Two different congressional committees scheduled hearings on two different topics related to Social Security. The Senate Special Committee on Aging held a hearing Sept. 14 on maximizing Social Security benefits and the particulars on what people need to know. The gist of the hearing was to explain that Americans can maximize their Social Security retirement benefits if they delay as long as they can to receive them. Social Security benefits maximize out at age 70, so Americans who wait until this age get the most bang for their buck. If you watch a replay of the hearing, which can be found here, you will see that senators believe that most people do not wait until age 70 because they do not understand that their benefit increases if they wait. This may be true, but it is not shocking that senators, most of who are extremely wealthy and who are not counting on Social Security benefits to survive, don’t understand that many people can’t afford to wait until 70 to begin to receive benefits.
It is more a combination of misinformation and a need to start receiving benefits early. There are millions of people across the country that are aware that if they wait their benefits will increase, but they just can’t afford to wait, they need the money now. Many of these people can’t even wait until full retirement age to receive benefits and opt to collect early at age 62 knowing full well that they will see about a 20 percent reduction in their full retirement benefits for the rest of their lives as a penalty for collecting benefits early. The important thing to remember is that it depends on an individual’s situation as to when to decide to collect retirement benefits. Benefits can begin anywhere from age 62 to 70, but only the fortunate ones who do not rely on benefits to survive can usually wait until age 70.
The Other Hearing
The other Senate hearing, which is about “Understanding Social Security’s Solvency Challenge,” announced by Republican U.S. Rep Sam Johnson, will focus on the difference between Social Security’s projections on the program’s solvency and the projections of the Congressional Budget Office. It’s important not to be fooled about what this hearing, which is scheduled for Sept. 21, is likely to be about. The Republican Party has been in favor of reducing Social Security benefits for some time and former President George W. Bush was in favor of privatizing a portion of Social Security. The release from Ways and Means Committee Chairman, U.S. Rep. Kevin Brady, also a republican, can be found here. No specific details have been released as to what the particulars will be about except the broad topic related to the solvency of Social Security, but republicans have always liked to talk about fraud and abuse within the system even though it has be proven that there is less than 1 percent of fraud and abuse involved in Social Security claims. No one can be exactly sure what will be discussed at this congressional hearing, but don’t expect to hear any ideas about increasing benefits and trying to help those who are struggling to survive on their current level of Social Security benefits.
