2: Entitlement Reform Other Information:
With the oldest of 78 million baby boomers starting to retire, the sum of America’s unfunded liabilities and off-the-balance
sheet entitlement promises currently exceeds three times the size of the entire U.S. economy. Medicare and Social Security
alone amount to more than $40 trillion. And, the sum grows by an estimated $2 trillion to $3 trillion per year. Today, people
are encouraged to spend more than one-third of their entire adult lives in retirement, reducing the share of benefits available
to the truly old and needy. We need to reform our entitlement programs to reflect current economic realities and longer life
spans, adjust to the needs of the modern family, and do more to prevent poverty or near-poverty in old age, while also making
the programs solvent, sustainable, and more savings-oriented.
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