Excerpt: Are private accounts the only solution to the Social Security problem? No. If all you want to do is make the system solvent so Washington will have the resources to pay future benefits, you could make ... modest changes. Some ideas: trim cost-of-living increases so they more closely track actual inflation; reduce benefits slightly for those who were high earners; boost the retirement age to better reflect life expectancy; or raise the amount of wage income subject to the payroll tax.