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In response to David Evans’ Sept. 8 column, borrowing from a portion of Social Security is an interesting concept that never occurred to me. Thanks for bringing up the idea.
Many low-income people are the ones who struggle to pay for emergency repairs. I see how much of a bind that would cause a person. If they had not saved enough to cover that repair will they be able to repay Social Security? Possibly not.
That debt may have been running for many years and even at 2% the loan could be substantial. This would mostly affect the elderly and at this point of their lives. Time is not their friend! The loan repayment would be deducted from their monthly Social Security check leaving a smaller check. With a reduced check, the struggle would be even worse.
Another consideration would be the following: Make retirement savings easier (I’m not sure how that would work), to improve low starting wages, and to better educate people on the need to save during their working lives so they can supplement Social Security rather than depending on it for their retirement. Social Security should not be the only income source.
Tony Wilson
Camden
