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Over the next 40 years, raise the earnings limit for payroll taxes ($94,200 in 2006) very gradually back up to its traditional level. Congress set the level at 90% of earnings in 1983 but it's now down to 83% because the earnings of the very high paid have been rising much more than average wages in the past 20 years.
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Dedicate estate taxes to Social Security. The estate tax would be set at 2009 levels so only estates greater than $3.5 million ($7 million for a couple) would be taxed. This new source of revenue partially repays Social Security for the deficit it incurred in its early years. Social Security paid many generations of workers higher benefits than their contributions funded, and this tax recoups part of that
debt owed by earlier generations.
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Over the next 20 years, invest the trust fund in equities gradually up to a maximum of 20%. Current law requires Trust assets to be invested in special U.S. government bonds. But other federal programs (the Railroad Retirement program), other countries (Canada) and all similar public and private pension plans invest in stocks as well as bonds. This should increase Social Security's resources while protecting the benefits of individual workers from the risk of a market downturn at retirement.