The PRAUSA Plan for Reform
A Developed Framework for Permanent Social Security Retirement Reform
The PRAUSA Plan combines a permanent ownership-based retirement system, a finite transition from today’s OASI structure, and binding fiscal safeguards into one integrated proposal. It is the developed starting framework submitted to the Social Security Reform Working Group for independent examination, refinement, and advancement.
THE COMPLETE PROPOSAL
Destination, Transition, and Discipline
Permanent reform requires three things at once. The nation must define the retirement system it intends to have, establish a credible method for reaching it, and impose fiscal rules strong enough to prevent the transition from becoming another open-ended federal obligation.
The PRAUSA Plan integrates those requirements. The Goal defines the permanent system. The Transition protects existing commitments while shifting future retirement accruals toward funded ownership. Fiscal discipline limits mandatory financing, governs activation and annual priorities, and requires independent certification before implementation and closure.
The Goal
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The Transition
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Fiscal Discipline
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The PRAUSA Plan
THE STRUCTURAL OBJECTIVE
Honor Existing Commitments While Ending New Unfunded Accruals
The Plan applies to Old-Age and Survivors Insurance (OASI). Disability Insurance, Medicare, and other federal programs remain outside its scope. Within OASI, the Plan closes new pay-as-you-go retirement accrual for the transition cohort while preserving benefits already in payment and retirement value already earned.
Workers age 56 or older at implementation remain in legacy OASI. For younger workers, preimplementation accrued value is converted into participant-specific notional retirement credits. Postimplementation retirement accrual is provided through notional credits, funded PRA contributions, or both as annual financing permits. Retirement Transition Certificates are separate benefit-deferral instruments used for transition liquidity.
As legacy obligations decline and binding cash-flow, reserve, and forward-buffer conditions are satisfied, funded PRA contributions expand without increasing mandatory financing above the 10.6 percent ceiling. The transition closes only after legacy, notional, RTC, reserve, and tail obligations satisfy the governing closure tests.
Protect Commitments
Credit Earned Value
Build Funded Ownership
End PAYGO
BINDING COMMITMENTS
What the Plan Must Accomplish
01. Protect current beneficiaries.
Scheduled retirement benefits continue without interruption under the governing transition rules.
02. Honor retirement value already earned.
The Plan recognizes preimplementation covered work and records the attributable value individually through participant-specific notional retirement credits.
03. Continue retirement accrual without renewing PAYGO.
Workers younger than 56 and future entrants continue earning retirement value through the new system—using notional credits and funded PRA contributions as the transition advances—without creating new legacy OASI accruals for postimplementation work.
04. Remain within the existing financing ceiling.
The combined mandatory payroll-financing rate cannot exceed 10.6 percent, and the Plan cannot impose a separate mandatory PRA charge on top.
05. Use no borrowing or general revenue.
Transition obligations must be met from authorized dedicated resources and reserves, not shifted to taxpayers through federal debt or unrelated revenues.
06. Use objective activation and closure tests.
Funded PRAs begin only after required reserve and forward-buffer conditions are met, and the transition closes only after statutory benefit, liability, and tail-coverage tests are satisfied.
07. Establish permanent funded ownership.
The completed system finances retirement through individually owned assets and permanently terminates the OASI payroll tax after closure conditions are met.
THE TWO PRINCIPAL COMPONENTS
Examine the Destination and the Path
The Goal explains the permanent ownership-based retirement system. The Transition explains how the nation moves from today’s OASI structure to that end state while protecting existing commitments and enforcing the Plan’s fiscal rules.
The Goal
The Transition
PROFESSIONAL REVIEW
A Developed Framework for Independent Review
The PRAUSA Plan is sufficiently developed to permit serious actuarial, economic, legal, administrative, investment, distributional, and legislative examination. No current provision is immune from evidence-based challenge or revision.
The public Plan explains the architecture. The public Technical Specifications for Scoring page explains the role and scope of the technical framework. The controlled governing TSS and integrated cash-flow model define the algorithms, assumptions, ordering rules, and computational implementation used for qualified professional review.
Formal scoring, sensitivity testing, adverse-scenario analysis, and independent replication must determine whether the Plan can satisfy its stated benefit, financing, transition, and closure commitments. The Working Group supplies the forum through which qualified professionals can identify weaknesses, compare alternatives, and strengthen the proposal before broader institutional or legislative consideration.
THE FORMAL RESOURCE
Review the Public Plan and Technical Specifications
This page provides the integrated public overview. The PRAUSA Plan — Full Text is the approved formal public policy document. The public Technical Specifications for Scoring page explains the purpose of the governing technical framework, while access to the governing TSS and model remains controlled.
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Help Build the Framework for Permanent Social Security Reform
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