The Best Reason Not to Count on Social Security for Your Retirement

An estimated 59% of retirees today regard Social Security as a major source of income, reports the Employee Benefit Research Institute. But that's troubling for a number of reasons.

First, those benefits are only designed to replace about 40% of the average wage earner's pre-retirement income. Most seniors, meanwhile, need more like 70% to 80% of their former earnings to live comfortably, and those who bank mostly on Social Security are often forced to make unwelcome lifestyle changes later in life.

Secondly, while Social Security has enough revenue at present to keep up with scheduled benefits, the program anticipates a future shortfall that could cause those payments to be slashed to the tune of 20%. And that milestone isn't all that far off -- recent estimates put it at 2035.

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Source Fool.com