Former Social Security Administration employee has reasonable ideas to keep the program solvent

As a recent retiree from the Social Security Administration, I am able to speak from my experience. When I was first hired, Social Security was going broke in 10 years then. It is 35.5 years later and it is still around.

What Congress needs to do is to leave the basic benefits for workers alone. It is the family benefits and totalization benefits that it needs to trim or in some cases eliminate.

For example, it is no longer necessary to provide at all the $255 lump sum benefit, which is a joke in this day and age - it does not pay the rent or put food on the table.

Divorced wives and widows in the 1980s were lowered on the marriage requirement from 20 years to 10 years - it's time to raise it to at least 15 years. These days more aged exes have substantial pensions and Social Security work records.

Now is the time for the feds with the new technology to demand and pay for DNA tests before paying illegimate children.

In the '80s the formula was changed for family benefits to pay less on disability, so do it for retirement family benefits too.

A huge upcoming drain is the totalization benefits for foreign workers who only work 1.5 years (six quarters of coverage) to get a SS check by using their work in foreign social security systems. Since the rest of the U.S.-born citizens must work 10 years (40 quarters) to get a check, why should foreigners and citizens who left the U.S.A. get a break that pays out far more than it takes in?

Our state, municipal and federal workers who are not covered by Social Security must work 10 years. Do we value our government workers and citizens less? One argument that the government uses for totalization treaties is that it is unfair to have someone work here and pay SS taxes and taxes to their foreign pension system, so we should give them a check. This is false reasoning.

Before 1978, we had treaties with the same countries to have those workers either pay in our system or theirs - not both. Now India not only wants their workers to come here for a couple of years and take our jobs, but then get a check and stress our Social Security protection for our long time residents!

These are only a few of the many ways to trim the benefits of other than our disabled or retired workers. Any rank-and-file SSA retiree can tell you.

GEORGE SINCAVAGE lives in Massachusetts