Business professor Scott Galloway's viral call to deny Social Security checks to the wealthiest retirees — "a $1.2 trillion transfer from young people … to the wealthiest generation in history," he says — has reignited a decades-old debate over "means testing."
What Galloway Proposes
On his "Prof G" podcast the NYU professor argued that 10%–30% of affluent seniors should forfeit benefits because "current workers fund the checks." He framed Social Security as an "uphill wealth transfer," adding, "Every year we effect a $1.2 trillion transfer from young people … to the wealthiest generation in history." According to MSNBC’s Ryan Teague Beckwith, the idea, long known as means testing, resurfaces whenever Congress confronts the program's 2034 solvency deadline.
Why Analysts Push Back
Social Security's administrative tab has stayed below 1% of total outlays since 1989, just 0.5% last year, precisely because every worker and retiree is treated the same. Adding income screens would require new paperwork, audits and appeals. The program's near-universal popularity — 79% of Americans oppose any benefit cuts — also stems from that universality, pollsters tell Pew Research.
Perverse Incentives
Research by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities on existing clawbacks shows some seniors already dial down work to avoid earnings cliffs, and broader means testing could magnify that distortion. Analysts argue that eroding worker-benefit symmetry would "destroy the political logic" that kept the program safe for 90 years.
The Second-Best Reality
The Social Security program's universal, earned-benefit ethos helps shield it from political attacks: a 2017 poll commissioned by the National Committee, 79% of likely voters (including Democrats, Republicans and Independents) favor boosting benefits while having wealthier Americans pay in at the same rate as lower earners — making it, in political terms, the least-bad option.
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Read next: Social Security Halves Overpayment Clawbacks After Outcry, But Advocates Say 50% Cut Still Stings
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