If you're a 30-something, you are probably more concerned with your mortgage payment, buying diapers or your next promotion these days. But financial advisers warn, you need to start thinking beyond a day or two and look 30 or 35 years into your future.
That's because new congressional projections show Social Security running out by 2037. Drained...gone...eliminated.
It is somewhat hard for those of my generation to wrap their minds around that and the impact it will have on their future. Do you ever worry about it? Or are you more concerned with making sure your costly electrical bill gets paid on time?
If it isn't something you worry about, then think about this...
This year alone, Social Security is projected to collect $45 billion less in payroll taxes than it pays out in retirement, disability and survivor benefits. That's according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. That figure swells to $130 billion when a new one-year cut in payroll taxes is included, though Congress has promised to repay any lost revenue from the tax cut.
To be blunt, the outlook for Social Security is bleak. And unless you plan on working up until the day you die, you need to start planning for your future now. Is that enough to get you running to your nearest financial advisor today?
With baby boomers starting to retire and all those people cashing in on Social Security benefits, it leaves the massive retirement program facing uncertain years ahead.
Using census data, Cornell University estimates that approximately 78,000 people in Onondaga County will be 65 and older by 2035 (the farthest the projections go). Click here to see an estimate for your county. That represents tens of thousands of people locally who may be on the brink of retirement when Social Security runs out.
Some of those people are already sounding off on this, saying, "Start putting away your own. Perhaps many of us already do. And while many more of us will get angry at the government...use your voice to speak and put away your own cash."
Another is angry about paying into a system they will never be able to cash into, saying, "I do not so much have a problem with SS ending, but rather the fact that we are paying and will continue to pay a significant portion of our taxes to other people...It affects the amount I will be able to save for my own when I do not have the luxury of a government subsidized retirement."
For advice, we turned to Cynthia Scott, an investment manager and President of OMC Financial Services in DeWitt. She's an advocate of privatizing Social Security. But until Congress takes a hard look at reform, whether that be privatizing or changing when people are eligible to collect, she says you need to take action yourself.
"I hate to say it, but I don't think they (young adults) are taking this seriously," Scott told CNY Central by phone. "You're concerned about things on a day to day basis, children, family, getting ahead in your career. You can't even begin to think about 32 years from now. You're thinking about what you're doing next Monday," she said.
Scott recommends you plan ahead as if social security will not exist. "I would maximize out my 401K and if I had the option of doing a Roth IRA, I would do that, or I would begin to save on a private basis," she said. Scott advises young adults to set aside 15 percent of their income every year in a retirement plan.
More than 54 million people receive retirement, disability or survivor benefits from Social Security right now. That number will continue to grow as baby boomers continue to retire.
For now, 2037 is the date to circle on your calendar, when Social Security benefits are projected to run out, unless Congress takes action.
In the meantime, grab your old piggy bank and start saving.
Are you worried that all the money you pay into Social Security won't be there when you need it? Do you have faith in your Congressional leaders in Washington to figure this out? What are you doing to save for retirement? Leave your thoughts below.
Information from the Associated Press was used in this article.
