Retirees may need to prepare for future cuts to the Social Security Administration.
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00:00I don't think it's going to create a collapse in the short term, and that's for a couple
00:06of reasons.
00:07One is the Social Security Act is the law, and at the moment, until the law changes,
00:13people will still get their benefits.
00:15Now, what people do need to worry about, at least in the short term, is the possibility
00:19that when the trust fund becomes depleted in 2033, they could see a reduction in their
00:25benefits on the order of 21%, and that could be an across-the-board cut for everybody if
00:30Congress doesn't act to replenish the trust fund in some form or fashion.
00:35As you think about what could happen because of cuts to the Social Security Administration,
00:39there are a couple of key action steps to take.
00:42One is to make sure that you create a MySocialSecurity account.
00:46Go to ssa.gov to establish an online account, and this will help protect you against fraud
00:51and allow you to review your earnings history.
00:55And then speaking of your earnings history, you want to make sure that you're looking
00:58at your record for any errors, and you want to make sure if there are errors that you
01:03contact Social Security immediately to correct them.
01:06Then the next thing you want to make sure that you do is to secure your Social Security card.
01:11You want to put that in a separate secure location.
01:13Maybe you have a firebox in your home.
01:15You can put it in there.
01:16And then whatever you do, don't rush to make a filing decision.
01:21The staffing cuts at SSA should not influence when you decide to file for benefits.
01:26Ultimately, you want to consider what's in your best interest as opposed to what's happening
01:30at SSA.
01:32And then when in doubt, seek professional help.
01:34There are a number of organizations and institutions where you can go to get free help.
01:40There's something called the Registered Social Security Analyst, and you can find them at
01:45rssa.com.
01:47And then there are some free resources.
01:49MRP has a Social Security Resource Center.
01:51The Center for Retirement Research at Boston College also has information about Social
01:55Security.