We realize it may be a stretch for ordinary people to want to keep up with the comings and goings of the Social Security Administration, but sometimes circumstances permit where someone does want to follow the latest news regarding the agency due to a possible retirement or disability interest. This blog is an ongoing piecemeal of recent stories that have involved Social Security. Some are tidbits and some are important things that should be known in the world of retirement or disability and others are just interesting stories and nothing more.
Growing Phone Scam
Chances are either you, or someone you know has been the target of one of the various Social Security calling scams going around. A typical scam involves a call informing that your Social Security number has been suspended and you must contact a certain number. When you call back the scammers are counting on getting your personal information, but there is a report out of San Francisco where a calling informs that Social Security benefits are being suspended and prompts you to press 1 on the keypad. Anyone who receives this call should not press 1, people should immediately hang-up. According to the Federal Trade Commission, if someone presses 1 and live person will come on the phone in an attempt to extract personal information or inform the person that they have to pay a fee to get benefits reinstated.
Social Security will never call anyone asking them to send or wire case or threaten by phone to take away benefits. The FTC says this is the largest scam running right now and estimates there have been 70,000 reports about this scam and the scam has resulted in $17 million worth of losses. Anyone who suspects they may have received one of these scammer calls should contact the Office of the Inspector General for Social Security. How to contact the OIG can be found here.
Long Term Social Security Projects
The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released recent updates on long-term Social Security projects. The following updates were published by the National Association of Plan Advisors.
- The CBO estimates that in 2019, total mandatory federal outlays (net of offsetting receipts) will amount to $2.7 trillion, up from $2.6 trillion in 2018. It attributes that increase in part to greater outlays for Social Security.
- Social Security outlays will rise by $56 billion (or 6%) relative to those of 2018, reaching $1.0 trillion this year. The CBO attributes that increase to growth in the number of beneficiaries and in the average benefit payment.
- The CBO expects that receipts from payroll taxes – which primarily fund Social Security and Medicare’s Hospital Insurance program – will increase by $76 billion (or 6%) this year.
Over the coming decade, CBO projects that federal outlays will grow at an average annual rate of 5%, reaching $7.1 trillion in 2029 (adjusted to exclude the effects of timing shifts). Outlays for Social Security, Medicare, and net interest account for about two-thirds of that $2.7 trillion increase, the CBO says.
Spending on Social Security and the major federal health care programs (Medicare, Medicaid, subsidies offered through the health insurance marketplaces established under the Affordable Care Act and related spending, and the Children’s Health Insurance Program) will account for more than 90% of the projected growth in nominal mandatory spending through 2029.
