Keep that in mind, especially if you wonder whether Social Security will be there for you down the road. Social Security should be able to pay three-quarters of promised benefits, even when it no longer has a surplus and if no action is taken. (That’s according to the Social Security trustees, who report annually on the system’s long-term outlook.)
If you’re like most people, you probably believe that the system requires long-term financial stability. But the idea that the SSA can cover three-fourths of promised benefits far into the future gives at least some perspective. With enough political will, lawmakers can put their heads together and come up with a fair and reasonable plan to shore up Social Security for the long term. (In Chapter 17, you can look at the most common proposals to accomplish this goal.)
Getting the Most Out of Your Social Security Benefits
❯❯ Educate yourself about the program. By reading this book, you’re taking a big step in the right direction. In Appendix B, I connect you with a broader range of resources to further inform you on Social Security and other retirement concerns.
❯❯ Think about when you should claim benefits. It often makes sense to hold off, which will enable your benefit to grow. I go into that important issue in Chapter 3. For an overview from the SSA, go to www.ssa.gov/pubs/10147.html.
❯❯ Consider Social Security’s guaranteed benefit the foundation in a larger strategy for retirement security. Add up your assets. Look hard at your spending habits. Younger people have more time to plan, but older workers may also be able to take steps to improve their finances. If you need more money for the future, think about holding off retirement and working longer, even part time, as a way to stretch out your assets.
LESSONS FROM AN EARLY BENEFICIARY
Whatever you expect to get from Social Security, it’s a pretty safe bet you won’t fare as well as Aunt Ida. A retired legal secretary in Vermont, Ida May Fuller, known to friends as “Aunt Ida,” earned her place in Social Security history by receiving the first recurring monthly check – for $22.54 on January 31, 1940. (It wasn’t the first Social Security payment. That distinction goes to a Cleveland streetcar driver named Ernest Ackerman, who got a “lump sum” of 17¢ three years earlier.)
Aunt Ida’s experience can teach today’s retirees (and workers who will join them one day) a couple of lessons:
● You could be depending on Social Security for a very long time. Aunt Ida lived to 100. She collected benefits for 35 years, starting at age 65.
● The inflation protection provided by Social Security is critical. In the course of Aunt Ida’s life, her monthly benefit nearly doubled, from $22.54 to $41.30. That increase enabled her purchasing power to hold up, even as the cost of living soared. (Congress added regular inflation increases to the program toward the end of Aunt Ida’s life.)
Getting in Touch with the Social Security Administration
The SSA has one overriding goal (which may be hard to recognize amid all the rules and complexities): to make sure you end up with the correct benefit amount you’re entitled to under the law. Sometimes reaching that goal may not be simple (though it typically is). But whatever the particulars of your case, you may well end up having to contact the SSA to get what you want.
The SSA runs not only the basic Social Security protections for retirement, survivors, and disability, but also SSI for the poor. The SSA also handles applications for Medicare and the deductions in benefits that pay for Medicare premiums. (SSA doesn’t run the Medicare program itself, however. That job is handled by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.)
That’s a lot of territory to navigate – many rules, many technicalities, and many areas that can be confusing. But knowledge is power when it comes to bureaucracy. Understanding the rules for your particular situation helps. (I go over filing for benefits in Chapter 5, and I hit the high points of maneuvering through the Social Security bureaucracy in Chapter 7.)
Contacting the SSA isn’t difficult. You can go to a local field office, call a toll-free number, or go online:
❯❯ Field offices: SSA offices are located all over the country – at last count, there were about 1,200 field offices. To find the nearest SSA office, just go to www.ssa.gov, click on “SEARCH,” and put in “find an office”; click on the first result and enter your zip code, and the address of your nearest office will appear, along with the hours it’s open to the public. If you don’t have Internet access, you can find the address of your local SSA office in your local phone book, where all the U.S. government offices are listed, or you can call the SSA (see the next bullet) to inquire.
❯❯ Phone: You can contact an SSA representative toll free at 800-772-1213 (TTY 800-325-0778). Both numbers are staffed Monday through Friday, 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
❯❯ Online: The SSA website (www.ssa.gov) has a great deal of information on benefits and rules that affect you. You can also find forms you may need and begin applications for certain benefits, including retirement.
❯❯ Waiting times on the phone and in offices tend to be longer early in the month and early in the week.
❯❯ You can call the toll-free number to make an appointment with a local field office and save time when you arrive.
Chapter 2
A Breakdown of Benefits
IN THIS CHAPTER
❯❯ Getting Social Security retirement benefits
❯❯ Surviving the death of a loved one with help from Social Security
❯❯ Relying on Social Security when you can’t work
❯❯ Seeing how Social Security protects the poorest of the poor
When you hear about Social Security in the news, it seems like the talk is always about politics. Of course, that matters, but the squabbling in Washington can sound pretty far removed from what really links you to Social Security – the benefits for you and your loved ones. The truth is, many people don’t know all they’re paying for when it comes to Social Security.
In this chapter, I provide a detailed description of the main Social Security benefits: coverage for retirement and a retiree’s dependent family members, protections for surviving family members when a loved one dies, and coverage for disability and a disabled worker’s