AARP magazine wrote a great article on “Social Security The Real Facts”. If you have a moment read the article so you can talk intelligently about it especially before you say something ignorant like “SS is going broke” or “SS will not be around when I am old”. Click on the summary below to view a larger version.

Some of the interesting points:
Social Security is not going bankrupt. It has a $2.89 Trillion reserve. If no adjustments are made this reserve will be depleted in 2034. SS will be able to pay benefits but at a reduced level of 79%.

Congress can easily fix this. 95% of American workers pay into Social Security every paycheck. 5% of American workers pay into Social Security till they reach the cap of $133,000. Then they stop contributing. If Congress would move this cap to $250,000 the fund could pay full benefits for another 50 years. This change would affect just 5% of American workers.

Fun facts. Social Security Administration has a budget of $12.5 Billion. 63,000 Federal employees. 16,000 state employees. 1245 field offices.

You can start collecting at 62. You can start collecting social security benefits at 62 but at a reduced rate. Do the math and see if this is right for you.

Social Security should not be your sole source of income at retirement. Couple this with a pension and savings and you will do just fine. Unfortunately most Americans do not have a pension so savings at a very early age into a retirement fund is a must.

You can visit https://www.ssa.gov to view your specific information such as how much you have made each year you have been working, your projected benefit at various ages and more!

A special election will be held for Texas Senate District 6 on Dec 11 and most probably followed by a runoff due to two last minute candidates announcing for the position. State Representatives Carol Alvarado and Ana Hernandez are two very qualified candidates for the position and the voters will have a tough time deciding who should represent that district.

On the other hand we have two unknowns, Martha Fierro a republican, and Mia Mundy a Democrat. Both have filed with the Texas Ethics Committee but have not reported any donations as of yet. Fierro is a precinct chair, which in itself, is not a great qualification to run for Senate. Maybe she should have started with something a bit smaller like president of her homeowners association. According to her Facebook page she is a regional leader of the Faith and Freedom Coalition an extreme right wing organization. 

Then we have Mia Mundy. According to her Facebook page:

Mia Mundy is an Executive Search Consultant for Manhattan Resources.Mia holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from Hannibal -LaGrange University in Missouri and a Master’s Degree in Education from Sam Houston State University.