The rumor that millennials will not receive social security when they retire is a bald faced lie. According to The Seattle Times, social security has become “a Rorschach test.”
The Social Security Administration (SSA) released its annual trustees’ report on Wednesday, which estimated that the Social Security Trust Fund money will “run out” by 2034.
But that’s just one estimate.
“While older Americans can’t imagine a world without Social Security, most millennials have become fatalistic — they assume the benefit will disappear before they reach retirement,” writes Ben Steverman of The Seattle Times.
Apparently, less than 10% of the surveyed millennials expect to get anything from the SSA by the time they’re 67 (the average benefit age for those born 1960 or later). More than half “expect the program to become extinct, according to a 2014 Pew Research Center survey.”
That same survey found that “cutting benefits is also wildly unpopular.” The majority of millennials voted in favor of keeping or expanding their social security benefits. Very few of them are okay with not receiving full benefits upon their retirement.
While experts in this field largely disagree on social security as a whole, they all agree that millennials have the wrong idea. They say that while the estimate is right about the year 2034, it will not be the year social security runs out. Instead, they believe that will be the year “when Social Security can no longer pay full benefits (unless the government steps in and does something about it).”
But even if the program can’t pay full benefits, it should still be able to cover three-quarters of them for a few more decades. These benefits will also be backed by payroll taxes, so millennials will be safe for a little while longer.
I, for one, am breathing a sigh of relief. What about you, PopStars? Is this news to you, or are you still a little skeptical?
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