Social Security Archives - Jerry Golden on Retirement

How to Fix Social Security and What to Do While We Wait

April 7, 2023 By Jerry Golden in Social Security Tags: Annuities, fix Social Security, Saving for retirement

Here are four proposals to modify Social Security and to ensure the program keeps going strong for future retirees.

I try to avoid political debates in my writing, but sometimes it’s unavoidable. Discussing Social Security and how to maintain its solvency is clearly a highly charged subject. It’s also timely, and I propose a new way to think about Social Security and how to leverage its administrative and actuarial support infrastructure.

My criteria for program changes are quite simple: (1) Social Security should be fair to all beneficiaries without the ability for anyone to “game” the system, and (2) Social Security’s ability to deliver lifetime cost-of-living protected income should be leveraged and made available in the private marketplace.

What’s the smartest way to claim Social Security benefits?

November 27, 2019 By Jerry Golden in Social Security Tags: Claiming benefits, Income annuities, Social Security

Many clients and friends ask my guidance about Social Security – particularly the question of whether they should claim their benefits early or late. I have crunched the numbers. And I have not come up with a one-size-fits-all answer – because there isn’t one.

It turns out the best way for you to get the most from Social Security may not be the best way for your neighbor, colleague, friend or even your spouse. Add Social Security to the list of topics you discuss with family over the holidays. You will find more opinions about when to start taking benefits than you do about qualities of the best dessert.

It’s not one or the other

If you do research on your own, you will quickly find articles that want to push you in one direction or the other. One will remind you that less than 5% of retirees wait until the maximum age of 70 to collect their benefits. Those who take their benefits at or before their “full” retirement age leave trillions of dollars on the table. The authors of those articles make you feel stupid if you claim “early.”

How immigration policy is intertwined with Social Security

June 27, 2018 By Jerry Golden in Social Security Tags: immigration, Social Security

As usual, the country is dealing with many controversies, most of which tend to be debated as standalone issues. The fact is, they are often intertwined with one another.

Take the case of immigration and Social Security. No matter what opinion you hold about immigration, many political liberals and conservatives agree that the future of Social Security will be much worse without an inflow of immigrant workers.

A Bipartisan Policy Center white paper states that immigrants “can help boost economic growth and mitigate some of the demographic challenges created by an aging population and declining domestic birth rates.”

And N.Y. Post columnist John Crudele agreed earlier this year, writing that “the only answer to keep the Social Security pyramid functioning is to allow people from other countries to come here to work, pay taxes and contribute to Social Security.”

I have written about potential solutions in the design and financing of Social Security here, here and here. The longer we wait to address the issues, the more difficult it will be to solve them.

Share your thoughts about Social Security. Write to me at Ask Jerry.

Wrapping up 2017 — and wishing for a retirement czar

December 28, 2017 By Jerry Golden in Social Security Tags: Annuities, retirement czar, retirement income, Social Security

An open letter to my U.S. senators:

Dear Senator,

I keep my preferences regarding Republican vs. Democrat to myself, but I have to admit I’ve never spent so much time talking about politics with my friends and spouse as I have in 2017. What a year!

As the country takes stock and we head into 2018, I would like to share my thoughts with you about retirement — the area of government I’m most interested in both professionally and personally. The question is what role should the government play in encouraging retirement savings and providing income, healthcare and long-term care for those who aren’t able to save enough?

Based on my experience and research, “retirement” ought to have a seat at the table and have someone represent the interests of current and future retirees. More

How Trump and Congress can fix Social Security

January 10, 2017 By Jerry Golden in Interesting Articles, Social Security 5 Comments Tags: Baby Boomers, Congress, Donald Trump, retirement income, Social Security, solutions

This column first ran Dec. 15, 2016, in The Hill, a daily journal that covers the federal government and related policy issues.

As the federal government’s largest entitlement program, Social Security faces the possibility of having to reduce payouts for millions of new retired workers after 2037. To prevent what would be a political and social disaster, I hope the new administration works with Congress to fashion a non-partisan solution.

An examination of the Republican and Democratic parties’ pre-election platforms, however, suggests that the parties are pretty far apart. The Republican platform position would allow us to invest some of our Social Security savings in the stock market while making unspecified reforms to address the increasing longevity of the population.

The Democratic platform advocates higher taxes on those with incomes above $250,000 along with adjustments to cost of living payments that would more accurately reflect the spending pattern of retirees. Of course, we all understand that platforms do not always indicate how policy actually gets implemented.