Increasing economic growth by 4 percent and eliminating fraud have been the linchpins to Donald Trump's platform for fixing Social Security and entitlements.
But even if he could accomplish both, Trump's plan to save Social Security would fall well short, according to CNN.
Even if a 4 percent growth were possible — most economists call it unrealistic — it would delay but not fix the long-term problems of Social Security.
CNN reported that 2034 is the year when there won't be enough in Social Security to pay full benefits; retirees would get just 79 percent of what's owed to them.
The second half of Trump's plan — eliminating fraud — would account for $5 billion, just 3 percent of the shortfall.
Experts agree there are only two ways to fix Social Security — alter the plan itself or leave entitlements alone but execute hundreds of billions in budget cuts and/or tax increases immediately.
Altering the plan could entail increasing the payroll tax from 6.2 percent to 7.6 percent, increasing the retirement age, or cutting benefits, U.S. News reported.
Neither Trump or Hillary Clinton have campaigned on doing either of those, instead promising simply to protect Social Security despite not offering concrete plans on how they would accomplish it.
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