Will Social Security Outlast The Last Baby Boomer?

07 Jan Will Social Security Outlast The Last Baby Boomer?

By Boomeryearbook.com

In 2007, the first baby boomer, Kathleen Casey-Kirschling, signed up to receive her Social Security payments. She is the first on a long list of approximately 80 million Baby Boomers to take this step. In about a decade, Social Security will begin to pay out more than it collects and in about 35 years the system is expected to become completely bankrupt if nothing is done to forestall this seemingly inevitable outcome! There are only a few ways to change this outcome, raise taxes, cut benefits or both. Until that decision is made, however, it is important for you to know how you can begin collecting your payments soon.

The Application Process
The application process to begin receiving payments is rather easy, but still requires that you are aware of how the process works.
• You must be 62 years of age or older to apply to receive Social Security payments.
• The best way to do it is online at the Social Security website at www.socialsecurity.gov. They will provide you with a list of all the information you will need to have ready in order to complete the online application.
• You can complete it for yourself or another family member; the choices are listed on the site. It is important to read all of the instructions before you begin and during the completion of the application.
• When you’re ready to apply, you simply click on “Apply for Benefits,” complete the application and click “Submit” when you are finished.
• They will, then, give you a list of documents that you must mail to the Social Security office closest to you, such as your birth certificate (the original copy), and W-2 forms for the last year.

The Future Of Social Security
Many Baby Boomers will decide to apply as soon as they reach the required age and others will wait a few more years so that they can collect a bigger paycheck each month. But at the end of the day, the future of this system as we know it is very uncertain. Everyone has a fairly good idea about what will happen in the future and what can be done to offset the damage; however, no one seems to know what will be done and when it will be done.
As we enter into a new era in the United States under a brand new Obama Administration, many questions are being asked about social security to which no specific answers are being given. Most Baby Boomers will be able to receive social security for the next 35 years, but their children and grandchildren will be the ones who will have paid into a system that will have nothing to offer them in return if no action is taken now by our government. At this time, we can only wait and hope that a practical decision is made early enough to effective shore up the system for decades to come.

Are you worried about outliving your social security benefits? Share your thoughts with us at BoomerYearbook.

www.boomeryearbook.com is a social networking site connecting the Baby Boomer generation. Share your thoughts, rediscover old friends, or expand your mind with brain games provided by clinical psychologist, Dr. Karen Turner. Join today to discover the many ways we are helping Boomers connect for fun and profit.