| benefits will be possible until the end of this century. That's almost 100 years from now. The National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare stated: The Social Security surplus exceeds $1.7 trillion and is projected to deliver full guaranteed benefits until at least 2042, according to the program's trustees. As a group, baby boomers, those born between 1946 and 1964, will start turning 65 as soon as 2011 -- less than six years from now. Current population projections are that the number of people 65 years and older will nearly double between 2000 and 2030, an increase of about 34 million. During the same period, the number in the working population is projected to increase about 24 million, according to the Congressional Budget Office. A few politicians have stirred the public's concern and anxiety that Social Security retirement benefits will not be there when they reach retirement age. Should baby boomers worry? Maybe so, maybe no. First of all, they should remember that S.S. benefits should be part of a three-part program, the other two being personal savings and investments (such as certificates of deposit, bank savings accounts, stocks, bonds) and retirement programs (such as company pensions, railroad retirement benefits, veterans' benefits, IRAs and Roth IRAs). If all these three parts are present, the degree of worrying should be markedly reduced. Why are people concerned? There are two major reasons. The first relates to the statistics I quoted about the increase in the over-65 population and the lesser increase in the working population. The proportion of the working population shrinks; the amount of money paid into FICA (Federal Insurance Contribution Act) goes down. FICA goes into the OASDI Account (Old Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance), out of which S.S. benefits are paid. Second, for a number of medical and related reasons, people are living longer. That, of course, raises a number of other issues, such as acute and chronic illness, caretaking of the elderly, independent living facilities, long-term care facilities, nursing-care facilities, prescription and other drugs and medications, health-care costs, etc. There is widespread talk of fixing Social Security through the establishment of private personal accounts. Should we all worry? You bet. But some of those issues will be considered another time. In the meantime, either worry or take some kind of action. Why not contact one of your two senators or your congressperson about federal issues, or your state senator or Assembly representative about state issues? DO IT! |
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| On Social Security for the baby boomers by Paul Kusuda |
| Have you ever worried even a little about Social Security benefits? With all of the hoopla about running out of funds, do you feel fatalistic about benefits not being there when your time to collect comes? Well, here are some facts: With reference to S.S. benefits, AARP pointed out that "if no changes are made to the current system, Social Security will be able to pay 100 percent of the money guaranteed to beneficiaries until at least 2042." That's more than 35 years from now. After that, if no change is made in the meantime, about 75 percent of |