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Try It NOWCategory: Social Security
March 29, 2025 — Social Security’s future has long been discussed, usually with a negative picture. The Trust Funds are running out because more in benefits is being paid out than is contributed by workers. The latest estimate is that the retirement portion of SSA Trust Funds will be depleted…
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Category: Social Security
March 12, 2025 — The 68.6 million Americans who receive Social Security retirement benefits have an obvious interest in its future. It is especially important for the half of Americans aged 65 or older who live in households where Social Security benefits account for at least 50% of their family income. Roughly 25% rely on these benefits for at least 90% of their income. Any cuts to Social Security will severely affect those folks, and in fact, almost anyone who gets those benefits.
Despite promises not to impact Social Security, the “third rail” of politics, signals from the new administration are not encouraging. DODGE czar Elon Musk, who is busily applying his chain saw to U.S. institutions, told Podcast Host Joe Rogan last week that Social Security is “the biggest Ponzi scheme of all time". SSA Commissioner Dudek said he plans to cut at least 7,000 employees, even though at 60,000, its staff is at a 50 year low. Plans are afoot to close at least 47 regional offices, with many concentrated in the South and across the Southeast. Some of those were already slated for closure due to lack of in-person visits, but most were not.
Critics of the Administration counter that it is difficult to see how slashing employees and local offices is going to lead to anything but longer waits and delays in getting benefits and customer service. According to Democratic Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, the White Plains hearing office in her state has 2,000 pending cases. If closed, she believes that beneficiaries will be required to travel between 24 and 135 miles to get to another office if it closes.
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Category: Social Security
The range of possible retirement benefits from Social Security is huge. As of 2025, the average monthly Social Security retirement benefit is $1,976, reflecting a 2.5% Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA) from the previous year. But some people get less, based on their lifetime earning history and at what age they started taking their benefits. How does your benefit (or expected benefit) stack up against that average - are you getting more, or less?
Minimum - Average - and Maximum Benefits
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Category: Social Security
Dec. 21, 2024 — In what will probably be one of the last acts of the current Congress, the Senate overwhelmingly passed a bipartisan measure that will provide full Social Security benefits to public sector workers. Approximately 2.8 million public pension recipients will now receive benefits at the same rate…
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Category: Social Security
December 18, 2024 -- The subject of when to take Social Security is one of the most hotly debated retirement topics. Although the system was designed for both decisions to be equal, there are plenty of proponents for each approach.
Case Study - High Earners
Let's explore the following case. Two people aged 76 made the maximum contribution to Social Security during their 35 year working careers. One files for benefits at the first opportunity (62), the other waits to get the max benefit at age 70 We wanted to find out who comes out ahead, and when. So we asked AI to do the calculations for us. The results came back instantly, and judging from the sources they used, they look accurate. Here is what we found:
Total Benefits Received
The person who claimed at 62 started receiving benefits 14 years ago, while the other began 6 years ago:
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Category: Social Security
December 12, 2024 -- The results are in from last week's instant poll, and they have a practical bent. The question to be voted on was, "What do you think will happen when the Social Security Trust Fund Runs Out of Money in 2033?". We received over 150 votes, which gives us a good sample of what our Members are thinking (thanks to all who voted)!
The winning option was definitely pragmatic - 28% voted for "Payroll taxes increased and/or change to maximum earnings ceiling." This is certainly a practical solution, one that we at Topretirements definitely agree with.
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Category: Social Security
November 31, 2024 — We would love to get your vote on what will happen on this issue. The Social Security Retirement Trust Funds are expected to run out in 2033. When that happens it is estimated that only about 79% of benefits can be paid. Congress has been dithering…
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Category: Social Security
Update late December, 2024. This bill was passed by both houses of Congress and signed into law in early Jan. by President Joe Biden. See “Congress Passes End to WEP“. Bipartisan legislation that would repeal two provisions of Social Security easily passed in the House of Representatives. Current SS…
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Category: Social Security
Oct. 11, 2025 - The Social Security Administration announced that the Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) for recipients will be 2.5% in 2025. It is the smallest increase since the pandemic. Although doubtless recipients would have hoped for a bigger rise, the silver lining is it reflects the good news that inflation is slowing coming to heal. Recipients got a 3.2% boost in their benefits in 2024.
The 2.5 percent cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) will begin with benefits payable to nearly 68 million Social Security beneficiaries in January 2025. Increased payments to nearly 7.5 million SSI recipients will begin on December 31, 2024.
Earnings Limits
The Social Security payroll tax will be assessed on the first $176,100 of income in 2025, up from $168,600 this year. After that level, Medicare taxes continue but not those for Social Security. Many experts (and VP Harris) suggest that SS taxes continue on all income above that level, or perhaps just above a figure like $400,000. The Social Security trust funds will be exhausted by 2035, at which time the only money available to pay benefits will come from taxes on existing workers.
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Category: Social Security
October 8, 2024 -- With the election coming soon, the issue that most directly affects retired people is the impending Social Security and Medicare funding crisis. If nothing is done, Social Security recipients will face a 20% cut in benefits in 2035, just over 10 years from now. Medicare will run short a few years later. Therefore it is critical to know how each of our presidential candidates would address this urgent crisis.
Both Harris and Trump say they would not cut Social Security or Medicare. (Editor's note: Politically wise, easy and expedient to say, but how are they going to do it?) Here is how the New York Times summarizes the 2 candidates' positions on Medicare and Social Security. After that we have Topretirements poll results and commentary from your editor.
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