Americans Believe the Next President Must Value Social Security

April 21, 2016

Social security remains the topmost agenda for the Americans and they want the next President to give high importance to it, reports an AICPA survey. The older respondents were more inclined to keep social security as a core issue. People also want the next president to remember key issues like reducing the trade deficit and lowering the interest rates.

Social Security Gets Popular

Two-thirds of the Americans (sixty-four percent to be precise) who participated in the survey think that the government should give more importance to ensuring that social security doesn’t run out of money.

The other key issues they want shown importance in the new administration are: the reduction of the federal deficit which gained the trust of 44 percent of people, decreasing unemployment which was supported by thirty-eight percent people, and reducing taxes which were supported by thirty-six percent people.

Chair of the AICPA’s National CPA Financial Literacy Commission, Mr. Gregory Anton commented that the survey has shown that people wish for the better solvency of social security as well as its impact on their retirement security. The survey which included 1,005 US adults was conducted by Harris Poll on account of AICPA.

Age Matters

About seventy-four percent of participants who are older than 65 stated that social security should be highly prioritized by the next president. Only 66% of respondents in the age group of forty-five to fifty-four year and thirty-five to forty-four-year-olds gave utmost priority to social security. The percentage decreases with age. About 53% of eighteen to thirty-four-year-olds think that social security should be the top priority of the next President.

Other Key Issues

The other key issues also got support from the respondents. About twenty-five percent of respondents felt that international trade deficit should be reduced by the new President. About 22% wanted the next President to keep the interest rates low.

No Change in the Economic Scenario

Though a majority of respondents stressed the need to make social security stronger, they were not too hopeful with regard to the betterment of the economic situation due to a new President. Fifty-four percent of the respondents said that they were not expecting the new President to change the economic picture. Only twenty-one percent said that it would improve while nineteen percent said that it may weaken further.