Optimist Economy Social Security Upgrades for Retirement's Realities
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Feb 24, 2026 They pitch four big upgrades to Social Security: caregiver credits that count per year, temporary partial claiming for people still working, a sliding full-retirement age tied to years worked, and a tax on companies that overuse 1099 contractors. They also discuss why adjusting Social Security now matters and how these changes could reshape retirement paths and worker protections.
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Austin Example Shows Rich Inflows Bid Up Housing
- The Fed San Francisco paper showed high‑income growth, not just population, drives housing unaffordability in cities.
- Catherine Edwards used Austin's 2021 influx of wealthy Californians to illustrate demand shocks raising prices rapidly.
Affordable Housing Workers Say Filtering Fails The Poorest
- Affordable housing practitioners told Edwards that filtering rarely helps very low‑income residents.
- Frontline workers reported new high‑end builds didn't make housing accessible to the poorest without government action.
Give Caregivers A Year‑By‑Year Benefit Credit
- Create a caregiver credit that mixes spousal earnings with actual later work so caregivers earn more lifetime benefits.
- Replace the 35-year all-or-nothing lookback with per-year max(own earnings, half spouse) to boost divorced or returning-to-work caregivers.