Social Security Benefits

Topic: In the United States, we do not need to plan for retirement. Social Security will cover our needs when we are retired.

My point of view is that, in order for us to be able to get Social Security benefits we need to earn enough credits to get this benefit, and the younger you retired the less money you will get. Social Security will not cover all of our needs if you haven’t reached the credits for retirement, and even if you have reach full retirement it would not be enough to cover our needs. When you work and pay Social Security taxes, you earn “Credits” toward Social Security benefits. The number of credit you need to get retirement benefits depends on when you were born. If you were born in 1929 or later, you need 40 credit (10 years of work) If you stop working before you have enough credits to qualify for benefits, the credits will remain on your Social Security record. If you return to work later on, you can add more credits so that you qualify. No retirement benefits can be paid until you have the required numbers of credits. Retirement benefits will be based on how much you earned during your working career. Higher lifetime earnings results in higher benefits. But we cannot rely only on Social Security benefits for our retirement plan. If you are 35 years old today and expect to begin receiving Social Security benefits at age 62, you may be in for a surprise. In 2037, benefits for retirees may be reduced by about a fourth and continue at that reduced level thereafter.

I am planning to accomplish that we cannot rely only on Social Security benefits to cover all of our retirement needs. According to the 2010 Social Security Trustees Report, the program is in temporary cash flow deficit this year and next, with permanent deficits beginning in 2015. While today’s retirees can probably count on receiving their Social Security benefits, future generations may not be so fortunate. This is largely due to increased longevity, cost of...