From a press release:
Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company (MassMutual) today announced the results of a survey aimed to better understand how much Americans know about Social Security retirement benefits. The results of the survey, which included a true/false quiz about Social Security facts, were concerning: only 28 percent of those surveyed received a passing grade when asked basic questions about Social Security retirement benefits. ...
To test your Social Security IQ, take the MassMutual quiz. ...
According to the research, Americans remain optimistic about the future of Social Security. More than three out of five surveyed (63 percent) believe Social Security will be available to them when they retire, with a quarter of those surveyed strongly holding that belief. However, less than half (45 percent) think the program will have sufficient funding when they retire. This may be why only 39 percent expect to rely more on Social Security than their personal savings or income in retirement, with just 15 percent expecting to rely solely on Social Security.
I assume a lot of schools teach at least some financial literacy, and the basics of Social Security should be included in that - the fact that your benefits depend on your earnings history and the age at which you start to receive benefits, the fact that benefits are inflation-adjusted and continue for life, the fact that you don't have to be a citizen to get benefits, and the fact that a married person can get benefits from his or her own earnings record of that of his or her spouse. Also, the fact that Social Security also pays benefits to disabled people and survivors benefits should be included.
ReplyDeleteThe basics of the finances of Social Security should also be included, including the fact that if nothing is done and the Trust Fund is depleted, Social Security would still be able to pay most scheduled benefits (actually, it would be able to pay more in real terms than retirees get today). Too many people think that once the Trust Fund is gone, so is Social Security.
If I had a dollar for everything on the list of things that "should be taught in schools"...
ReplyDeleteWhen the trust fund is gone, there still are benefits for FICA dollars are still coming in. However, those dollars are being loaned out to the Treasury to pay for other expenses.
ReplyDeleteFrom a cash standpoint, there is no difference from a trust fund replete with numbers, and one whose "account value" is zero.
I'm not sure what you are suggesting should be taught. These people sound pretty educated...relying solely on social security when you retire is foolish.
ReplyDeleteFairly helpful information. Most of it I already knew. Know about SSD law but rarely keep updated on all the regular SSA rules.
ReplyDeleteThe COLA is the main thing that seems to confuse me. Kind of like child support, it is kind of confusing how they come up with how much an earner is entitled every year.
Still fairly interesting.