Are You Counting on Social Security Income When You Retire?

I better get back the money I paid into the system! This is not a free charity, it is your money, you paid the tax for it. Unless they stop taxing me for it they better pay up.
Even if it is still around it will not be enough to live off of. It isn't enough to live off of now. The cost of living is just too high to sustain.
Honestly, I feel like I will never be able to retire at all. 401Ks are tanking, Social Security is being held hostage. Homes aren't worth what people bought them for. Life savings are being eaten up just to survive when so many are out of work. I'll be one of those greeters at Walmart until I drop dead at their door. Considering I hate Walmart, it says something.
But with the ranting aside. I still hold out hope that this downward spiral will end and we will be able to rebuild and be stronger than ever.

7 moms found this helpful

Yes and no. I don't count on it but it will be interesting to see what happens when the baby boomers are supported by generation x and y. My generation, x, isn't very big. Us supposed slackers have saved more for retirement already than the boomers, but since there aren't many of us, there is no way the system will be sustained. Things are broken but I don't think we will have a choice about trying to fix it. We will have to fix it, or let millions of people starve to death. I don't actually believe the hard right wingers will let people starve or die on the streets, so I think my generation will fix it some how.

With that said, we save like crazy and won't be counting on SS to support us. If anything, it will be vacation money or something.

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I don't even add then in when I consider retirement. I would be shocked if there is SS then and if there is it won't be in its current state. I bet you anything it goes only to the needy the way this country is heading. Yet another entitlement that I fund but will not see a cent from.

7 moms found this helpful

I am 30, hubby is 35. We are planning our retirement the same way--that Social Security will no longer exist for us to draw from it.

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SS is nothing more than a ponzi scheme, and eventually, all ponzi schemes will fall.

It's just really unfortunate for the generation that will lose out (probably us).

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Ha! No, we do not even think that will be an option. My husband will not be at retiring age for another 35 years, and we assume social security will be long gone. We are relying on us for retirement. I hope we can save enough, that IS something I worry about.

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Are kidding??!! Sweet mother the minute I started working I knew I would never see a dime of it! I count on my own savings for retirement because I would really like to retire one day.

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Nope. I'm a teacher, so I won't get it anyway, but even if I was supposed to get it, we wouldn't be planning on it. We have planned well for retirement, and have very diversified stocks/savings in addition to my teacher retirement.

Great question!

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Not only am I not counting on it I'm guessing that it will run out before the baby boom generation does and that many of us will be left supporting our parents while trying to save for our own retirement!

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We don't count on SS. We plan for and fend for ourselves. My husband has been planning for our retirement since he was 21. I thought he was being ridiculous putting away so much money. But, now I understand why that was so beneficial. His thought is "if we live on half now, we'll just as easily live on half later".

In response to SWH: The only debt we carry is our mortgage, which we plan to pay off in ten years. Everything else is bought with cash (or credit card for the benefit and then paid off in cash at the end of the month).

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No. I do NOT expect it to available...
No. I am NOT counting on it to retire on.

The system is VERY broken.

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I expect Social Security will still be around . . . . but not at current rates. The government will have to scale back benefits significantly after the baby boomer generation gets finished with Social Security.

However, I don't put Social Security into the equation when planning my own retirement because the "how much" is a great unknown.

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I'm not factoring it into my retirement savings calculation but part of my job is heavily involved in the retirement planning industry and the consensus there is that SS will be around when I retire. If it is, great. If not, I will hopefully be prepared.

People do NOT save as much as they should. The retirement savings of people currently working is frightening and abysmal. I don't think that those who don't save enough are counting on SS, they're just not planning at all. The "deal with today and figure out tomorrow later" mentality. I talk to a lot of people who just shrug and say "I guess I'll work until I die." Yeah great plan genius...and what happens when you're too sick or disabled to work into your 70s? Makes me crazy.

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Absolutely NO WAY! I am under no delusion that it will be there when I retire in many years. I look at that money as "gone".

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Yes, we are depending on it. If it's not there, I suppose we'll depend more on our children than we had intended.

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I guess I'm not in the majority here. I am planning on my social security benefits, and even more importantly medicare benefits.

I have a pension plan and I contribute to a 401K, so SS will not be my only retirement income, only a small portion, but it is part of the calculation.

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I think that major reform is needed for sure. I do think the money has to be there though because without it millions of people will starve to death on the streets and basically our economy will fail. We'll be taken over the the Chinese and all need to learn that language. It's been taught in college classes for at least 25 years that without social security that's what will happen.

Every person that is on disability will find themselves soon dying due to no medications that are keeping them alive, all people with developmental disabilities that live on social security will be kicked out of their group homes and living arrangements, they will be wandering around being used and abused, the whole low income populations of the USA will start revolting against the government and a true revolution will occur.

When SS started it took one man paying in to give 2 men a retirment living. In the mid 90's it was taking 6 people working and paying in SS to pay for one person to be retired. Once the baby boomers are in full swing in the program it will crash and have to be reformed.

This is one reason why I KNOW it has to be reformed now to budget the money to be there. They have to cut from other budgets to make sure that they don't get overthrown.

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Nah. I'm 27. I imagine the world will look very different in 40 years.

We'll see.

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I am counting on my children. No joke. I know it's not the norm here in the states, but it IS the norm where my husband is for. I am sure my husband will work until he just can't anymore and I expect that my kids will help us in our old age.
Laura
@8kidsdad - the Social Security system has been broken WAY before Obama.

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We are very much into our investments, planning and organizing for retirement.

We've paid in the maximum to Social Security for YEARS and Social Security is not in any of the analysis we do. If we do end up getting any part of Social Security, it will just be gravy to what we've already saved and planned for.

It really po's me that there will probably be nothing there for us and right now some lazy a$$ who never had a good work ethic, blew through all their money, is relying on the government to take care of them and frauding the government (see post from last week where a woman purposely does nothing so she does not get her government $$ taken away) is getting it.

We live debt free and we have saved for our daughter to go to college and graduate debt free. We still have a good life even with our planning!

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Not unless I plan to live on birdseed and have my house falling apart all around me. We hear all the time about seniors living on limited budgets and fixed income. And that income is mostly SS, though some do have pensions to include. But with the way costs of living are increasing, I don't see how anyone can really count on anything. I just hope I am healthy enough to enjoy whatever I can get out of life when I am older.

LOL I told my kids they need to ahve really good paying jobs when they are older so I can live with them.

3 moms found this helpful

I'm 29. I highly doubt social security will be around when I am retirement age. Right now my employer has a pension and I am really hoping that is still around when I retire, because it's very generous. I'm still saving on my own through a 401K and IRA primarily, but you can never be sure you will have enough.

3 moms found this helpful

SS system has been broke since well as far back as I can remember. I can tell you I was in my early twenties when I first heard "by the time your generation gets to be of SS age there won't be anything"...now I truly believe it.

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Hi! We are 56 and absolutely counting on Social Security. Will it be enough? No, I know that. We supported my mom in many small ways (food, chores, clothing, etc) for many years. But it is where we are, life isn't always what you think it is going to be. I don't care about being poor, I just want my husband to be with me...

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Seriously?? NO, I am NOT counting on SS!!! (I'm almost 40 btw) I actually assumed everyone my age felt the way I do, not the opposite. Like you said in your SWH, it is good to see all of these responses! And I totally agree with you - what are the people who spend, spend, spend planning to do? I guess they'll never retire. And then they'll move back in with their kids? UGH. The whole retirement conversation stresses me out. I'm with you - conservative with my money and a big time saver. We'll see what happens...

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We are not counting on the amount it will pay, but I believe we are all counting on it being there. Which I feel it will be, it's a government entity, it won't fail. Just like the post office, it won't fail either.

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If there's anything to be had, I'll take the check.
I wouldn't say I'm counting on it, but I wouldn't turn anything away.

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Heck no!! That is why we take care of ourselves. We have our own retirement accounts, and fund them yearly. I don't want to count on the government for ANYTHING.

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Nope. Not at all. I also need to up my 401k contributions so I'm not working until the end of time! I wish I had started earlier, but I didn't and can't change it. So I just have to move forward. If they could just change it and have everyone save for their own retirement and keep the Government out of it, that'd be fabulous!

1 mom found this helpful

No, specifically because my husband's employer is a non-contributor to Social Security. Some municipalities in Texas chose to opt-out a long time ago and have never been required to opt back in, and he works for one of them. So we're not earning any credits to go towards SS, but he is contributing a good chunk to a pension and more to a private retirement account.

1 mom found this helpful

Am I counting on it? Nope, but I do believe that it will be around.

The reality is that the politicians cannot possibly get rid of it...OLD PEOPLE VOTE AND MAKE UP A HUGE PERCENTAGE OF THE VOTING POPULATION!

1 mom found this helpful

I don't think it will be there the way we are told it will be/were told it would be. We shall see. My husband hits mandatory retirement in 11 years. That is right around the window forecasters say it will collapse, right? He is eligible to begin receiving benefits immediately upon retirement (such as they may be), due to the mandatory nature of his retirement, and it is in our retirement "planning", but neither of us realistically expect the receive what the paperwork reflects. It is by NO means our only retirement planning. We too are of the generation that have heard our entire life: "it will be gone before you ever retire."

Even after retirement, my husband has no intention of "retiring". He is considering being a teacher, among other things. A lot can change before then though...
As desirable as "retirement" seems, I really can't fathom ever being "retired". Ok... no waking up to an alarm clock and dragging off to drudgery, true. But there is still laundry, and meals to shop for and prepare, still house cleaning to be done, the other mundane issues of life. But, I also think about the admonishment from Paul regarding idleness. And consider how that plays out in the lives of Americans and their "ideal" of a "nice retirement" where they don't work and just travel and visit friends and family and have one big long vacation. I mean, isn't that what most Americans expect retirement to be? A final never ending vacation?
My parents are 70, and my mom still plants a small garden every year, they still tend their recently (in the last 3-5 years) planted mini-orchard, my dad volunteers at a hospital and in just the last year has been substitute teaching in the local school system. I wonder if most people plan on such a productive "retirement". I guess I expect my "retirement" to be along the same concept as my own parents. Do a few fun/nice things, mostly trips, not buying extravagant things or even going to extravagant places (they drove the Oregon Trail about 8 years ago, since my dad's family were some of the original pioneers on it; they drove up to Maine/New England, that sort of thing), and stay busy mentally and physically. I have no doubts my husband will continue to work in some capacity. He has also done volunteer work (Hospice) for the past probably 5 years. He has to stay busy... idleness doesn't "fit" him.

So, in sum, no, we are not counting on SS. One, because it will not exist in its current iteration; and Two, because I don't foresee a "typical" retirement for us. Until I became a SAHM, I had worked continuously (almost without exception) from the time I was in 11th grade. I "work" now managing my kids and their "scthuff" (dr appts, ortho appts, dental appts, piano, karate, middle school/high school, church), and the rest of the household. When the kids are grown and gone, I can't imagine sitting around here every day. I am sure I will find some sort of outside job. Probably I will revisit the "retirement" question then... but I don't expect to be receiving much from SS either way.

1 mom found this helpful

I don't expect social security and have nothing saved aside from my 401k. I've had a child later in life and taking care of him, living in a safe place, giving him a head start with a good education is my priority. I don't make enough to do both. I'm hoping I will be able to start putting something away after we're through with day care. I moved to a nice area so we can use the public schools. But I also need to save for his college so, I'm not sure what I will do frankly.

1 mom found this helpful

nope. i'm right on the dividing line (assuming the ryan plan goes into place) of 'those who get forked.' we have a 401K that won't nearly do it for us, so we're looking into purchasing income-producing rentals.
khairete
S.