Social Security Matters
by Russell Gloor, National Social Security Advisor at the AMAC Foundation, the non-profit arm of the Association of Mature American Citizens
Dear Rusty: I have a question about my Social Security benefits. Would I be correct to assume that part of the monthly Social Security income I get is a repayment of what I contributed to the fund while I was working? If so, how much of my monthly benefit payment is my own money coming back to me? Signed: Curious Beneficiary
Dear Curious: I’m afraid that is not how Social Security works. The money you contribute to Social Security during your working years does not go into a special account to be repaid to you. Rather, the Social Security taxes you pay while working are used to pay benefits to all those currently receiving Social Security benefits. The system is, in effect, a “pay as you go” program where all those currently contributing help pay benefits for all those now receiving. What your contributions do, however, is earn you “quarter credits” and, when you have enough credits, you become eligible for Social Security retirement benefits for life. Generally, someone must have about 40 quarters (about 10 years) contributing to Social Security to be eligible for SS retirement benefits.
How much you receive monthly is determined not by how much you contributed but, rather, by how much your work earnings were over your lifetime. You will get a percentage of your average pre-retirement work income as your monthly Social Security payment, but that is also affected by your age when you claim benefits. It is your average lifetime earnings (adjusted for inflation) which determines your “Primary Insurance Amount” (or “PIA”). Your PIA is what you get at your Social Security full retirement age (FRA), but your age when you claim benefits determines if you get more or less than your PIA. Claiming SS before your FRA means a smaller monthly benefit, while waiting longer than your FRA means a benefit higher than your PIA. (SS benefits reach maximum at age 70). FYI, each person’s FRA is different based on the year they were born, but full retirement age today is between age 66 and 67. When you claim benefits relative to your FRA determines how much of your PIA you will receive each month.
So, your contributions to Social Security aren’t used to determine your monthly benefit amount, but your average lifetime work earnings and age when you claim are. Nevertheless, you may be interested to know that most people get back everything they have personally contributed to Social Security within about 3 to 5 years of collecting their benefits. In that sense, Social Security is an exceptionally good deal, since most Americans now collect benefits for about two decades. And therein lies much of Social Security’s financial dilemma – people are now collecting benefits for many more years than the current program is designed to support. And that is what Congress needs to fix as soon as possible. The Social Security trust funds (which now provide supplemental money to pay benefits) are projected to be depleted around 2033, which will mean a cut in everyone’s monthly Social Security payment, unless Congress acts soon to reform the program and restore it to fiscal solvency.
