley Fool, John Greaney, and Scott Burns web sites. Essentially the "safe" withdrawal rate from retirement funds is ~3.5% . As a rule of thumb, a retiree should have about 30 times the income he/she expects to need in savings & investments. Saving this amount of money does not happen in 5 years or even 10.
Move the cut off age to ~45 for current workers and your plan to raise the SS eligilbility age makes a lot of sense. Make the cut off age too early and you will lose support.
2. Killing the congressional plan and putting all government employees and elected officials into SS is the fastest way to produce reform.
3. You have to be careful with changing the COLA. For renters the true COLA increases are higher than homeowners. Sooner or later, many homeowner retirees end up renting when they can no longer keep up their houses.
4. The promlem of federal ownership is worse in the west, but it certainly exists everywhere. 5. A modest privatization is probably good. I am aware of the pitiful "return" on SS. As you point out, stocks are always a better bet.