April is Social Security Month, and Barry Bigelow from Great Waters Financial joined GMN to share more about the future of the program, as well as how you can make the most of your benefits.

Three out of four older adults are worried that Social Security programs will run out of funding, leaving them without a major source of income in retirement. The claiming strategies around Social Security are extremely varied but only one in five older adults has Social Security as their only means of income to pay bills in retirement.

2034 is where people say Social Security will run out of money. What that actually means is that in 2024, Social Security is scheduled to pay 80% of its benefit out to those who are receiving it. There are solutions to solving the Social Security problem. The people in the House and Senate need to agree on what the solution is and move forward on the solutions available.

People can maximize their Social Security benefits in a few different ways. One way is to delay your benefit. Every year that you delay your benefit, it can grow by 6 or 8% depending on your age. Sometimes delaying your benefit can be the way that you get a larger benefit for the rest of your life and then cost of living adjustments that happen with Social Security become bigger as well.

There are many ways that people are creating other streams of income while in retirement. You can receive benefits from spouses and ex-spouses even if you are divorced. Other people are working greenhouse or golf course jobs doing work that they love so that they have that additional income for the fun of retirement. People are also getting into rental income or other different sources of income so that when they get to retirement, social security pays for all their needs. Then the rest of the income or assets that they have turns into “fun money”.