Reader’s view: There’s no reason to cut Social Security benefits

With the unpopular mandated sequester (across-the-board federal budget cuts) only days away, the well-financed voices of corporate America will again be heard in Washington.

Even though Social Security funding is independent of the federal budget and not adding to the deficit, there will be calls for reductions in the benefits this program provides to participants who have earned them.

One proposal I’ve already heard calls for a change in the way the cost-of-living adjustment for Social Security is calculated. The Chained Consumer Price Index assumes all consumers automatically purchase alternative lower-priced products when the prices of their preferred items increase. But the major share of senior budgets get allocated to things like rising health care, utilities and transportation expenses that are not subject to competitive market pricing.

Seniors can learn what benefit reductions to expect if this proposal is approved by visiting aarp.org/whatyoulose. As an investor with a stake in the future of Social Security, seniors also can learn how to let their voices be heard at earnedasay.org, a site of the AARP.

Robert J. Harman

Danbury

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