Many older Americans rely on Social Security for a stress-free retirement. But now, those benefits may be on the line.
A study by the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College found that older Americans are having a more difficult time planning for retirement due to uncertainty over Social Security, as well as Medicare, taxes, and inflation. And some are adjusting their life plans to cope with these factors.
Here are the sort of changes Social Security may be looking at, and what people are doing in response.
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Social Security cuts could have a huge impact
Social Security gets most of its funding from payroll taxes. But in the coming years, the labor force is expected to shrink as Baby Boomers retire in droves. That’s going to put a strain on Social Security’s limited resources to the point where benefit cuts may become inevitable unless lawmakers take action.
In the aforementioned study, 54% of respondents said a 20% Social Security benefit cut starting in 2035 would require “significant sacrifices or a tighter budget,” and that this change would impact their finances more so than any other policy change or risk. The scary thing, though, is that a 20% Social Security cut in 2035 is actually a better-case scenario than what’s on the table right now.
Last year, the Social Security Trustees projected that benefits may be subject to a 23% cut in 2033. And the Congressional Budget Office more recently pushed up the timing of those potential cuts to 2032 in conjunction with Social Security’s Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund running dry.
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Benefit cuts could hurt across the board
Lower-income seniors tend to rely on Social Security more so than their well-off counterparts. And that makes sense. People who earn low wages throughout their careers may have a much harder time building savings or securing outside income streams than those who earn more during their working years.
Still, the above-mentioned survey found that even though Social Security benefits replace a larger percentage of lifetime earnings for retirees with lower incomes, more than half of people in almost every asset bracket say Social Security is “somewhat important” or “very important.”
In other words, Social Security cuts may not just hurt lower-income retirees. They could hurt retirees broadly and put some at risk of draining their savings sooner.
Some are delaying retirement in light of potential benefit cuts
Losing out on Social Security could deal a blow even to older Americans with strong savings. Not surprisingly, the aforementioned study found that since the start of 2025, 21% of unretired respondents decided to postpone their retirement dates.
Delaying retirement achieves a few purposes. First, it allows for a few more years of savings. It also allows near-retirees to keep their existing nest eggs untapped a bit longer, allowing for added growth.
Postponing retirement also opens the door to delayed Social Security benefits. Filers are rewarded for delaying their claims past full retirement age, which is 67 for anyone born in 1960 or later. And locking in larger benefits could help ease the blow of cuts by giving recipients a higher starting point.
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Some are shifting into more conservative investments
Older Americans aren’t just worried about potential Social Security cuts. They’re also plagued by general economic uncertainty and other potential policy changes, including tax changes.
To that end, the study above found that 27% of older Americans have shifted to more conservative investments since the start of 2025. Meanwhile, 6% have purchased products to protect against potential losses.
At the same time, most people didn’t make changes to their investment strategy. Given the potential for Social Security cuts, it could be prudent for retirees to maintain some level of risk in their portfolios so their money continues to grow.
That risk can be mitigated through diversification and a strong cash buffer. For current retirees, that could mean keeping enough cash on hand to cover two to three years of living costs to ride out a market downswing.
Bottom line
Your Social Security benefits may be crucial to your retirement plans, so the idea of cuts can be scary. And unfortunately, lawmakers have no concrete solution to date to prevent those cuts from happening.
The good news is that lawmakers have never allowed Social Security to reduce benefits broadly before, so there’s a good chance they’ll manage to stave off cuts this time around, too. But it’s best to prepare for that scenario.
If you’re close to retirement age, that means boosting your savings as much as possible and considering a few extra years in the workforce. If you’re not quite as far along in your career, increasing your savings rate may be enough to compensate for potential Social Security cuts. If you invest your money wisely and give it ample time to grow, you may be able to end your career on time even if your Social Security paychecks end up getting reduced.
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