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>> Hi. I'm Jean Chatzky. Welcome to our discussion about a very important topic for many of you,
Social Security. Joining us today is Bill Meyer, who's the founder and CEO of Social
Security Solutions. Welcome, Bill. Thanks for being here.
>> Thanks, Jean. It's good to be here.
>> All right. The million dollar question right off the top. How viable is Social Security?
>> This is the big question, and I think there's a lot hoopla about this one. So let's talk
about the numbers. Every year, the Social Security Administration publishes the state
of the union and this year, the trust fund can pay out 100% of benefits through 2033,
and then after that point, the guarantee drops to 75%.
>> What does that mean in English?
>> What that means in English is things won't go kaput or we won't run out of money. Your
benefits are guaranteed through 2033. So for the next 20 years, anyone who's retiring has
a guarantee that there's enough money to pay everyone out. The bad news, though, is that
after 2033, there's not enough money to pay people. So this breeds the uncertainty. The
rule of thumb is that if you're 55 years or older, you should use the current rules and
if you're under 55, you should consider a haircut or putting some sort of reduction
on what Social Security says they're going to pay you.
>> So you should plan for that in other words?
>> Exactly. Exactly. And the key is that Social Security is such a significant component of
someone's retirement plan that they should incorporate a strategy to maximize their benefit,
get as much as they're entitled to going forward.
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