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Eagle Active minds event Wed. focuses on Social Security

Daily Staff Report
Vail CO, Colorado
Special to the DailyActive Minds founder John Henderson will discuss Social Security and various plans to "save" the program Wednesday at the Golden Eagle Community Center in Eagle.
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EAGLE, Colorado ” Active Minds Founder and Instructor John Henderson will outline the history and current state of Social Security in America at 5:30 p.m. at the Golden Eagle Community Center. As the nation buzzes with commentary and structural recommendations about maintaining Social Security, this Active Minds program will help explain the current debate. Instructor John Henderson will focus on the status and details of various proposals to “save” social security, as well as the political perspectives in play in the debate.

Established by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1935 as a part of his New Deal initiatives, the Social Security Act was the country’s first social insurance program funded through payroll taxes. Social Security paid retirement benefits to primary workers. At its inception, and for many years that followed, the ratio of employees to those deriving retirement benefits enabled Social Security Act to succeed. Over the last thirty years, however, the U.S. Social Security system has been under scrutiny, mainly due to actual and projected shortfalls. Today, there are now only three workers to support each retiree. The baby boom, as well as the baby bust, exacerbates this ratio. Projections forecast that by 2025 there will only be two workers to each retiree.

“Social Security is interesting because it is living history,” Henderson said. “The good news is that people are living longer, but that silver lining does have a cloud ” it is tough to keep up with the Social Security net.



“Social Security is an important inter-generational dialogue. Focusing on Social Security is extremely important for young people because any decisions made in the near future will affect their workplace choices for the rest of their lives. And for those approaching retirement, this dialogue affects their short-term spending, working, and planning choices,” Henderson continued.

The 2008 Active Minds series is free and a program of the Vail Symposium and Eagle County Health and Human Services. With an emphasis on perspectives on world events, Active Minds programs are designed to provide an impartial, wide-spectrum understanding of historical, timely and sometimes controversial subjects.

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Directions to the Golden Eagle Community Center: From I-70, take exit 147 (Eagle). Proceed south and turn left onto Eby Creek Road. Turn right onto Grand Avenue / US 6 at the roundabout. Turn left at Capitol and right at East 6th Street. Turn left on Broadway. The Center is at the dead end.


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