You’re in the home stretch of your career, and while you’re excited for the next chapter, you might also feel a little nervous. Giving up a regular paycheck to live exclusively off your savings is a big change, and it can be a difficult transition.
Fortunately for most people, you’re not entirely on your own. Social Security will help you cover some of your monthly retirement expenses. But it’s important to be realistic about what it’ll give you and what we still don’t know about the program’s future. Here are the three key things you ought to know if you plan to retire within the next decade.
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1. How much of your income Social Security is supposed to replace
While some seniors live almost exclusively off Social Security, that was never what the government intended. Social Security was only supposed to replace about 40% of pre-retirement income for average earners. High earners might get a bit less, while low earners might get a bit more.
If your expenses drop to 80% of your pre-retirement income after you leave the workforce, that means Social Security will cover roughly half of your monthly expenses. You’ll need to identify other retirement income sources to help you with the rest.
2. How the government calculates Social Security benefits
The Social Security Administration looks at your average monthly earnings, indexed for inflation, over your 35 highest-earning years when deciding how much to give you. It plugs that amount into the benefit formula that applies to your birth year. After that, it adjusts the result up or down based on when you decide to claim.
Understanding the basics of this formula is key to maximizing your checks. Working longer, increasing your income today, and choosing the right claiming age based on your income and life expectancy can all make a noticeable difference to how much you receive from Social Security in retirement.
3. How Social Security could change in the future
Social Security is only a few years away from insolvency. That doesn’t mean benefit checks will end, or even that there will be cuts. But it does mean the program is likely to look different in a decade.
The government may decide to increase Social Security taxes on workers or benefit taxes on seniors to keep the program sustainable. It could also reduce available benefits, or try some combination of the above. We don’t know yet.
When the government has decided what it wants to do with Social Security, it’ll be time to revisit your retirement budget. You may need to make some changes at that point to ensure you remain financially secure for decades to come.
