When Social Security began in 1935, it gave you the program’s full retirement benefits at age 65. Here’s the thing – the average lifespan then was 64. Today it’s 78.6. The program has lots of problems as politicians just didn’t handle it well over the years, and…well, its future is in jeopardy.
We have no choice but to give 6.2% of our paycheck to the program, while our employer matches that same amount. But a wise young person would not count on those benefits being there, and certainly not in such abundance to live out a great life in retirement.
Plan. Save. Invest. Start now.
All good advice, says this 60-something!
Great advice. The sooner you start the better off you will be. The miracle of compound returns.
Social security is, unfortunately, not a dependable source of retirement funds, even if it is only a part of what you count on. If your spouse gets a bigger check that yours, and that spouse dies, his/hers check does not go to you. It just stops.
And you are left with a much smaller income than you had to subsidize your retirement.