Social Security: Baby-boomers will soon reach retirement
Older Americans Month gives us a reason to pause and think about the remarkably long lives most Americans can now look forward to, and about the challenges and opportunities that will face a rapidly aging America in the 21st Century.
The truth is American society has been aging rather steadily for some time now. A hundred years ago, the average life expectancy at birth was only about 40 years. But children born today can reasonably expect to live nearly twice that long – and many will live to be 100 years old.
As someone who works for Social Security, I often think about the huge challenges an aging America brings, particularly the aging of the baby-boom generation. Baby-boomers are those 77 million Americans who were born between 1946 and 1964. Today, most are in their 40s. But the oldest is now 56.
Before too long, all those baby boomers will reach retirement age. Now I know it’s hard to imagine a number as large as 77 million. But if you break it down a bit, it comes out to more than 10,000 people a day reaching retirement age.
That’s a lot of retirees and this doubling of older Americans will subtly and perhaps not so subtly change the way America lives. It’s difficult to picture just what changes will occur. More wrinkle cream sales, early-bird dinner specials and senior merchandising discounts? Fewer body piercing pagodas and MTV specials? Who knows?
What we do know is all of these retirees will need a source of dependable income. That’s one reason why Social Security is so important. More than nine of 10 baby boomers will eventually receive a monthly Social Security retirement check, and it will provide a solid financial foundation as they make their retirement plans.
At the same time, I always tell people Social Security will not be enough. The average monthly Social Security retirement benefit for all retired workers is about $875. That’s something they will be able to count on for as long as they live. But people will need more if they want to enjoy a comfortable retirement.
Social Security has a great little calculator on our Website, www.ssa.gov/planners, that helps people work through what they’ll be getting from Social Security, and we connect to another site that helps calculate pension and savings income.