Half Of Millennials Don't Believe Social Security Will Exist When They Retire: Poll

In the eyes of half of America's youngest voters, the American dream of government-funded retirement is slipping away.

Half of Americans between the ages of 18 and 29 don’t believe that Social Security will exist by the time they reach retirement age, a recent poll from iOMe Challenge finds. Of those young people that do say Social Security will still be around when they’re 67, only five percent say it will exist at the same level it does today.

The findings come as officials announced that Social Security recipients will get a 3.6 percent boost in their benefits next year and lawmakers look for ways to slow the program, according to The New York Times. A 12-member panel of lawmakers has been meeting to find ways to curb the national debt, and one of the many options on the table includes altering the calculation of Social Security benefits.

Some Republican presidential candidates advocate for more dramatic cuts to the program. Texas Governor Rick Perry has referred to it as a “Ponzi scheme” and others have indicated that the Social Security requires large-scale reform.

While politicians may believe the program needs reform, the majority of Americans -- even those concerned about the program's future -- have good things to say about the program. Indeed, 80 percent of Americans and 70 percent of young people say they think Social Security has been good for the country, according to a CNN poll released last month.

The talk of possible cuts to Social Security has more than just young people worried about the sustainability of the program. Confidence in the government’s ability to provide Social Security and Medicare declined 22 percent in the past year, according to a Sun Life Financial Inc. survey cited by Reuters. Still, private employers saw a bigger plunge in trust: Americans’ confidence in their employers’ ability to provide retirement benefits dropped 32 percent from last year.

Though Americans may be concerned about how they’ll fund their retirement, many say they don’t view it as the government’s job to help them. One in five Americans and one-third of Republicans believe that Social Security is unconstitutional, the CNN poll found.

Recent talk on the campaign trail of cuts to Social Security may explain why Americans and especially young people are losing confidence in its viability. Still, the Great Recession and its slow recovery have weighed on attitudes towards the program for some time. A 2010 USA Today/Gallup poll found that three-fourths of young people don’t expect to receive Social Security when they retire.

Comments

[Erik Corr]

11:19 PM on 10/23/2011

Focus on Annuities, Roth IRA and Foreign Trusts (in foreign currencies). The US government is going to print money aka QE3 to devalue and to create inflation which will kill savings. US government prints money to bail out billionaires and also for social handouts. Thus to plan ahead research the above ideas. 15 years from now the dollar will be down at least 30% or more maybe even 50%. That will pump up the stock market and the housing market but its fake (its inflated money) with loss of purchasing power.

[LibChicAZ]

09:32 AM on 10/22/2011

Wow, young people, you do know you have the power to change things right?? Stop voting for Repbublicans and insist we change things to ensure you'll have it. Lifting the tax limit is the easiest solution. Rush pays all his FICA taxes with his 1st check. I pay on 100 percent of my checks. There is a solution, help us fight for it!

[stopgov]

03:49 PM on 10/21/2011

Where are these "kids" getting this information? The Liberals in Congress, and many on the Huff&Puff have assured us that there is no problem with SS. They told us many times that the TP is lying when they claim it is a Ponzi scheme.

I still insist it is a Ponzi scheme, and I'm not sure I will even get what I paid into it, let alone what the money in my lockbox should have earned.

If these "kids" really believe this, they should join a TP, and seek to privatize it for their future.

[hontoon]

03:33 PM on 11/21/2011

I've heard this lie from the lying lips of republicans for fifty years.

[wikwox]

11:42 AM on 10/21/2011

Discouraging the young with a barrage of lies and half truths has been an effective tools for the enemies of Social Security, this poll just confirms the lies are having an effect. These young people need to consider America without Social Security, old people would once again live out thier last days in grinding poverty, the truth is most Americans don't make enough money to save for retirement. Most of us now live paycheck to paycheck, saving even small amounts is near impossible. Whats worse is the people who want to destroy Social Security are usually rich and almost always Republican or Libertarian. They generate the lies out of greed and hatred, hoping to keep even more of thier enormous wealth. We need to stop them and tell the truth, Social Security will be here for you, just like your parents.

[stopgov]

03:51 PM on 10/21/2011

It's running out of money. In 2010, SS paid out more than it took in.

"Projected long-range costs for both Medicare and Social Security are not sustainable under currently scheduled financing and will require legislative corrections if disruptive consequences for beneficiaries and taxpayers are to be avoided. If action is taken sooner rather than later, more options and time will be available to phase in changes, giving those affected adequate time to prepare. Earlier action will also afford policymakers greater opportunity to minimize adverse impacts on vulnerable populations, including lower-income workers and those who are substantially dependent on program benefits."
http://www.ssa.gov/oact/trsum/index.html

[LSULinebacker64]

11:24 AM on 10/21/2011

It's hard for me to discribe but I'm on SSI & Social Security with a Disability. (Epilepsy) But I'm trying my hardest, the hardest I can to get off this SSI, Social Security, Medicaid & Medicare. I'm working on an Invention idea today which I do believe does have a chance on going forward with itself. The company that's working with me on it has just about got it finished to where I can send the Patent Design signed an sent to Washington to make it officially mine and secure. It's something that needs to be done now before these checks start getting cut to lower amounts or cut in full in the long run. But getting a start with this Invention would help getting things off the ground for the future. My question right now is how do I find the support and backing for my invention next. Sending to some companies? How do I try to find some investors that may be interested in what I would have to sale. It's a house, office, product being put together....

[dknowles60]

12:37 PM on 10/23/2011

good luck. please keep on trying. call dave ramsey he might have an idea

[Carly EngageAmerica]

10:57 AM on 10/21/2011

The way in which the program functions now is simply unsustainable. The way in which the program functions now is simply unsustainable. Currently Social Security and Medicare use 8.5% of nonentitlement revenuees (federal revenues dedicated to all other programs besides the two). By 2020, the deficits will grow to almost 25%. This means that within 9 years, in order to pay projected benefits to retirees and the disabled, the federal government will have to stop doing about one out of every five things it does today (http://eng.am/poetWU).

All of the following solutions will substantially eliminate these problems: Reducing benefit payments by 5% AND increase the retirement age to 70 over time; increasing both the employee and employer contribution immediately by 1.1% for income up to $106,800 (its current limit); reducing benefit payments by 5% AND increase both the employee and employer contribution immediately by 0.05% each year for the next 20 years for income up to $106,800 (its current limit); removing the $106,800 limit and count all income towards the SS tax; decreasing the cost of living adjustment by 1% per year AND raise the retirement age to 67; or taxing income over $106,800 at 3%, index the retirement age to longevity AND decrease cost of living adjustment by 0.5% (http://eng.am/oTlck2).

[baxtron]

03:09 PM on 10/21/2011

raising the limit on income and reducing COLA will get you the results SS needs. the projections are always 75 year projections. much like the USPS is now forced to balanced their 75 year out books in 1 year, I am interested in projections in 2026. My mom will be 80yrs old then, or the 1st yr of the baby boomers. I do not plan on every baby boomer living to be 100.

[dknowles60]

12:37 PM on 10/23/2011

well said

[DSevere]

10:19 AM on 10/21/2011

Hey, I'm 46 and I don't expect Social Security to be there when I'm an old lady (don't plan to ever retire, my husband and I have our own small company and I love what I do).

20-somethings, make sure you save some money. Start now.

[baxtron]

03:09 PM on 10/21/2011

Do you understand insurance pools?

[LibChicAZ]

09:39 AM on 10/22/2011

How do you expect them to start saving $ when they graduate with so much debt? SS has been a very successful program, we can keep it funded if the Koch brothers don't prevail in buying off every election.

[DSevere]

10:34 AM on 10/22/2011

I'm not saying it's a good thing, I just see the U.S. economy totally falling apart, so eventually the SS money just won't be there.

[dknowles60]

12:38 PM on 10/23/2011

ss a failure only china loan keep it going. wonder how much longer china will lend

[noaxe397]

09:18 AM on 10/21/2011

And social security won't be there if you young fools keep drinking the Republican kool aid that the system is unsustainable or it's broke or it's nothing but worthless IOUs............................................No person lawfully eligible to recive SS has EVER missed a payment in 75+ years. Clearly, our nation has experienced economic upheaval and down-heaval throught those 75 years and yet the system worked.......................................The only way for young people to insure the American way of life is there for them is to do all they can today to eliminate or even outlaw the Republican Party.

[skoko]

12:33 PM on 10/21/2011

We have told our 40 something children the same thing over and over, but they are dedicated to voted for the Republicans against their own self interest. I think they are mostly guided by their openly expressed racism. How sad. Therefore they will reap what they sow.

[stopgov]

03:56 PM on 10/21/2011

It's running out of money. http://www.ssa.gov/oact/trsum/index.html

It paid out more in 2010 than it collected.
www.nytimes.com/2010/03/25/business/economy/25social.html

It's a Ponzi scheme.

[noaxe397]

12:41 AM on 10/22/2011

It can't run out of money as long as the payroll tax esists. Even after the trust fund runs out, assuming no changes are made, social security van pay out about 80% of benefits for eternity.................................................Yes it did pay out more in 2010 than it collected. That is because so many people are unemployed there is a drop in payroll tax receipts. Where does the short fall get made up? Well, you know those worthless IOUs you people like to talk about? By law the interest on those special treasury bills must be used to make up the short fall. That is how the system was designed.....................................................A Ponzi scheme is a get rich quick scheme by definition. Do you know any person who ever got rich quick on social security?......................You are very good at Fox half truths. But facts makes you a fail.

[LHoney]

07:32 AM on 10/21/2011

First paragraph of this article: "In the eyes of half of America's youngest voters, the American dream of government-funded retirement is slipping away."

"Government funded retirement" In what way is this "government funded"?? Aren't all working Americans contributing to this on a weekly basis?

[baxtron]

03:10 PM on 10/21/2011

It helps to keep the BIG LIE going.

[twninja]

03:21 PM on 10/21/2011

yea i see that taken away in my paycheck every time . . .

[joebaggadonuts]

12:33 AM on 10/21/2011

The plan to kill social security depends on people not believing it can work. They are succeeding.

[kbrown2225]

12:09 AM on 10/21/2011

It is amazing that you people take the most successful social safety program in human history, one that has enriched the lives of millions of Americans for generation­s, one that has largely ended (or at least substantia­lly eased) the economic suffering and insecurity of older Americans for over 70 years, a program which has done nothing but good for this country and merely dismiss it as a "ponzi scheme".

[Algo]

11:41 PM on 10/20/2011

Wow - and who said education was failing? No child left behind - but once you are retired? Left to rot. The young understand the Ponzi scheme.

[MadeinUSAJOBS]

10:43 PM on 10/20/2011

I think you guys should fight hard against having Republicans take part of your payroll tax and put in stock market(casino). They are always watching out for the very wealthy and over time tne stock market goes down and you will lose your retirement like many just lost houses/retirement.

You have to analyze what republican tell you,
The U. S/ median income is $26,364 a year, your portion of payroll + medicare would be about 10% I think so what is that about $263. a year. There is a insurance part of social security if you are disabled, you will get a check, if you are killed your family will get help.

Most lower/middle class cannot save enough to be secure and you never know when you may be fired and have to use any savings to survive.
You can always contribute on your own to a retirment 401 K. individual retirement account or roth retirement. You do not have to let wealthy get their hands in your pocket to invest all over the world. in the New York world.

The old people have about 3 trillion dollar social security trust fund, their money invested in gov't bonds and most of them will be dead before that is used.
Wiith our changing population, We have a big chance that in 10 to 15 years, there will be more young people/children because some people like larger families. so there may be a better ratio of workers to retired. .

[muck-raker]

07:26 AM on 10/21/2011

the only thing these 12 people (Super Reps) are talking about is HOW MUCH did they get from the Corporatio­ns to SELL US OUT once again.
NO they are talking about how they are going to cut the public a break, ha ha...do not look for it ..It ain't gonna happen...r­ight now they are looking hard at Social Security..­.Why because the Govt. owes the fund 2.5 trillion dollars...­coming up with something that eliminates them refunding this will be a big step in their job at hand.
http://www­.socialsec­urity.gov/­OACT/ProgD­ata/assets­.html

In other words, the US federal government owes 2.5 trillion to the Social Security Trust Fund, & ultimately­, to US workers.

This $2.5 trillion is more than half of all the "intra gove­rnmental transfers,­" & 20% of the federal debt. It is probably THE BIGGEST debt owed to any single entity; bigger, for example, than government debt to China.”

[roudy]

10:21 PM on 10/20/2011

Heard the same exact nonsense from my co-workers in the early seventies. They are all now collecting their Social Security and Medicare benefits. And still whining.

[jgelt]

08:58 PM on 10/20/2011

The "math is hard" crowd is learning things the hard way. The worker to retiree ration was 16:1 in 1950. The ration is now 2.9:1 and getting worse. The only things that can make it get better is for people to have more children, live a shorter lifespan or set the retirement age equal to the average lifespan. The original retirement age of 62.5 wasn't arrived at randomly.

Or we could increase taxes. Then the number of jobs decrease and the amount of taxable income drops, but that's more math, so lets not over tax ourselves for one day.

[plaidsportcoat]

10:23 PM on 10/20/2011

the number of jobs does not decrease when taxes go up. that is a lie, pure and simple.

[LHoney]

07:29 AM on 10/21/2011

In fact, the number of jobs increases when taxes go up.

[dknowles60]

11:24 PM on 10/20/2011

great one most people cant learn math