CALABASAS : Slash Entitlements, Finance Adviser Says

If Alan Ungar had his way, all the sacred cows of the federal budget--beginning with entitlements such as Social Security and welfare--would be taken out and slaughtered.

Ungar, who owns a Calabasas investment management and financial planning firm, says that is the only way to avoid saddling future generations with a federal debt so burdensome that their taxes would be used entirely to pay for Social Security and interest.

“This is going to be solved one way or another,” Ungar said. “We can solve it now, with relatively minor pain, or down the road, by leaving it to our kids.”

Ungar belongs to the local branch of a national organization called the Concord Coalition, founded by former U.S. Sens. Paul Tsongas and Warren Rudman.

The nonpartisan organization’s goal is to pressure Congress to produce a balanced budget by 2000.

Ungar has taken to the lecture circuit to warn of the dangers of the federal budget deficit and to suggest solutions. He will speak at a workshop on Feb. 25 at 8:45 a.m. at the Westlake Civic Center.

The cost is $5, which goes to pay for the materials used in Ungar’s “Debt Busters Workshop.” For information call (818) 222-4773.

The budget can’t be balanced without steep cuts in entitlements, Ungar said. Those programs alone consume 52% of the federal budget, he said. “When Social Security was created, there were 50 workers to one retiree, and the average life expectancy was 63,” Ungar said.

“Now, there are three workers to one retiree, and now the average life expectancy is 78.”

He concedes there are political dangers in talking about cutting entitlements. “One of the things that happens when you mention entitlements is people say, ‘Oh God, they’re going to take everything away from me,’ ” he said.

The solution, he said, is to create a system that helps those who need it most. It would work by placing a cap on the amount of entitlements people get, based on their income.

“People say, ‘But I put all my money into it, I deserve to get something back,’ ” he said. “The truth is, people get their money back in four to six years with Social Security, so we end up subsidizing it.”

Ungar also talks about the need for more taxes to balance the budget.

“It just can’t happen without it,” he said.