Retirement
and Elder Care: Social Security
The United States Social Security Program, started
in 1935, is meant to provide supplemental support
for retired or disabled persons in the United
States.
How it works
Unless you were employed by
an agency that opted out
of the Social Security system, every paycheck
you've earned throughout
your life has had Social
Security tax taken out of it. This money isn't
reserved for you
when you retire. It's put
into a large fund from which current Social
Security benefits
are paid. But your tax isn't
being taken in vain. You receive Social Security
credit for
your tax. You need to have
been employed for at least 40 quarters under
Social Security
to be eligible for Social
Security benefits when you retire.
Social Security
updates
All workers who are over
the age of 25 who are not
yet receiving Social Security
benefits receive yearly statements
from the Social Security
Administration. These statements contain
your earnings over the years
as well as estimates for
your Social Security retirement, disability
and survivor's benefits.
Check these statements
carefully to make
sure you are getting credit
for all of your earnings.
Errors could affect your
benefits.
When you are eligible
The soonest you can receive
Social Security retirement
benefits is at age 62.
But if you delay receiving
benefits until a few years later, your
benefit
amount will be greater.
This decision should be
based on your financial position - do
you need the money or can
you wait until your benefits
reach their
full potential? No matter
when you choose to start
collecting benefits, you
must sign up three months in advance of
when
you actually want to receive
your first check.
The Social
Security crisis
One in six Americans now
collects Social Security
benefits. That's more
than 45 million people. For now,
there is more money going
into the Social Security
fund than is being paid out. But as the
baby
boomer population gets
older, there will be
many more people eligible
for Social Security benefits.
The money going into
the fund will not be enough to cover all
the benefits being paid out.
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