Myths About the Retirement

Myths About Social Security The Social Security Act was passed in 1935 during a period in which the unemployment rate was among the highest that it has ever been in history and few families had the resources for the elderly to retire with a level of dignity. In this environment, Social Security was established to give senior citizens a minimal standard of living and the program is often associated with poverty.

However, there are many characteristics about the program that are often misunderstood by the general public such as the case that the elderly is not as poor as typically perceived. For example, the Social Security payment system is based upon the consumer price index (CPI) which has substantially raised the effective payments significantly overtime and as a result the current generation of SS payees receive considerably higher payments relative to previous generations.

Many people also believe that the SS system also works something like a personal account in which the government holds money that you contribute specifically for your retirement. The fact is that Social Security is based on a "pay-as-you-go" system and the taxes that are paid by people who are working today provide the benefits that go to people who are retired (Hinden, 2015). For example, the people who are paying into the system now are essentially funding the people who are collecting SS checks.

Thus, each generation that is employed supports the elderly receivers and this could cause significant issues when the baby boomer population begins to retire because the payer base will diminish in size while the retirees will significantly increase in number. Basically, less people working will be funding more SS collectors. Another common myth is that people often believe that they will pay more into Social Security than they will receive when they retire.

However, there have been many studies that have shown that the average SS payee will typically receive significantly more out of the system than they put in. Although this can vary on a case-by-case instance, researchers use averages based on different demographic categories to make such estimates.

For instance, one study has estimated that a typical single woman earning $44,800 in 2013 paid $407,000 in taxes during her working years and will receive $544,000 from the system, and a typical two-earner couple with each partner earning $44,800 in 2013 paid $816,000 in taxes and will receive nearly $1.03 million in benefits (Hinden, 2015). Given the nature of the pay-as-you go system, the rising CPI measures, and the fact that people typically get out more than they pay in, this leads many people to speculate whether or not the system is sustainable.

While the system has provided substantial benefits for previous and current retirees, future generations could likely be burdened by the current payment system. Some people feel that the system might not have any money left at all available to millennial generation. However, most experts, however, say that some form of Social Security payment will always be there, even if it's a smaller check that arrives at a later age.

"There's no politician out there that's going to look at the camera and say 'I'm going to cut Social Security benefits entirely" (Braverman, 2015). Whatever the case maybe for the future of SS, it seems that.