Warren unveils Social Security plan that raises benefits by $200 per month

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) released a plan to bolster Social Security on Thursday that would raise benefits by $200 a month for current and future beneficiaries of the program.

Warren would fund the hike in benefits by raising contribution requirements on the nation’s wealthiest households by imposing a new Social Security 14.8 percent contribution requirement on wages above $250,000.

Warren would also create a new 14.8 percent contribution requirement on net investment income on individuals with investment income above $250,000, and families with investment income above $400,000.{mosads}

Investment income right now is not hit with a Social Security tax, and taxes on wages top out at $132,900 — a figure that is raised annually.

“Currently, the rich contribute a far smaller portion of their income to Social Security than everyone else,” Warren said in the email unveiling the proposal. “That’s wrong, and it’s threatening the solvency of the program.”

The proposal from Warren comes the same day she’ll appear onstage in Houston for the next Democratic debate. It’s the first time she’ll appear onstage with former Vice President Joe Biden, the front-runner in the race, as well as Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.). 

The three candidates top most national polls and surveys in Iowa and New Hampshire, which will hold the first contests in the Democratic race early next year. 

Warren has offered a series of policy plans during her campaign, and made it a big part of her image. The latest proposal could get attention from senior voters as well as younger voters worried about whether Social Security will be solvent in the future. 

Seniors are a key constituency in the Democratic race, and polls show Biden to be enjoying the majority of their support. 

Warren said that her plan would extend the program’s solvency for nearly 20 years. She also cast it as creating a “much more progressive Social Security system” by delivering “larger benefit increases to lower and middle-income seniors on a percentage basis.”

According to The New York Times, the plan would cost over $150 billion in its first year taking effect. 

The new contribution tax on wages would be split evenly between employees and employers, with each paying 7.2 percent.