Why Do So Many Seniors Claim Social Security Early? Blame Congress
Social Security has been paying retirement benefits to seniors for nearly eight decades, and its importance to retired workers has seemingly grown with each passing year. Today, according to the Social Security Administration, 34% of elderly recipients rely on their monthly stipend for 90% or more of their income, while 62% lean on the program for at least half of their income. It's simply that important to the financial well-being of our nation's 42 million-plus retirees currently receiving a monthly benefit.
But this all-important program is about to run into a brick wall. The ongoing retirement of baby boomers has allowed roughly 4 million new people each year to become eligible for retirement benefits, and there simply aren't new workers to take their place without the worker-to-beneficiary ratio falling. Also, life expectancies have risen steadily for decades. Between 1960 and 2016, life expectancies rose by nearly nine to 78.8 years. We have more retirees living longer than ever before, and it's putting a lot of pressure on America's most important social program.
Image source: Getty Images.
Source: Fool.com
