Social Security is an interesting topic in terms of retirement planning. While social security can help people with retirement, the amount they bring in depends entirely on three factors:
- The federal government determines the formula for social security received annually, and they are anything but stable.
- The amount you receive is partially based on your average monthly earnings for your post profitable 35 years. This amount varies wildly from person to person, and often can’t be solely relied upon for retirement income.
- The age when you decide to take social security payments also affects the amount you receive. The older you are when you begin, the more you make per year. This, of course, may keep some people from retiring at the age they planned.
All in all, I’d advise you to be wary of social security, watch the video below, part 10 of my series on retirement planning, to learn more.
Transcript
Social Security, although it’s there, it’s going to change. In fact, we’re seeing that now the age for eligibility of Social Security is increasing, and there’s more and more people taking the Social Security benefits that are paying in.
So over time, my fear for people relying on it is it may the amount that they receive may go down. That’s number one.
Number two, it usually doesn’t cover all of your expenses. And also, you’re waiting for the government to apply more. Right, so what I mean by that is there is a formula to determine how much you receive, and the federal government determines how much that is on an annual basis. So that percentage that you’re receiving can go up and down based on the federal government.
So, you’re really putting your entire retirement income in the hands of number one, the government, and you’re tied to interest rates and it doesn’t cover all your bills.
For more answers to common retirement planning questions, check out the rest of the Question Mark: Retirement Planning series.