Social Security Facts & Figures

Many of our younger clients continually ask Kyle, Rob, and me whether Social Security will still be around when they come of age. My standard answer is “yes” and I explain that older folks vote in high numbers so the politicians aren’t going to make major changes in a short time frame. Yes, they will tweak around the edges but, in the past, major changes didn’t fully take place for years.

Folks can take their Social Security benefits anytime between ages 62 and 70. Here are the percentages of people that claim their benefits at different ages:

• 62: 29%
• 63: 6%
• 64: 7%
• 65: 10%
• 66: 33%
• 67: 4%
• 68: 3%
• 69: 3%
• 70: 5%

Over the years Congress has discussed ways of shaving the cost of living benefit (COLA) that supposedly helps seniors deal with inflation. Over the past 12 years, the COLA has averaged 1.72%. Annual adjustments are listed below:

• 2009: 5.8%
• 2010: 0%
• 2011: 0%
• 2012: 3.6%
• 2013: 1.7%
• 2014: 1.5%
• 2016: 0%
• 2017: 0.3%
• 2018: 2%
• 2019: 2.8%
• 2020: 1.6%
• 2021: 1.3%

We usually have an idea if there will be a COLA by August, and firm COLA numbers by October each year. Let’s see how inflation behaves over the next six months. Now that I’m taking Social Security, I watch this a lot more closely than I did in the past.

Questions about Social Security? Get in touch with us and we’ll help you get the answers you need.

Enjoy the weekend…
Peter