📋 These 7 Americans Depend on Their Social Security Payments (AARP Article)

[SpringIsHereVA]

FROM THE ARTICLE:

These Americans Depend on Their Social Security Payments — and Fear Losing Them.

Caregiving, health challenges and business woes derailed their retirement plans, depleted their personal savings.

By Deirdre van Dyk, AARP. Published April 30, 2025.

By the end of 2024, nearly 9 in 10 Americans age 65 or older were collecting Social Security.

Those payments account for at least half the income of close to 23 million older adults as of March 2025 — 40 percent of retirees — according to the Social Security Administration (SSA). Retired workers on average receive $1,975 a month, less than $24,000 a year, so personal savings and workplace pensions built up through the years often augment that money.

But for an estimated 12 percent of men and 15 percent of women, nearly all the cash they need to keep a roof over their heads comes from Social Security.

USE THE LINK BELOW TO READ THE ARTICLE: https://www.aarp.org/social-security/americans-depend-on-social-security/

[GailL1]

There is nothing so exhilarating as personal stories - right?  Everybody has one, I’m sure.  

But these people are like many others - they want easy solutions to complicated problems.

1.  Social Security is NOT a retirement program - there are NO accounts for anybody.  It is more similar to an insurance annuity where you pay in to receive a benefit - in this case, being vested gives you a benefit for several different programs  and your need for them emerges based on the rules of the various programs -

• Social Security Disability,
• Social Security Retirement and
• Social Security Survivors Benefits.

The benefit that one gets from each of these vested programs is based on your earnings of 35 years of work and paying into the system.  

The annual earnings cap is there because it also CAPS the benefit amount.  The earnings cap goes up every year based on the cost of living index -  Remove the cap, you remove the maximum benefit amount.  

Sure this can be adjusted with some tweaks to the benefits formula - it is already very progressive in nature -  and I am sure that this cap adjustment will be part of the overall Social Security reform (if such a thing ever occurs) but it is NOT gonna be the total solution.  Other changes will also have to occur - just like back in 1983 when Reagan and his Democratic Congress made the changes they did to save the system back then for an added 40 years which included raising the retirement age from 65 to 67.  

If the programs of Social Security are earned benefits then everybody that pays into the system long enough to be vested should get a benefit or would this be changed with reform?

What gets me the most about all of this is - EVERYBODY keeps talking about the problems but they don’t really acknowledge what will have to be the solutions.  They don’t look further than placing the whatever fix on somebody else.  

Everybody has different life situations.  You prepare the best you can for the time that you can no longer work but sh*t happens - to the poor, to the rich, to those young and to those that are old.  So the way I see it, we are all in this together and each will be asked to make some type of sacrifices for the good of the whole.  If not, we should just turn the whole program into a welfare benefit funded from the general fund and application for a benefit can be made  based on your personal situation.   OR we can just give everybody something like the $ 982 a month less in-kind support and services that people on Supplemental Security Income are getting now with very strict income and asset rules and regs.

We (everybody - people, beneficiaries, organizations, government) need to start talking about the solutions and not just the problems.  

Where is it that YOU will compromise for a solution?  1st step in any discussion is to understand what is being discussed and I find many people lacking in that realm when it comes to the programs of Social Security - the how it works is important to the solution.  The who gets benefits, when and how is also very important to the solution.  

[SpringIsHereVA]

Gail @GailL1 , I am sure AARP published this article to share members' concerns. I didnot see anywhere in this article where these members were asking for "pity" or an "easy" solution. NOT everyone has a great retirement set up like you do. I am happy for you. Some of us rely on our monthly Retirement Social Security and there is NO shame in doing so.

➡️[*** YOU WROTE:  There is nothing so exhilarating as personal stories - right? Everybody has one, I’m sure. But these people are like many others - they want easy solutions to complicated problems.

Take care,

Nicole  👵

[GailL1]

@SpringIsHereVA 

I didn’t say anything about myself in my response.  Neither did i say anything about “pity” but yes, people do want an easy solution to a very complicated problem.  Neither did I shame anybody - but everybody does seem to be looking for solutions that are outside of them.  

I again, explained how Social Security works and how a certain fix would not solve all of the problems of the Trust Fund.  

There are no easy solutions - we are all in this together.  I am sorry that you took something else from my post.

[SpringIsHereVA]

Gail @GailL1 , you are correct. You DIDNOT mention yourself, I did. You had posted about Retirement Social Security is NOT suppose to be the ONLY income source in Retirement. Well, in the "real world" it is for some of us & we make it work the best we can. Take care, Nicole  👵

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➡️[*** Gail wrote on Thursday 5/1/25: I didn’t say anything about myself in my response.  Neither did i say anything about “pity” but yes, people do want an easy solution to a very complicated problem.  Neither did I shame anybody - but everybody does seem to be looking for solutions that are outside of them.  

I again, explained how Social Security works and how a certain fix would not solve all of the problems of the Trust Fund.  

There are no easy solutions - we are all in this together.  I am sorry that you took something else from my post. ***]

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[GailL1]

@SpringIsHereVA 

Yes, Social Security Retirement was never designed to be one’s total retirement income - but that is another problem.  

Unless you are promoting that Social Security Retirement should be increased and expanded - and yes, some people and legislators believe that this also should be done.  That would add more financial problems to the system.  

But so has the elimination of the WEP/GPO as was recently done and so would removing the tax on benefits which also helps fund the Social Security Trust Fund, in 2024 to the extent of $55 BILLION dollars.

Does it not seem that sometimes we just keep digging a deeper hole?

[SpringIsHereVA]

NO Gail @GailL1 , I am NOT promoting that Social Security Retirement should be increased and expanded.

Take care,

Nicole  👵

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➡️[*** Gail wrote on Thursday 5/1/25: Yes, Social Security Retirement was never designed to be one’s total retirement income - but that is another problem.  

Unless you are promoting that Social Security Retirement should be increased and expanded - and yes, some people and legislators believe that this also should be done.  That would add more financial problems to the system.  

But so has the elimination of the WEP/GPO as was recently done and so would removing the tax on benefits which also helps fund the Social Security Trust Fund, in 2024 to the extent of $55 BILLION dollars.

Does it not seem that sometimes we just keep digging a deeper hole? ***]

---

[SpringIsHereVA]

[Thursday 5/1/25]

This is so sad and true for alot of us seniors.  ☹

➡️[*** FROM THE ARTICLE: Caregiving, health challenges and business woes derailed their retirement plans, depleted their personal savings.

➡️[*** MY COMMENT: I try every day to live in a way that hopefully helps me to remain in my Studio Apt here in the totally beautiful Virginia hills. Lol, and yes - the weekly Walmart grocery run is FULL of temptations. But having my 1st Pre-Diabetic scare in 2023 for my yearly Medicare Bloodwork got my attention.  👍  Eliminated my much missed weekly chocolate cake with ice cream.  😭

Last year 2024 bloodwork back to NORMAL!!!  🙃

You do WHAT IS NEEDED to make that Retirement Social Security last = less $$$ going for medical care & meds.

And repairing the other old lady (2006 Hyundai Elantra) = too OLD for car payments at age 67.

Take care,

Nicole  👵