Will Social Security Be Around When I Retire?

The sad answer is probably not.  It may still be around when you retire or may go the way of the dinosaur.  That isn’t at issue today, today we are going to talk about how the social security system is designed now and how they are trying to change it as well.  Right now the retirement age is roughly 67 for people born after 1960 and around 66 for people born before.  You can withdraw early, but you will take a huge hit on your monthly retirement with as much as 20% to 30%, the average amount most people get form social security is $1,180.80 with a maximum amount of $2,639 in 2016.  Now this will raise, but probably not much since the social security system is where the government takes extra money it needs.

Many politicians have been trying to push the retirement age to 70 or even 72 stating that life expectancy is getting longer so people would be retired for longer and be more of a burden on the system.  Now this is only part of truth maybe it is their ignorance or something else I cant say.  The statistics say that the richest 1% of men live 14.6 years longer then the poorest 1%.  So the national average lifespan is around 78 so subtract 14.6 from that and that means some people wont even see 67.  Now the numbers are more many and varied some people in this country only live to be around 40 because of the conditions they live in and the access to health care they have.  It is a very scary concept that I will have to work for my entire life and never have a break all because of how the system is set up.

Whats even better is they take the average of your highest paying 35 years of work.  Now if in that time you are laid off that counts as a zero and will be factored in as such so you have to work for 35 straight years or get penalized.  They don’t care if you were laid off or there was a job drought in your area they only care about the numbers.

Now that I have thoroughly depressed you, I am sure, lets talk about solutions.  There are many roads you can take right now regardless of your current age.  Don’t let age be a deterring factor at all.  One option is to find a higher paying job that will allow you to start putting money away for your retirement.  You can really cut your spending and start putting that money away for your retirement plan.  Or you can start your own business.

Many people have started their own business, most have done this online using one or many business models.  The two I suggest you look into are either Drop-shipping or Affiliate Marketing.  The links take you to informative articles I have written.  There are other models too another such model is using Pay Per Click, but that one has a lot of risk, but can have a high reward.  Some people have created their own online store selling their own homemade wares.  This can be rewarding and fun to make money doing something you love doing.

The main point is you cannot count on the social security system to support you in your retirement, or even work related retirement plan.  You have to take action now to secure your future, and maybe if you work hard and find a good plan you can retire very early and live the life you have always dreamed about.

If you have any questions or comments please feel free to comment below.