Overview
- The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget outlined a 'Six-Figure Limit' that would cap annual benefits at $100,000 for couples and $50,000 for individuals, with the thresholds rising with inflation.
- CRFB estimates fewer than 2% of roughly 56 million retirees 65 and older would be affected, mostly top earners who already receive the largest checks, with cuts around 5% on average for the top 1%.
- The group projects about $100 billion in savings over the next decade and says the cap would close at least one fifth of Social Security’s 75‑year financing gap.
- Advocacy groups pushed back, calling any cap a slippery slope, and reporting shows no sign that Congress has advanced legislation based on the proposal.
- Reporters also detailed other options with CRFB math, including raising the taxable wage cap to cover 90% of pay to close 26% of the gap or eliminating it to close 68%.