Retiree Lina Lambert from California regrets not taking her Social Security benefits at age 62. Lambert and her husband had planned to collect their benefits together, but her husband passed away three years later. Lambert had to choose between taking her own Social Security benefit of $1,200 per month or waiting until she turned 66 to receive her husband's spousal benefit of around $2,500. She chose the latter, but now wishes they had started collecting earlier. Lambert advises others to explore different angles and evaluate their options carefully, as the loss of a spouse can significantly impact Social Security benefits [fc8de7b3].
Retirees can expect significant changes to their Social Security payments in 2024. These changes are in response to rising inflation and the need to address the cost of living. The first change involves an estimated 3.2% increase in monthly payments, benefiting over 71 million Americans receiving Social Security benefits and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) payments. This increase, based on the rise in the cost of living, aims to provide retirees with a higher level of financial security [66aceef4].
In addition to the increase in monthly payments, the maximum monthly benefit will also be raised to $3,345 in 2024, up from $3,148 in 2023. This change is intended to provide retirees with a higher income to cover their living expenses [66aceef4].
Furthermore, the waiting period to claim full benefits will gradually increase to 67 for individuals born in 1960 or later. This change acknowledges the longer life expectancies of Americans and aims to ensure the long-term sustainability of the Social Security program [66aceef4].
To access their benefits and obtain important information, retirees are encouraged to create a personal my Social Security account. This account allows retirees to stay informed about their Social Security payments and ensure they receive the financial support they are entitled to [66aceef4].
While these changes aim to provide a higher level of financial security for retirees, the long-term future of Social Security remains uncertain. The risk of insolvency by 2034 poses a significant challenge to the program's sustainability [66aceef4].
In the UK, pensioners have been the biggest beneficiaries of 14 years under the Conservatives, with more than £1 in every £5 spent by the government going to the over-66s. The average pensioner is £1,000 a year better off in 2024-2025 than they were when the Conservatives first took power. Working households are £760 better off a year as the balance of state spending shifts toward the older population. Families with children under the age of 15 are £780 poorer a year since 2010 due to substantial cuts to child-related benefits [3b4e5c0b].
The number of people claiming the state pension in the UK has risen by more than half a million to 13 million since 2010, and is on course to hit 13.2 million by 2028-29. Spending on pensioners has grown by £270bn in real terms since 2010, taking it from 9.3% of GDP to 9.8%. The shift towards “greyer” public spending comes as changes to the benefits system have cost working-age people £1,400 since 2010, while pensioners gained £900 largely from triple lock pension rises. The triple lock ensures the state pension rises in line with the highest of wages, prices, or a baseline 2.5% [3b4e5c0b].
Former chancellor George Osborne controversially introduced the “granny tax” in 2012 that lowered the personal allowance for pensioners in line with that of working people. When considering tax changes in isolation, working-age families are on average £2,200 better off, while pensioners have gained only £130 a year compared with 2010. The report noted that millennials born in the late 1980s earn 8% less than those born a decade earlier at the same age. Both Labour and the Conservatives have committed to spending plans that continue to raise personal income taxes by stealth and keep various benefits frozen or capped. The Resolution Foundation warned it risked “entrenching the current imbalance between pensioners and non-pensioners, particularly non-pensioner households with children” [3b4e5c0b].