Quote:
Originally Posted by Rainger99
It would be very difficult to live solely on Social Security anywhere in the USA. Please note that SS was not designed to be the sole source of income for retired people. People have always talked about the "3 legged stool" of retirement.
The 3-Legged Stool Metaphor
1. Social Security
2. Pensions
3. Personal savings
This is from the SS website.
Social Security was never meant to be the only source of income for people when they retire. Social Security replaces a percentage of a worker’s pre-retirement income based on your lifetime earnings. If you start benefits in 2025 at your “full retirement age” (see our “Full retirement age” section), this percentage ranges from as much as 79% for very low earners, to about 43% for medium earners, to about 28% for maximum earners. I
Most financial advisers say you will need about 70% to 80% of pre-retirement income — including your Social Security benefits, investments, and personal savings — to live comfortably in retirement.
I have been surprised at how little social security pays and how expensive Medicare is. I thought that Medicare would free (people are always talking about free healthcare for all) since I paid into it for more than 50 years. I was wrong about that!!
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I don't know where on the SSA website you read that, but here's what I saw - and a link to the page and location on that link:
Social Security History
Quote:
The biggest problem with company-provided pensions was that the percentage of workers anticipating an employment-related pension from their company or their union was tiny. Indeed, in 1900 there were a total of five companies in the United States (including Dolge) offering their industrial workers company-sponsored pensions. As late as 1932, only about 15% of the laborforce had any kind of potential employment-related pension. And because the pensions were often granted or withheld at the option of the employer, most of these workers would never see a retirement pension. Indeed, only about 5% of the elderly were in fact receiving retirement pensions in 1932.
So the company pension was an option not available to most Americans during the time prior to the advent of Social Security.
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The above is somewhat near the top of the page, under "
The Company Pension."
Quote:
Social Security History
The Social Security Act was signed into law by President Roosevelt on August 14, 1935. In addition to several provisions for general welfare, the new Act created a social insurance program designed to pay retired workers age 65 or older a continuing income after retirement.
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The above is around the half-way mark on that page.
The tl;dr (too late, didn't read) version: Social Security WAS ABSOLUTELY designed as a pension/retirement for retired workers, many of whom had no pension plan at all from their jobs, and didn't earn enough to "save for retirement" during the Depression and shortly thereafter. That is exactly precisely WHY it was created.