In the United States, we do not need to plan for retirement. Social Essay - 2

In the United States, we do not need to plan for retirement. Social Security will cover our needs when we are retired - Essay Example However, this program is under scrutiny as it is estimated that in the next decades, as more and more citizens of the Baby Boomers generation retire, the payouts would be higher than that of the benefits. The current stress on the economy along with an uncertain future about the Social Security program adds further concerns. The wide speculation is that the benefits gained out of this program would not be enough for retirement and there is a need to look at additional investment options such as IRA and 401K. Hence, relying on Social Security program would not be enough to suffice for the entire retired life. Retirement planning in the United States is essential and Social Security program is not enough to cover all the needs post retirement. The social security program came into existence in 1935 and has undergone several amendments since then to include many different social welfare clauses. This program works through the payroll taxes, where the individual pays a certain amount and the employee also adds that amount. This constitutes a fund that is released at the time of retirement along with the interest amount added to it. Hence, the goal Social Security is to work as a unique program where citizens do not have to undergo financial stress to save money for retirement. For a participant of the Social Security program, the benefits are given out in the form an annuity, which is paid for the rest of the beneficiary’s life. The benefits are also adjusted according the level of inflation in order to make sure that the benefits are not less as time passes by (Brown et al, 2009). In addition, this program also has benefits for the spouse and the dependents to support the family even in an event of death. Hence, this program aims to provide real benefits to the retiree. The social security program was designed in such a manner that it should cover all the needs for a retiree and there should be no need of an additional investment in terms of retirement plan ning. However, in the recent times, there have been apprehensions about whether social security would be enough to cover all the needs during retirement. There are some main reasons that are causing this concern among the American citizens and forcing them to consider other factors. They are the funds of the Social Security program getting exhausted, weak economy and demographic trends. One of the main concerns is how the social security program would be drained out of all its funds in the years to come. This would happen because a huge chunk of population, the Baby Boomers generation would retire in the next decade, causing a huge deficit on the funds of social security. In 2010, the total income that was earned through the tax payroll was $781.1 billion, where as the amount that was paid through the taxes were $721.5 billion. Hence, there was a total increase in assets of only $68.6 billion (Whibey, 2011). According to the estimation done by Ohlemacher, this fund would totally dra in out by the year 2037. In 2011, it is projected that social security would collect around $45 billion less in payroll taxes than what it would pay out during retirement (Ohlemacher, 2011). Therefore, according to the rate at which the Social Security funds are getting exhausted, it would be impossible to sustain this program without any legislative intervention. It