Via the New York Times:
No topic is more important than Social Security to the well-being of today’s older voters — and younger workers who will come to rely on the program. Nearly all Americans pay into the program and can expect to receive a benefit. It is the largest retirement income source for a majority of older households. All of the Democrats’ proposals include a fix for the program’s looming financial shortfall. The combined trust funds for Social Security’s retirement and disability programs are on course to be depleted in 2035; without changes, funding from payroll tax receipts will be sufficient to pay only 80 percent of scheduled benefits. Mr. Sanders and Senator Elizabeth Warren have been at the forefront of the expansion forces since they mobilized in 2013. Mr. Sanders is the chief sponsor of current Senate expansion legislation, and Ms. Warren has published a detailed Social Security expansion plan as part of her campaign. A recent review of the candidates’ positions on Social Security by the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College revealed no candidates — from either party — on record supporting benefit cuts. Among the Democrats, several (Mr. Sanders, Ms. Warren and Tulsi Gabbard) back an across-the-board increase in benefits. Ms. Warren, for example, would immediately boost benefits for all by $200 per month. And three of the Democrats favor shifting to a formula for the annual cost-of-living adjustment all beneficiaries receive that more accurately reflects the inflation experienced by seniors. This would be done by adopting an inflation index known as the CPI-E (the “E” stands for elderly). Social Security’s actuary estimates that the CPI-E would increase retiree benefits by two-tenths of a percentage point annually.
Source/more: New York Times